[Ansteorra] [Bryn-gwlad] Fantsy vs. History

[Stefan li Rous]

On Apr 16, 2010, at 9:18 PM, Chris Zakes wrote:
>> I do wonder though, if the SCA is not a living history group, then  
>> why
>> is it defined that way in the very first paragraph of the Governing
>> Documents?  Are we (and our leaders) not bound to follow the  
>> Corporate
>> requirements?  If not, then why are these guidelines even published?
>>
>> Eule/Steve
>> Unus sed Leo
>
> Well, actually, it's not. The phrase "living history" is first used  
> at the beginning of the *second* paragraph of Corpora. <G>
>
> And, as Emeline said, I think those paragraphs are an attempt to  
> explain the SCA to the outside world and make us look more  
> "respectable", rather than guidelines for the SCA itself.
>
>        -Tivar Moondragon

Reading some of the messages from folks from the early days of the SCA  
that I mentioned in another message, you can see that much of the  
wording was there to make sure we satisfied the requirements for our  
non-profit status.  You can't get that just for throwing a continuous  
series of parties. But over the years those statements, or what people  
read into those statements and what people read into the "Society for  
Creative Anachronism" which was made up on the spur of the moment,  
have fought for and been molded and reworked into what is the current  
SCA.

As has been pointed out, the SCA is many things to different people.

For what others have said about what the SCA is and is not, and why  
they are in the SCA, see the various files in the SCA-SOCIOLOGY  
section of the Florilegium such as:
A-Study-o-SCA-art (92K) 5/ 4/02 "Postmodern Medievalism: A  
Sociological Study of the Society for Creative Anachronism" by Master  
Hrolf Herjolfssen.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCA-SOCIOLOGY/A-Study-o-SCA-art.html
magic-moments-msg (50K) 7/ 1/08 "Magic moments" experienced in the SCA.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCA-SOCIOLOGY/magic-moments-msg.html
SCA-as-family-msg (52K) 7/10/05 Sometimes the SCA is more like family.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCA-SOCIOLOGY/SCA-as-family-msg.html
SCA-reasons-msg (36K) 8/11/05 The reasons various people joined the SCA.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCA-SOCIOLOGY/SCA-reasons-msg.html
SCA-The-Dream-msg (50K) 1/11/96 What the SCA means for different people.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCA-SOCIOLOGY/SCA-The-Dream-msg.html

Personally, I see elements of the 1960's of California, the Victorian  
ideal of the Middle Ages including romanticism, the real Middle Ages  
and more and more, sophisticated practical archeology in the various  
facets of the SCA.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****