Let’s talk about ways to research your selected piece’s period.
One of the best resources for finding academic period information is to look through articles using ‘www.jstor.org/’. Let me tell you now, it’s amazing! Search for a topic of interest and boom, tons of academic articles regarding that subject. Sure, Google is great for scratching the surface. It’s just not the best for citable sources. Since this post is specific to entering an SCA Arts & Sciences Faire or competition, it’s important to have citable sources. But even if you want to put together a performance piece for pre-court entertainment or a bardic circle, why wouldn’t you want to know if what you’re doing is period? I’m big on period presentations, if you couldn’t tell. Let’s assume you’ve picked your piece. These are the tops things you need to answer:
Keep those questions in mind while you’re researching your piece. Answer each question. I guarantee once you do, you’ll have a richer understanding of the artwork you want to represent. Which means you will have a better handle on how to present that art to your audience and hopefully convey the intended feelings effectively. Digging a bit deeper, here are some other questions that you need to ask yourself:
Disclaimer – you might not be able to answer every question. That’s ok! But go in wanting to know the answer. Go in looking for it. And if you don’t have the answer, say so. Put that in your documentation! For example, if you don’t know what the language would have sounded like at the time the piece was written, write it down! Say you’re pronouncing the words based on your knowledge and research of that language from SOURCE and that you could not locate a source to indicate if it would have sounded different in X year/century. To use a more recent piece as an example, when I entered my monologue from the Japanese Noh Play ‘Semimaru’ I researched as many aspects of the time and art scene as I could. I read through my textbooks from college to get an understanding of the Japanese history during that time. I looked at the Japanese Costume Museum’s website for period textile samples and reproductions of clothing for all stations of life (www.iz2.or.jp/english/). I read the biography of the Noh author’s life and I researched what a Noh actor’s life would have been like. I also watched videos on modern day performances of this play I selected, as well as others. Lastly, I researched how the costumes and accessories were made in hopes of replicating them. Turns out, making a Noh mask takes years for the wood to cure. I had months, so I bought one on Amazon.com. Can’t have everything I guess. BUT! I put that in my documentation. I must say, it was fascinating learning about how the masks were created, which is an art form in and of itself. Here’s one important thing to keep in mind while doing all of this research – don’t freak out. Seriously. Don’t. It is not the end of the world if you do not find out everything there is to know about your piece. Especially if you have a specific deadline to reach. Had I more time, I would have been able to more fully immersed myself in my studies of the Japanese Noh Theater. As it was, I had months. So I threw myself into it and presented my findings based on the time I spent. Lastly, please allow me to let you in on something I discovered when it comes to researching a specific topic – sometimes what you find out is disappointing and not at all what you were hoping for. I know anyone who has had to write a research paper for school knows this already. But it’s infinitely more disappointing when you actuallycare about your topic. I mean genuinely care. Currently I’m researching a topic very dear to my heart and soul. I’ve been researching it off and on for almost a year now. What I’ve found out so far is that we just don’t know very much about it and we DEFINITELY don’t know when it started. I’m still searching. I’m still hoping. But deep down, I know it will be ok if I don’t find what I’m looking for. Sometimes finding out there is no answer is exactly the answer you have to work with. If that’s not some serious Zen business, I don’t know what is. I have included my papers for various performance entries over the years on my documentation page. I’m including my first sets of documentation too, to show you where I started. I’m not a writer and research papers do not come naturally to me. But I'm learning, so keep heart! If I can do it, you most assuredly can! In service and love, THL Honor
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