Rant on research; was, Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Coffyns

[Elaine Koogler]

Lonnie D. Harvel wrote:

> Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise wrote:
>
>> Thus putting the information we need in that form
>> dreaded by all right-minded SCAdians, the Great Evil, the Eternal
>> Abombination, The SECONDARY SOURCE!
>>  
>>
> Amen, Sister!
>
> I am a researcher by profession, on the faculty at Georgia Tech. (I 
> also have degrees, minors, certificates and what-not in theater, 
> music, history, classical literature, religion, and even a minor in 
> dance.) In my 24 years in the Society, I have been dumbfounded by the 
> strange and unique prejudice against secondary sources. In research 
> circles, the real dread is the massively time consuming "literary 
> search". That is, knowing what all those secondary sources have to say 
> about what you are studying. I am sorry, but ignoring (or rejecting 
> outright without discernment) the body of secondary sources is 
> arrogant and presumptuous on the part of some folks in the SCA. It 
> also wastes a lot of time. It is also a mistake to assume that a 
> "primary" source is either primary or accurate just because it is old.
>
> Primary sources are always important; and it is certainly true that 
> secondary sources are sometimes no more than flights of fancy created 
> by their authors. But the skill of the true scholar is the ability to 
> judge the value of a reference, to incorporate the good, reject the 
> bad, and explore the contradictory. The reason I am on this list is 
> that in the discipline of medieval cooking, I do not yet possess that 
> ability to judge between sources. If I did, my time would be far 
> better spent in a good library (though not nearly as entertaining). I 
> am grateful to those gentles on this list that provide quality 
> information, that usually does include both primary and secondary 
> sources, as well as personal interpretations and experience.
>
> So... What are your favorite SECONDARY sources?
>
> Pax,
> Aoghann
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>
This is a very interesting conversation...especially as my main area of 
interest is Japanese "stuff"...and I don't speak Japanese.  So obviously 
I've had to rely mostly on secondary sources for my research.  Because 
of that I've also used this information for my cooking research as 
well.  I try to use the original recipes when I'm looking at cooking a 
particular dish, but I also use a number of secondary sources to help me 
with my interpretations...and for what I'm trying to learn about what 
period kitchens were like. 

What are my favorite secondary sources?  This list, for one!  I obtain 
an incredible amount of information here...I also have a great deal of 
respect for people like Terence Scully, Paul Buell, Eugene Anderson, 
Charles Perry, Peter Brears, and many others.  One thing that I often do 
when evaluating a secondary source is to examine their bibliography to 
see what they used!  I'm not sure if this makes sense to the rest of you 
folks, but it seems to work for me. 

Kiri