SC - Chocolate and Period

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/15/99 7:21:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
agora at algonet.se writes:

<< I mean, corn, tomatoes, chocolate, were not
 "period" for Europe, but were nowadays period for South America. I think
 all discussion about food uses and borders and transgressions should be
 analyzed from several points of view, not only a eurocentric way. >>

Although I agree with you in principle, the SCA generally does not encourage 
personas which live in the 'colonies'. You will see some wonderful personas 
and research into areas like Japan and an occasional foray into Aztec culture 
(e.g., there is an Aztec knight) but these are rare. 

Middle eastern personas are also tolerated, if not encouraged. Many middle 
eastern personas go so far as to rationalize their existence by concentrating 
on Andalusia or even the Kingdom of Israel. Many do not. The stance of the 
organization in general has been one of tolerance for any persona that is 
from a 'western culture' or the peoples they came in contact with. Thus 
middle eastern and Japanese are most often seen. Mongol, Russian, and eastern 
European personas are also occasionally pursued.

The inclusion of colonial, colonial, Inca and Aztec personas would open a 
wide and rich area of research and recreational art. A few years ago I 
entered a beautiful recreation of a piece of Aztec needle art in a 
competition but none of the judges took any time to read the documentation 
and the only comment written down was that they had failed to see the 
significance of this piece in such a competition. Apparently they were not 
aware that such things were frequently sent to Spain which I had clearly 
indicated in the accompanying text. 

Since Spanish land in North and South America was clearly thought of as part 
of Spain at the time, the question revolves around whether 'western culture' 
should be interpreted as geographical or political entities. There are solid 
arguments on both sides and the issue remains unresolved today. 

As a past A&S minister, I always encouraged folks to do whatever they wanted 
to do in the SCA. As one of the players, I would like nothing more than to 
see development of more Native American, Inca and Aztec personas, as well as 
any other nationality that had regular sustained contact with Europe, not 
only tolerated but actively encouraged where those peoples had daily 
interaction with colonials.  It is often said that such personas living in 
Paris, for example, would have adopted Parisian dress and manners. Possibly 
but, OTOH, there is clear evidence that such adaptation was slow in the 
colonies or trade settlements where Europeans as oftentimes as not adopted 
local custom. Others may have an entirely different, and no less valid, 
viewpoint.

My .02.

Ras

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