Training the Eye and Having Grace: Reenacting the Past

Quick! There's an event this weekend! Choose your grapes:

 

Image from Lodi Wines

Oh no! You picked the wrong ones!

What do you mean? They're grapes! They all look the same!

Not quite.

Grapes are categorized by shapes of the clusters, berry shape, berry color, and class (grade).

Most grape varieties fall into the conical or cylindrical categories. 

They can also be shouldered (more bulk at the top of the cluster), or winged (double clustered). 

Image from the University of California

Image from Lodi Wines

See the differences now? 

The good news is that you can see the differences. The bad news is that you can never unsee it. Your eye is now "trained". 

In reenacting you often hear about "training your eye" or finding someone with a "trained eye". Most reenactors have an eye that is trained more than the general population. The general population can see that something looks “old timey” but often has trouble placing what they are seeing on a timeline. Reenactors are more tuned into hairstyles, silhouettes, and fashion trends of the past. But the more you study it, the more you know and the more you can’t unsee. 

For new reenactors, and seasoned reenactors getting more in the weeds, this can be a frustrating experience. "Can't someone just tell me the right thing?" "But Sutler 1 told me that this was correct and now you're telling me this is wrong." Many get frustrated at what feels like all around general negativity. Everything they do is "wrong". Their excitement wanes and they move on to other hobbies.  

Criticism Has No Limitations, Reality Does

If you've ever experienced watching a historical film with a history nerd, I mean, enthusiast, you're probably familiar with this script. "Those helmets are wrong." "They didn't have that type of tank until 1944."  "These hairstyles are 60 years out of date for that time period!" Typically, this is done in good fun. People watch and enjoy the movie.  But some people take this seriously without really considering what they are looking at.

A historical film is a huge undertaking. Here is only a fraction of what needs to be taken into consideration during a movie’’s production:

Is the script reasonably historically accurate while also being entertaining and understandable to a modern audience? 

What is the budget for:

    Costuming

    Hair and Makeup

    Props

    Actors

    Extras

    Animals and trainers

    Special Effects

Then there are supply issues, time constraints, weather issues, scheduling conflicts, location rentals, travel expenses etc. 

It isn’t as simple as “someone on that crew should have asked an expert like me!” Reenactings are the same. Criticism has no limitations but reality does. I always say that reenactments are public theater: You get who comes out with the resources they have.

The Forest for the Trees

How can people trust us if our clothing is wrong? Would you believe that many things are wrong at reenactments but because there aren’t as many experts out there as clothing experts. As a foodie, I’ve seen wrong food at every reenactment I’ve ever been to. But it didn’t bother me because in 99% of instances it’s a distinction that only matters to me and I would rather people eat and show cooking techniques that are foreign to the younger generations than to harp on if the apples are the most appropriate for the time period and location (within reason, of course).

So many things in reenacting are a distinction without a difference to 99% of the spectators who come to visit. Many of them do not even know what event is being depicted let alone if the pants should really be Pantone 14-0952 TCX or Pantone 17-0839 TCX.  It is our job to pop our heads out of the forest and help draw people in. They are where you are when you first started. Help give them the bird’s eye view before bogging people down with details and hurt feelings. 

Please give people grace, keep educating, and help create a stronger community.  How can we help people know better and do better? I’ll write a post about that soon and link it here. 

————————

Note: The grape thought experiment is entirely fictional. There is not one correct grape that is appropriate for any time or place. I mean it. Stop researching. 

A Tale of Two Viruses: Historical Negationism in the Historical Community

I have taken a step back from all things historical, not only because of Covid-19 but also because of the alarming frequency in which history is being used maliciously, especially among the historical community. I thought that they of all people would know the harms of historical negationism and how important it is to prevent the spread of it.

Historical Negationism is a kind of illegitimate historical revisionism (typically done by non-historians) created to support a particular political or ideological agenda. It's has been heavily featured in the past 5 years in fake news, memes, and on social media. 

