ANST - Interesting site... and poignant, too

Joel Schumacher jschumac at uns-dv1.jcpenney.com
Mon Feb 9 11:58:34 PST 1998


> I do not go to re-create it SO exactly that being involved is something
> miserable to do. This guy can sleep in the mud at night all he wants to.
> I prefer to have an air mattress and a fouton padding on it <snip>
> The life of a REAL mid-evil person was MISERABLE...even the royalty,
> compared to what we are used to. We are NOT mid-evil people, we just act
> and look that way, for our enjoyment and that of onlookers.

This seems contradictary.  We don't do this-and-that like medieval people
but we look and act like medieval people.

I have mixed feeling about all of this.  I think the crux of this
Routier's argument is that we call ourselves a re-creation group.  That
term assumes by one definition, that we are historically accurate, yet
we are not.  We romanticize the period.  We re-invent aspects of it for
safety and convenience.  We inject modern views into it.  I'm OK with
that.

We have many different people and many different "dreams".  Personally,
I grew up enjoying this period.  I read or watched mostly fictional
tales.  Some more fictional than others, with dragons, wizards, and
Knights who say Nee.  I enjoyed Ren-Faires.  Joining the SCA gave me a
chance to live in some of that world.  I don't care too much about
strict authenticity, as long as it fits into my view of "period-like".
But I can appreciate those who strive for that and the work they do.

Personally, I don't think I could afford the investment in time & money
to go totally authentic.  And being that this isn't my entire life, I
have no desire to sink all my spending money and free time into it.  Many
people no doubt have similar feelings.  If we limit the SCA to only those
who can afford to be authentic, membership would fizzle.

Many of us are members for very different reasons.  Some artists, some
martial artists, some looking to explore history, others just looking for
friends, but all with a common ground of the Middle Ages (at least as we
percieve them).  There's room enough for everyone to explore their own
tastes.  But by incorporating all these tastes, we would better be
described as a fantasy group.  By fantasy, I don't mean dragons and
unicorns, but we do play in a make-believe society that is evolving a
culture of it's own that does not match true history.  But we've known that
from the start.  After all, the C in SCA stands for "Creative".  It's not
the SAA - Society for Authentic Anachronisms.

Once we accept our fantasy status, I believe we won't offend the purists
like this Routier and we will paint a more accurate picture of our
society.

I must ask though, (as he criticizes us for using modern plastics),
whether they use real gunpowder and shot in their muskets?  When they
fight, do they really kill people? -- What's that?  They don't?  WELL!
I'm outraged!  That's not very authentic!  How can they call themselves a
re-enactment group?

-Karl von Augsburg
__________________________________________________________________________
Joel Schumacher                        JCPenney Co. - UNIX Network Systems
jschumac at uns-dv1.jcpenney.com          12700 Park Central Pl
(972) 591-7543                         Dallas TX  75251
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