Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Historical reenactments'

University of Technology, Sydney.
The reenactment of the past itself has a history. This thesis analyses self-styled 'historical reenactors' in the West and traces the history of the broader phenomenon of historical reenactment in the Australian context from the late nineteenth century to the present. The historical section focuses on several events significant in Australian cultural memory that have been reenacted over time. Historical parades, pageants and reenactments dramatically narrate culturally specific historical sensibilities and demonstrate inter and cross cultural exchanges of historical consciousness. I contend such performances have had a significant position in the formation of popular history since the late nineteenth century and that there is a continuity of conventions in performing the past. I have addressed the position of reenactments as part of a constant interest in the status and power of history in, and for, popular culture. I have shown how a form of history that operated for the public was transformed into a form of history operated by the public in a struggle for authority over the form and content of history. Historical reenactments have been useful avenues for elites to create didactic spectacular history that have also offered the opportunity for marginalised groups to make social and political gains through their participation in the making of public history. Considering the significance of reenactments in the formation of a distinctly Australian public history, they have received little attention from historians. As ephemera, reenactments sit awkwardly in the explanatory frameworks regularly used by historians. Using methodologies from a range of academic disciplines such as performance studies, anthropology and cultural studies, this thesis documents and interrogates the specific form of historical reenactment. In the sections of this thesis that analyse contemporary historical reenactments, I use my own experience as an historical reenactor of more than ten years in an ethnographic approach that reflects on the pleasures, promises and problems 'dressing up as if from the past' offers. In this history I draw continuities between past reenactments and present practices that assist in understanding historical reenactment as a specific cultural form. This thesis contends that reenactments over time have been characterised by three main elements: a collapsing of past and present, an avenue for a 'connectedness' with the past through a sensual experience, and an essential relationship with I authenticity.'

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of California, Davis, 2004.
Joint doctoral program with California State University, Fresno. Degree granted in Educational Leadership. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web. (Restricted to UC campuses)

This research advances the current state of knowledge in the field of early tape music both empirically and methodologically. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact that the electronic medium exerted in the musical thinking of Roberto Gerhard, one of the most outspoken, prolific and influential composers in the Spanish diaspora whose musical legacy, for the most part unknown, is a major landmark in the early history of electroacoustic music.1 Gerhard’s personal tape collection, one of the largest historical archives of its kind reported in the literature, is exceptional for both its antiquity (50+-year-old tapes) and its abundance of production materials. Through the digitisation and analysis of the composer’s tape collection this research argues that the empirical study of audio documents sets out a basis for a broader understanding of textual processes. More specifically, the research demonstrates that the reconstruction of works based on magnetic tape sketches is a powerful method to advance the understanding of early tape music. This research also examines Gerhard’s sound compositions in relation to the post-war context in which they were composed. Finally, this research presents performance documentation that proposes an approach to the electroacoustic music repertoire in which creativity is not at odds with rigor and critical discernment demonstrating that archival study can be closely aligned to the concept of re-enactment.

Marie-Antoinette apparaît aujourd’hui aux Etats-Unis comme un personnage éblouissant. Tout comme la Chimère, monstre mythologique auquel la propagande révolutionnaire l’avait comparée, Marie-Antoinette présente une image composite aux facettes apparemment inconciliables : celle d’une reine méprisante et scélérate et d’héroïne tragique. Si l’image de la reine est évoquée de manière acerbe pour critiquer la conduite de certains politiciens ou célébrités, on la cite avec compassion pour illustrer le féminisme dont elle serait une martyre. Symbole d’une idée du luxe « français », Marie-Antoinette serait une reine de la mode, mais aussi un outil de comparaison mesurant le dédain des plus riches. L’historien, le journaliste ou l’économiste se saisit alors avec libéralité d’une des facettes pour renforcer son point de vue et proposer une vision tantôt critique, tantôt bienveillante du personnage, créant une image déconcertante, contradictoire et sublimée de Marie-Antoinette. Nous étudierons les occurrences de la figure de Marie-Antoinette aux Etats-Unis aujourd’hui dans les écrits universitaires mais aussi dans la culture populaire de manière à comprendre que son utilisation travestit l’Histoire et promulgue la réussite économique comme valeur ou vice de notre société contemporaine. Nous montrerons que cette double facette provient d’un personnage fictif unique, d’une Chimère, selon la définition du Larousse d’« illusion séduisante mais irréelle ». Disséquant cette séduction dans différentes images de la reine, nous tenterons d’expliquer leur formation et leur filiation, portant tout d’abord une attention particulière à la Nouvelle Orléans où un culte est dédié à son image confuse et plurielle
Today Marie-Antoinette appears in the USA as a dazzling character. Propaganda from the French revolution compared her to the Chimera, and she indeed shares some traits with this mythological monster. Heterogeneous and composite, she is a wicked queen and a tragic heroin. Media outlets invoke the queen`s name to accuse politicians and celebrities, while also painting her as a compassionate figure and portrait of feminism. Symbol of French luxury, Marie-Antoinette would be a queen of fashion and a comparative tool for gauging contempt of the wealthiest. The historian, the journalist or the economist can each seize one facet of the queen’s images to offer a critical or benevolent personal view of the queen. Thus, creating a confused, contradictory, and sublimed picture of the character. Stating that her use distorts history, we will study the queen’s occurrence in modern USA in popular culture and scholarly works. A symbol of economic success, she provides opposing guidelines for definitions of success. We will show that these factors come from a fictive figure, a Chimera in its definition of an unreal monster. We will then explore the different images of the queen to understand where they originated, spotlighting New Orleans, where her image is particularly influential

