[Ansteorra] Odd question reguarding persona development

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace sirlyonel at hotmail.com
Wed Sep 27 07:54:46 PDT 2006


Salut cozyns,

Susan says, "I think the part that confuses me is where people insinuate 
themselves
into the private lives of historic figures, much as the mistresses of King 
Henry."

For a model you might try thinking in terms of historical fiction. Alexandre 
Dumas gives Queen Margot a fictional Protestant paramour. Manuel Mujica 
Lainez tells the tale of the collapse of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem from 
the viewpoint of a young knight errant who never existed. Examples are 
everywhere.

The trick is to do this in a way that would not affect history (since, uh, 
we really can't do that anyway).

En Lyonel
_________________________________
Micel yfel deth se unwritere.
		--AElfric of York





>From: Susan <catmafia at hughes.net>
>Reply-To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." 
><ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
>To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
>Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Odd question reguarding persona development
>Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:33:12 -0500
>
>  In general I'm facinated by how various people construct persona, one
>of the things I found the most facinating as a hospitaller-was the
>questions people would ask and the answers they found-I just helped
>aimed them in the direction of people who could help them to the answers
>they were seaking.  In that manner I've found this discussion facinating.
>
>I do realize that I didn't quite make the key things I'm wrestling with
>clear, I think this responce gets best to what I'm trying to figure
>out.  It is when people's persona stories have them as intimates of
>various historic personas that I get confused.  When general connections
>are presumed, that makes sense to me, as it puts you into a time and a
>place-but you are making up the details.  Darmaid as a guildmaster makes
>a great deal of sense.  I can understand reenactors who portray a
>specific time as it was.
>
>I think the part that confuses me is where people insinuate themselves
>into the private lives of historic figures, much as the mistresses of
>King Henry.  If one assumes to be a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth,
>how much of what you do is based on working around very specific known
>details and how much is more free form?  If you have a persona of this
>nature and are into playing persona, how do you handle the dealings in
>your SCA life that fall outside of the activities that this person would
>experience?
>
>I am so used to people following interests and either fitting them into
>their personas or ignoring the fact that a person from their time and
>location would have never been exposed to the art or activity that they
>are participating in.  Somehow the latter feels more comfortable to me,
>as there were only so many people in period who lived lives that spanned
>continents and interacted intimatly with a multitude of cultures.
>
>On a personal basis, I chose the Isle of Mann to be from for many
>reasons, I love the mixture of culture that exisited there.  As I read
>more and more about the history of the isle, I find it more
>facinating-the combination of celtic and norse art on the grave stones
>are wonderful.  But in reality if I were from the island, I would have
>rarly ever have left the island.  If I were a member of the ruling
>family of the island when it was under English rule, I may never have
>visited the island in my life.  I've never been able to come across a
>way to blend this conflict to figure out a way to create a persona that
>felt comfortable to me.  Does this make sense?
>
>For those who haven't met me, I would imagine this post is enough to
>explain my name of Susan the Curious-as I do ask many things and ponder
>many questions far beyond what I probably should.  A Manx family name
>that did appeal was Quirk, as I am quirky.  I think the how and why
>people pick various personas (expecially those with multiple personas
>that are very different) is one of the most facinating aspects of the
>SCA.  I would love to hear more stories of how people have chosen to be
>who they are and what elements they include in that and why.
>
>Susan the Curious
>
>Stefan li Rous wrote:
>
> >You cannot claim to be someone who actually lived in period. You
> >can't be Charlemagne or Joan of Arc or King Henry, but you can be one
> >of Charlemangne's gardeners or King Henry's mistress.
> >
> >
>
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