SC - OT - STIRBRIDGE VILLAGE COOKBOOK - LONG

[Weaver8002@aol.com]

With much snippage, 
On Thu, 20 May 1999 "redbear", redbear at hollinet.com,Branwen wrote:>

<I am merely suggesting that reasonable and researched hypotheses are
>sometimes allowable. 
>I consider "period" to refer to a style of representation which 
>strives to be a reasonable approximation. And, yes, this is different
>from authentic.
>What I am really trying to say is that while we have many many 
>resources, we still do not have  complete, or even close to complete,
>materials and evidence. My grandmother is a great Yugoslavian cook - a
>follower of the oral cooking tradition. She, and many of her
>predecessors, never needed recipes, unlike myself.  I am not saying I
>can just make up recipes, based upon that assumption. I am just
>concerned that adhering strictly to what was written down also does not
>give us an accurate and holistic recreation of the middle ages. That is
>something, of course, that we can't have, and upon sober reflection,
>should not want. I hate the bubonic plague.
>Branwen

	I have not wanted to join this conversation, because I have never come
away from a documentation argument with anything but a sour taste in my
mouth.  However, I am moved to write that your comments here reflect my
feelings very closely.   
	The trouble comes when we confuse the two terms "period" and
"authentic".  The SCA's definition of "period" is different from what
that term means to others.  It changes its meaning from person to person
within the SCA, as the previous comments in this thread point out.  
We can never be authentic, as we aren't living then.  
The only authentic things we can be are humans living in the 20th
century, creating a society of anachronists.  There are few extant
authentic resources.  I have actually touched a 15th century chest, held
15th century Persian maille, sat in (uncomfortable) chairs in a friend's
house in Trimaris that came from 16th century Spain,  and walked through
castles in Britain where events took place.  There are documents that
exist locked up somewhere, which were written by persons living in the
era we study.  Outside of that, EVERYTHING we do is an approximation of
the period these things are artifacts of.  
	We strive to study and re-create the Middle Ages et al.  We study
everything we can about authentic evidence, and produce 'period' works. 
The answer to the question - 
How period is it?  - Perfectly period.  
How authentic is it? - Not at all. 
 
	Christianna
	who, having nailed her Theses to the Cathedral door, turns around and
wonders where everyone has gone.  Laughter and the sound of tinkling
glasses comes from the direction of the rock....
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