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004.
Advisor: Dr. Mary Karen Dahl, Florida State University, School of Theatre. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 13, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

The Renaissance festival is an interactive venue which utilizes popular and fantastic views of history to encourage audience members to participate in the performance. While these festivals share much in common with living history presentations, the open use of myth and romanticized history at the Renaissance festival, while sometimes criticized, allows the festivals to incorporate people in the performance in ways that other venues cannot. Living histories, usually heritage sites, seek to confirm and validate identity or membership within a specific community. Their methods of presentation leave little room for playing with or questioning these historically predetermined roles. The Renaissance festival, based as it is in a much earlier history and a romanticized one at that, creates more flexible group and individual identification. Because the Renaissance festival encourages the exploration of identity and community beyond those determined by the history of the historical performance, it carries the potential to change the ways in which individuals view themselves, performance, history, and community. It does so through encouraging new constructions of identity for the individual as well as new group affiliations based on interpersonal interactions, commerce, and myth. These will be viewed through the use of three case studies of the Scarborough Faire, Texas Renaissance Festival, and Michigan Renaissance Festival. Participation in these performances can encourage a questioning of how community and identity can be built and what they mean.
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This thesis is about white Australian history and public spectacle. It analyses the representation of white colonisation—'heroic history'—in elaborate public spectacles which were staged in Sydney in 1938 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of white settlement. The uses of history in these spectacles are discussed in terms of their structure, organisation, opposition, and relationship to a wider field of historical representation. The operations of two kinds of heroic history are examined in detail: visionary history, to do with the visionary anticipation of white Australia by singular historical individuals, notably Arthur Phillip; and pioneering history, concerned with the experience of settlers on the frontier.

In analyzing the 1989 bicentennial in Paris, my point of departure has been that the French government, faced with the cool reception to the memory of the Revolution of 1789, was trying to make revolutionary heritage relevant to contemporary concerns, by using allegorical techniques of spatializing and visualizing history while consequently (yet paradoxically, since it ran against their intentions) effecting a smooth passage for this heritage into the world of commodity and spectacle. To analyze this dilemma, I investigated the mechanisms of representation and the tension between spectacle and politically engaged imagery. Drawing from the work of Water Benjamin, the thesis proposed to use allegory as a mode of political criticism and redemptive interpretation. The analysis of the programming of events, for example, revealed that it contained a moral tale of sacrifice, and praised the power of the memory of the Revolution to form a community, not based on ethnicity or shared history but on shared ideals. The analysis of the use of collage in the Bastille Day Parade revealed that it reworked Republican notions of ‘fraternity in a post-colonial era to reflect contemporary discussions of métissage and take a position on its relationship to democracy. By looking at this commemoration allegorically, the double meanings inscribed in the bicentennial program, exhibits, monuments and parade can be unpacked. But the allegorical critique is violent, it does not carefully excavate layers of meaning through a gentle and constructive hermeneutic circle, it requires that the objects that are being contemplated be in fragments. As the allegorist reassembles the fragments into new meaningful constellations, the constructions remain open, driven by the impossibility of recovering what has been lost, always pointing to the instability of meaning. The analysis of the commemoration recognized that commodification and spectacularisation happen, but through reversal it also showed that the 1989 bicentennial draws from a constantly evolving relationship to memory which allows for investment on the part of the public. Because the commemoration is a powerful form of visualizing and spatializing history that occurs in public spaces, many provocative images were taken up by the press and written about, which ultimately reconfigured present-day discussions about democracy and citizenship.

