SC - Themed feasts

[Micaylah]

Cariadoc said...
<snip>
>There would be nothing wrong with a period themed feast--i.e. one that
>would have been done in period. But in my experience, that isn't what SCA
>themed feasts are. I very much doubt that anyone in period did a Silk Road
>or Marco Polo feast. For one thing, until late in period, they didn't know
>enough about Asia to do it. They are events coming out of a 20th century
>mindset, not a medieval or Renaissance one.

I have traveled a bit in the sca (who hasn't) and one thing I have noticed
is that the lines blur when it comes to geography and time lines. There are
groups out there that interpret the time frame of our society as 599-1599
a.d. and then there are other places that insist it is 700-1699 a.d. Since
they can usually prove their intents, whose to say they're wrong?

While geographically most groups say the "known world" to be Europe/Britain
there are other groups (like ours) who include the Middle East and Asia. I
find that this is becoming more and more prevalent in the sca as time goes by.

As to the dream being wrongly interpreted, I would like to think that its
not right or wrong but perhaps a fine tuning of the original. Change can be
good especially when it encompasses variety and further education.

I did a "theme" feast for Feast of the Hare last year. I agree with what you
are saying about not having say, a Scots persona doing a Silk Road theme.
But given what I have just stated, a Middle Eastern persona would do a
Middle Eastern feast. I therefore "became" Middle Eastern for that feast.

Here in Ealdormere we recognize (and it took a long time for this to evolve)
Asia and the Middle East as part of the Known World. As a matter of fact,
one good Sir (Roak of the Rozakii) just received his Willow for Middle
Eastern dancing. Try picturing a knight shaking his booty around a camp fire
if you can? And doing it well! It truly is a sight to behold!

And then you stated...
<ditto snip>
>"Kindergarten" was, I concede, rhetorical exaggeration--but I was
>responding to the suggestion that the SCA norm corresponded to a graduate
>course. I agree that many people in the SCA are interested in learning
>about our period--but I am by no means sure it is a majority. And I would
>say the fraction who know as much as someone who has taken an undergraduate
>course in medieval history at a good university is well below half. And the
>percentage of the SCA population that confidently believes things about the
>Middle Ages that aren't true may well be above that for the general
>population.

Does it really matter? Perhaps we should review Lady Alura the Twinn's
chapter in The Known World Handbook on "How to get What you want out of the
S.C.A."!


Micaylah

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