Some do one thing, some do two, some do all three. I don't see a contradiction, except...there are always people who want everyone to do "just this one thing." I've been guilty of that myself. BUT...since the SCA never settled on a 'mission statement' back at the beginning, there have always been conflicts among people with various agendas. One wag called the SCA a "decades long, continent-spanning, multi player piece of performance art". Seen that way, everyone's agendas mix and/or separate, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with a lot of shouting and head-butting, but it's all part of the performance.
Oh, for a long time I was way too hung up on the "authenticity" thing. I really wished (and still do wish) that people would be a little more into research and 'looking right'. I don't mind stuff that isn't quite right but looks OK, I wear a lot of that sort of thing myself, and our Household campsite is far from perfect. But Peers traipsing through merchant's row in mundane clothes on Saturday at Crown or Egil's for instance: I mean come on, folks, have a little respect for the illusion, huh? But it does no good at all to complain, or so it seems. So I mostly don't anymore. Just part of the performance, I guess.
Not to mention the 'smart' phones...I'm gonna stop before I start on that subject.
I've seen some very clever smartphone disguises. My favorite? A wooden "wax tablet" case, with a disguised stylus as well. See below for my thoughts on "authenticity". Or some of them anyway; I'm trying not to get too ranty.
Ideal? That's an interesting question. I've seen what groups that insist on everyone being part of Team Authenticity are like, and I'm not sure I'd want to go there. I suspect if you look at the broader SCA, we might be 15%/85%? And that 15% comprises both historical reenactment and experimental archaeology. I think the percentage actually doing experimental archaeology is probably more like 5-7%, but I'm totally guessing.
To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with Team Fun, and I enjoy that part too, but it wouldn't be enough to have kept me coming back for 22 years.
We as a society have chosen to be inclusive rather than exclusive, so I feel sad for people who say stuff like "you're killing my dream". If seeing a cooler or a soda can is going to ruin your fun, the SCA is (for better or worse) not the group for you. Our collective dream isn't accuracy, it's community.
I really like your thoughts on authenticity; they run somewhat in tandem with my own. While I enjoy research and the occasional attempt at replication, the idea that everything must be a replication drives me batshit bonkers crazy.
A few things sparked this discussion. Barret and I are getting ready to dip our toes back into SCA waters, and I'm working on deciding how I want the experience to be this time. My current perception is that there is this intense pressure to be "authentic", to the point where people apparently feel the need to apologize or comment if their work or others' work has the slightest deviation from whatever historical example exists.
When you get back into early period, you're frequently working from scraps at best. It's fun to puzzle them out, but I see a lot of this idea that any deviation from the commonly accepted solution to the puzzle is wrong. Another thing that makes me frothy. And it seems like this tendency, this drive towards purist authenticity has increased greatly over the last twenty years. I
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One wag called the SCA a "decades long, continent-spanning, multi player piece of performance art". Seen that way, everyone's agendas mix and/or separate, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with a lot of shouting and head-butting, but it's all part of the performance.
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I really like the idea of SCA as performance art.
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Not to mention the 'smart' phones...I'm gonna stop before I start on that subject.
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To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with Team Fun, and I enjoy that part too, but it wouldn't be enough to have kept me coming back for 22 years.
We as a society have chosen to be inclusive rather than exclusive, so I feel sad for people who say stuff like "you're killing my dream". If seeing a cooler or a soda can is going to ruin your fun, the SCA is (for better or worse) not the group for you. Our collective dream isn't accuracy, it's community.
Reply
A few things sparked this discussion. Barret and I are getting ready to dip our toes back into SCA waters, and I'm working on deciding how I want the experience to be this time. My current perception is that there is this intense pressure to be "authentic", to the point where people apparently feel the need to apologize or comment if their work or others' work has the slightest deviation from whatever historical example exists.
When you get back into early period, you're frequently working from scraps at best. It's fun to puzzle them out, but I see a lot of this idea that any deviation from the commonly accepted solution to the puzzle is wrong. Another thing that makes me frothy. And it seems like this tendency, this drive towards purist authenticity has increased greatly over the last twenty years. I ( ... )
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