abstract: This thesis will examine how the Middle Ages are historically interpreted and portrayed in the United States. In order to keep this study within reasonable bounds, the research will exclude films, television, novels, and other forms of media that rely on the Pre-Modern period of European history for entertainment purposes. This thesis will narrow its focus on museums, non-profit organizations, and other institutions, examining their methods of research and interpretation, the levels of historical accuracy or authenticity they hold themselves to, and their levels of success. This thesis ultimately hopes to prove that the medieval period offers the same level of public interest as popular periods of American history. This focus on reenactment serves to illustrate the need for an American audience to form a simulated connection to a historical period for which they inherently lack geographic or cultural memory. The utilization of hyperreality as described by Umberto Eco lends itself readily to this historic period, and plays to the American desire for total mimetic immersion and escapism. After examining the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition of medieval history as high art and culture, the thesis focuses on historical reenactment, as it offers a greater level of visitor interaction, first by analyzing R.G. Collingwood’s definition of “reenactment” and it’s relation to the modern application in order to establish it as a veritable academic practice. The focus of the thesis then turns to the historical interpretation/reenactment program identified here as historical performance, which uses trained actors in controlled museum conditions to present historically accurate demonstrations meant to bring the artifacts on display to simulated life. Beginning with the template first established by the Royal Armories Museum in the United Kingdom, a comparative study utilizing research and interviews highlights the interpretative methods of the Frazier History Museum, and those of the Higgins Armory Museum. By comparing both museum’s methods, a possible template for successfully educating the American public about the European Middle Ages; while a closer examination of the Frazier Museum’s survival compared to the Higgins Armory’s termination may illustrate what future institutions must do or avoid to thrive.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis History 2015

archives@tulane.edu
Today Marie-Antoinette appears in the USA as a dazzling character. Propaganda from the French revolution compared her to the Chimera, and she indeed shares some traits with this mythological monster. Heterogeneous and composite, she is both a wicked queen and a tragic heroin. Media outlets invoke her name to criticize politicians and celebrities, while also painting her as a compassionate figure and paragon of feminism. A symbol of French luxury, Marie-Antoinette is a queen of fashion and a comparative tool for gauging contempt of the wealthiest. The historian, journalist or economist can seize upon one facet of her to offer a critical or benevolent personal view, thus creating a confused, contradictory, and sublime picture of her. Claiming that this use of her images distorts history, we will study the queen’s occurrence in modern USA in popular culture and scholarly works. A symbol of economic prosperity, she provides opposing guidelines for definitions of success. We will show that these factors come from a fictive figure, a Chimera in its definition of an unreal monster. We will then explore the different manifestations of the queen to understand where they originated, spotlighting New Orleans, where her image is particularly influential. We will also explore American and world images, showing how US medias and film industry influence the world’s understanding of the character.
1
Guillaume Tabet

Historical fencing represents an interesting leisure time activity that thousands of people in the Czech Republic devote, most of them joining historical fencing groups. There is a relatively strong hierarchy within a number of groups. The main goal of the thesis is to reveal mechanisms, by which the hierachies in the particular group are generated, maintained, how these hierarchies affect the behaviour of individuals and how an individual can move up and down in the group's hierarchy. The secondary goal of the thesis is to focus on the role of gender in relation to group hierarchies and how is gender done in a group. To get the data qualitative research methods of participant observation and semi-structured interviews are used. The thesis is supplemented by a photo documentation. Theoretical framework used in the research is mainly Bourdieu's capitals and the subculture capital. In addition the concept of authenticity became important during the research. Based on the data the most important capitals are objecitified and embodied subcultural capital, physical capital and social capital. For subcultural studies is very typical the engagement in the subculture, in this case subcultural engagement proved to be important mainly for the non-fighting members of the group. Within the group gender has not...

