SC - What is "period"? - long
Jeff Gedney
JGedney at dictaphone.com
Tue Apr 4 07:00:27 PDT 2000
> Is the addition of the word 'European' to Corpora a new thing? IIRC,
> 'western culture' was the wording before. The word 'European' may have
> been added in the last couple of years but I do not have a new version
> of the Corpora to compare to.
No ...
This discussion has been had before. I was very involved with one here in
the East 4 years ago, which debated these very issues. I was given to
understand at that time, that the topic was a frequent recurrence.
The Corpora is usually used to refer to the governing documents of the SCA,
but these actually consist of the Bylaws, the Corpora, and the Governing and Policy
Decisions.
In corpora the relevant statements are :
"A. SOCIETY EVENTS DEFINED. The term "Society event" refers to
tournaments, feasts, and other activities whereby participants can display
the results of their researches into period culture and technology in an
environment which evokes the atmosphere of the Middle Ages and
Renaissance."
- -This passage specifically refers to the "Middle Ages and
Rennaissance" which were inarguably European phenomena.
"D. REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS. Anyone may attend
Society events provided he or she wears an attempt at pre-17th
century dress, conforms to the provisions of the By-Laws and Corpora,
complies with any other requirements (such as site fees or waivers) which
may be imposed by the Society, and behaves as a lady or gentleman."
- - This passage is the only one which specifies a time frame, but does not
give Europe as a locus. It is most interpreted as allowing nonwestern
personae at events. Note that events (and therefore Feasts, by extension)
are described in "A", above, as recreating a European cultural epoch.
This means nonwestern persons are to be considered "visitors" to
Europe, according to some. The Events are to be considered events of
Medieval and Rennaissance Europe at which the western persona are
visiting in their travels.
The BYLAWS and the Articles of Incorporation under which the SCA was
incorporated have the most direct statement on this issue:
Bylaws:
"III. OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES
The Society shall be dedicated primarily to the promotion of research
and re-creation in the field of pre-17th-century Western culture, as stated
in greater detail in Article II of the Society's Articles of Incorporation.
"
AOI:
"II
This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized
for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public
Benefit Corporation Law for charitable purposes. The purposes for which
this corporation is formed include:
a) Research and education in the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture.
b) Generally, to engage in research, publish material of relevance and interest
to the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture; to present activities and
events which re-create the environment of said era, such as, but not limited
to, tournaments, jousts, fairs, dances, classes, et cetera; to acquire authentic
or reproduced replicas of chattels representative of said era; and to collect a
library."
These statements clearly state that the SCA's primary purpose is to recreate
aspects of Western Culture, not MesoAmerican, Japanese, Chinese, or
whathaveyou, Except where those cultures contact and influence "Western
Culture"
Now there is one document all of you may have read. It is in the SCA
ORGANIZATIONAL HANDBOOK :
"Scope of the Society: Period and Culture"
Excerpts follow:
"The Society is based on the landed nobility of the European Middle Ages and
Renaissance. Their dress and music, their literature and sports, and above all
the chivalric ideals of their period, all serve to unify our events and activities. "
"The people we've chosen for models were fond of play-acting and pageantry;
they would happily base tournaments and revels on ancient history and distant
lands, so we can use themes from outside medieval and Renaissance Europe
as long as we keep our main period as an anchor. "
"The Society's organized activities reflect the courtly life of the Middle Ages and
Renaissance. If we hold a Roman games, the participants are assumed to be
period Europeans playing at ancient Rome; you can try to act like a real ancient
Roman, but you can't complain if the atmosphere is not what you regard as
authentic. Likewise, you can be an Asian or African guest at a European court,
but you cannot recreate your homeland outside your own household - like any
long-term visitor in a foreign land, you are the one who will have to adapt to the
customs you find around you."
These statements are the only official statements on the issue.
any other statements made, whomever the author may be, is only opinion.
These statements are also not new, having been in every version of these
documents for at least the last 15 years.
Brandu
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