Comments on: On the Difficulty of Reenacting http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:53:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ChrisWalker http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/comment-page-1/#comment-1911 ChrisWalker Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:28:31 +0000 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/?p=67#comment-1911 pretending, fantasizing, empathizing, remembering, re-enacting. The other night I watched a BBC wildlife show on the leopard - a zoologist was accompanied by tribesmen tracking leopards. On discovering a several day old sun dried leopard skull the chief tracker using the animals tracks as a prompt re-enacted the leopards last battle before the zoologist, tribesmen, camera crew and thus me. I don't know whether this is the usual way he to demonstrate his theories, but judging by the reactions of his fellow tribesman and the hardened zoologist it seemed so, it was a practical means of communicating the trackers informed theories as to what he imagined had happened. The 'reenactment' was made from: the trackers self belief in his 'imagined' extrapolation of events; the joy the tracker took in his performance; the appreciation of the onlookers in the trackers performance. I imagine the tribesmen's ancestors may have once hunted leopards for their skins which would eventually adorn the saddles, helmets and uniforms of proud Napoleonic cavalry. I remember ex-changing with great vigour amongst my school friends the most exciting scenes of the weekends movies through re-enactment on Monday playtimes. Cool posts and links on the subject,, thanks! pretending, fantasizing, empathizing, remembering, re-enacting. The other night I watched a BBC wildlife show on the leopard – a zoologist was accompanied by tribesmen tracking leopards. On discovering a several day old sun dried leopard skull the chief tracker using the animals tracks as a prompt re-enacted the leopards last battle before the zoologist, tribesmen, camera crew and thus me. I don’t know whether this is the usual way he to demonstrate his theories, but judging by the reactions of his fellow tribesman and the hardened zoologist it seemed so, it was a practical means of communicating the trackers informed theories as to what he imagined had happened. The ‘reenactment’ was made from: the trackers self belief in his ‘imagined’ extrapolation of events; the joy the tracker took in his performance; the appreciation of the onlookers in the trackers performance. I imagine the tribesmen’s ancestors may have once hunted leopards for their skins which would eventually adorn the saddles, helmets and uniforms of proud Napoleonic cavalry. I remember ex-changing with great vigour amongst my school friends the most exciting scenes of the weekends movies through re-enactment on Monday playtimes. Cool posts and links on the subject,, thanks!

]]> By: OraPatton31 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/comment-page-1/#comment-1693 OraPatton31 Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:42:28 +0000 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/?p=67#comment-1693 Have no enough money to buy a building? Worry no more, because it is real to get the <a href="http://lowest-rate-loans.com" rel="nofollow">loans</a> to work out all the problems. So take a financial loan to buy all you require. Have no enough money to buy a building? Worry no more, because it is real to get the loans to work out all the problems. So take a financial loan to buy all you require.

]]> By: scarlett http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/comment-page-1/#comment-293 scarlett Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:17:06 +0000 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/?p=67#comment-293 thanks for the great post I agree! http://www.etsy.com/shop/scarlettsdesigns thanks for the great post I agree!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/scarlettsdesigns

]]> By: Brendan Wolfe http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/comment-page-1/#comment-24 Brendan Wolfe Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:11:11 +0000 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/?p=67#comment-24 Thanks for your comment, Danny. It's well put, although I'm not sure I understand the value of crying over a lost battle from a hundred years ago. Sure, acknowledging the horror of war is important, but it hardly prevents us from repeating it. Nor should it, necessarily. And anyway, based on your own comments, I would argue that reenacting doesn't do much to bring home the worst of war. Luckily, we always have the evening news for that. Thanks for your comment, Danny. It’s well put, although I’m not sure I understand the value of crying over a lost battle from a hundred years ago. Sure, acknowledging the horror of war is important, but it hardly prevents us from repeating it. Nor should it, necessarily. And anyway, based on your own comments, I would argue that reenacting doesn’t do much to bring home the worst of war. Luckily, we always have the evening news for that.

]]> By: Danny http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2008/04/17/on-the-difficulty-of-reenacting/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Danny Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:56:33 +0000 http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/?p=67#comment-23 I have been reenacting for about 8 years now and I can say honestly that we are as far from what it was really like as you can get! I hear the stitch counters talk about there impressions and how close they are to the real thing. You can not stand here today and have a clue what it was like to not eat for days, sleep covered with the blood of the guy you had been friends with all your life all over you cause he took a cannon ball to the cheast just a foot from you or even to have a clue of losing eveyone you know and trust in one battle just to be placed in a company of rank strangers for the rest of your enlistment. That being said we are not out there make a statement just to give a modern world a snap shot of what was as close as we can without really killing each other! I have seen people cry over a lost battle in a war fought a hundered years before they were born. To me that is as real as it gets and that is good it reminds us of why we should not repeat those things. If it hurts you will remember it for the rest of your life. I have been reenacting for about 8 years now and I can say honestly that we are as far from what it was really like as you can get! I hear the stitch counters talk about there impressions and how close they are to the real thing. You can not stand here today and have a clue what it was like to not eat for days, sleep covered with the blood of the guy you had been friends with all your life all over you cause he took a cannon ball to the cheast just a foot from you or even to have a clue of losing eveyone you know and trust in one battle just to be placed in a company of rank strangers for the rest of your enlistment. That being said we are not out there make a statement just to give a modern world a snap shot of what was as close as we can without really killing each other! I have seen people cry over a lost battle in a war fought a hundered years before they were born. To me that is as real as it gets and that is good it reminds us of why we should not repeat those things. If it hurts you will remember it for the rest of your life.

]]>