En 1925, les Kunas (Gunas), autochtones du nord-est du Panama, se soulevèrent en armes afin de contrer les politiques assimilationnistes du gouvernement national. Première étape dans un long processus d’affirmation identitaire et de revendications territoriales, ce soulèvement est aujourd’hui connu sous le nom de Révolution kuna (Revolución Dule). Considéré de nos jours comme un symbole des luttes autochtones pour l’autodétermination et l’autonomie politique, cet épisode historique est grandement célébré dans le territoire de Kuna Yala (Gunayala). À Uggubseni, scène principale du soulèvement de 1925, la commémoration prend la forme d’une reconstitution historique où, pendant plus d’une semaine, les villageois reconstruisent le scénario révolutionnaire. Cette commémoration particulière est l’objet du présent travail de recherche, par lequel nous tentons d’analyser comment est remémorée et interprétée aujourd’hui la Révolution kuna. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes d'abord penchés sur l’événement même de la commémoration. Une analyse de sa forme nous amena à considérer l’ensemble commémoratif comme un nouveau rite au sein de la ritualité kuna. Nous argumentons que par sa forme carnavalesque, la commémoration permet aux villageois de repenser la relation dialectique entre l’État panaméen et l’autonomie kuna, de même qu’elle sert d’exutoire aux tensions internes. Ensuite, nous nous sommes intéressés aux diverses interprétations de cette étape de l’histoire kuna et panaméenne afin de cerner les différents intérêts impliqués dans la commémoration du soulèvement kuna. Enfin, le cœur de ce travail porte sur le rôle de la mémoire collective dans la construction et la réitération d'un discours identitaire, et ce, en analysant comment la mémoire de la révolution est transmise, reçue, interprétée et utilisée aujourd'hui.
In 1925, the Kunas (Gunas), an aboriginal group in northeastern Panama, rose up in arms to fight the assimilationist policies of the national government. First step in a long process of identity recognition and land claims, this uprising is now known as the Kuna Revolution (Revolución Dule). Considered today as a symbol of the indigenous struggles for self- determination and political autonomy, this historic episode is the centre of important festivities in the territory of Kuna Yala (Gunayala). In Uggubseni, where the uprising of 1925 mainly took place, the commemoration takes the form of an historical reconstruction where, for nearly a week, the villagers re-enact the revolutionary scenario. This commemoration is the subject of my research, where I examine how the Kuna Revolution is remembered and interpreted in Uggubseni today. The first question addressed in this thesis concerns how the revolution is commemorated. An analysis of its form leads us to look at the commemoration as a new Kuna ritual. I argue that, by taking a carnival form, the commemoration allows villagers to rethink the dialectical relationship between the Panamanian state and Kuna autonomy, and at the same time serves as an outlet for internal tensions in the community. I then raise the question of to what exactly is being commemorated in this ritual. In doing so, I analyse the different interpretations of this episode in Kuna and Panamanian history and identify the various interests involved in the commemoration of the Kuna uprising. Finally, I examine the role of collective memory in the construction and reiteration of a discourse of ethnicity, analyzing how the memory of the revolution is transmitted, received, interpreted and used today.
En 1925, los Kunas (Gunas), indígenas del noreste de Panamá, se levantaron en armas en contra de las políticas asimilativas del gobierno nacional. Primera etapa de un largo proceso de afirmación identitaria y de reivindicaciones territoriales, ese levantamiento se conoce hoy en día como la Revolución Kuna (o Dule). Partiendo de considerar ese evento como símbolo de las luchas indígenas para el reconocimiento, la autodeterminación y la autonomía política, en este proyecto de investigación se propone estudiar cómo se celebra, se recuerda y se interpreta hoy en día tal etapa histórica. Concretamente, enfocamos nuestro estudio en la comunidad de Uggubseni, que fue la escena principal de la insurrección de 1925 y donde cada año los comuneros representan su historia, celebrando el aniversario de la Revolución Kuna en forma de una reconstitución histórica. Proponemos acercarnos primero al evento mismo de conmemoración. A través del análisis de la forma hemos llegado a considerarlo como un nuevo rito dentro de la ritualidad kuna. Sostenemos que por su forma carnavalesca, la conmemoración permite a los comuneros repensar la relación dialéctica entre la autonomía kuna y el estado panameño y a la vez resolver tensiones internas en la comunidad. Nos hemos interesado luego por las diversas interpretaciones de la Revolución Kuna, etapa importante de la historia kuna y panameña, para entender los distintos intereses implicados en los eventos conmemorativos. En fin, la preocupación principal de este trabajo se centra en el papel de la memoria colectiva en la construcción y reiteración de un discurso identitario, analizando cómo el recuerdo de la Revolución Kuna se transmite, recibe, interpreta y utiliza hoy en día.