These might look familiar:

Click Here and Here to read why this is not true. 

Click Here to read why this is not okay.

News Flash:

They are also just the tip of the iceberg of the rampant historical negationism that is occurring.  Holocaust denial, "Lost Cause" Rhetoric, and "Clean Wehrmacht" myths are prevalent examples of historical negationism and how harmful historical negationism is. 

When I first saw these misconstrued historical "facts" I assumed it was a limitation of the medium. Memes can't fit a lot of text, so the whole story would never fit. My first instinct was to try and combat misinformation. Surely people wanted to know the truth and would not want to knowingly share harmful misinformation. I was wrong. 

Throughout the 16 years that I've been blogging, there has been a shift in information pathways. In college, professors would badger us that we, as future historians, would not have the issue of piecing together what happened using scant fragments but would be overloaded with primary sources. We were being trained for an entirely new problem in history: How to sift through and find truth and relevance in the overload of records left behind. This is the way I approach information.

 

What I thought was an information sorting problem is actually part of a much bigger propaganda campaign designed to confuse, cause chaos, and promote malicious causes.  Researchers have dubbed this "The Firehose of Falsehood Propaganda Model". This model uses large amounts of repetitive information to take advantage of the human subconscious, most notably, the Illusory Truth Effect, and the Continued Influence Effect. 

  

The Illusory Truth Effect - The more times you hear or see something repeated it is easier for your brain to process and thus prefer that information making it seem more credible. 

The Continued Influence Effect- What people hear first has a lasting influence on how people think about a subject, even if the first information they heard has been debunked. 

Memes are a great medium for historical negationism because they are inherently meant to be repeated often. 

"18th-century women caught on fire on a regular basis, due to working around fires in long skirts." "George Washington had wooden teeth." "Quilts helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad." As historians, we get frustrated that these myths won't die. Historical myths are the Continued Influence Effect and the Illusory Truth Effect at work. Should you repeat myths to debunk them? That is still up for debate. Ultimately, these myths don't hurt people and our time should be focused on stopping history from being used maliciously.   

What Living Historians Can Do To Help

- Share Responsibly. 

You do not have time to fact-check everything you share. Make an effort to fact-check things that make you upset and things that can impact people's lives. I don't expect anyone to fact-check cute cat stories but you should fact-check anything that might be using history with a social or political agenda to see if the entirety of the occurrence is present. If you don't have time to check, it's better to just not share it. 

- Share the Real Story. 

If you see historical negationism, take some time to share the real story. Remember, the Illusory Truth effect works both ways. There is evidence that you should not repeat falsehoods unnecessarily but can mention them when debunking.  

-Report to the platform.

If you see something harmful, report it. No, this is not censorship, this is moderation. If you see something harmful at historically themed events, it should be reported to the event organizers.        

-Teach Real History. Many of us get monomaniacal with clothing and small details that we often forget to teach the history and culture part of history. This is where having nonpersonal interpretation can be helpful and necessary. You may not get a chance to tell spectators the whole story but posters, pamphlets, displays, and books can help give the proper context for what people see at historically themed events. Your information can be the information that sticks which allows people the ability to think more critically about new information they encounter about a topic. 

- Teach Critical Thinking in History- Many people have a poor understanding of history and historiography. Be sure to let people see how history is formed and why critical thinking and legitimate revisionism in history are important. These teachings can prevent the Illusory Truth Effect.         

- Include Reminders- Studies show that a simple reminder that all of the information that a person will be encountering should be taken with a grain of salt is effective at minimizing the Illusory Truth Effect, even if the reminder is given a few days in advance. Historically themed events should come with a disclaimer that contextualizes who the people are that are presenting information to the public and where this information comes from. 

As a living historian, it's your job to tell spectators about yourself. Are you a trained historian, public historian, research assistant, or someone who is very interested in history? All are welcome and valuable but that information should be offered upfront.  

Thank you for reading to the end. If you think this post is useful, please share!