#Cultural history

[discrepancybot]

Recording cultural history.

When the American government set out to erase indigenous culture, one woman set out to save tribal music, traveling far and wide with her cylinder phonograph, trousers, and bow tie. This is her story.

[racefortheironthrone]

I was reading your yeomen tag and saw the term knave refering to someone bellow a yeoman. But what is a knave?

As I’ve discussed in the past, a lot of our insulting terms for people started out as class signifiers:

a villain was originally a villein (another term for serf).

a knave was a servant (often the "knave" and the "knight" were opposing pairs) but also a low-status and thus dishonorable person.

likewise, "flunky," "minion," "lickspittle" and similar terms all originally were different (mostly insulting) terms for servants.

"vagrants," "vagabonds," and "sturdy beggars" were all descriptions of homeless people, either who were seen as inherently criminal and dangerous because they were disconnected from the feudal system. There is a strong crossover to anti-Romani/anti-Zigany slurs, as well as the "rootless cosmopolitan" variant of anti-semitism, in this category.

similarly, "bumpkins," "yokels," "rubes," "hicks," "rednecks," etc. were all insulting terms for people from rural areas, usually denoting their lack of education, sophistication, and their working in outdoor manual labor.

for some gendered versions, "sluts" and "slatterns" originally had connotations of being dirty, unkempt, and being a low-ranked servant like a scullery or kitchen maid (i.e, they're dirty because they're doing "the dirty work").

upper-class Brits still use "pleb" (plebian) as an insult today.

[mllebleue]

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[mswyrr]

Fascinating article on Pamela Colman Smith, the artist who did all the gorgeous, richly symbolic designs for the widely used "Raider-Waite" Tarot deck and didn't receive credit or appropriate financial compensation for it.

[marta-bee]

I've been thinking about the cleanup after Helene, and while the material needs are so very important, what I'm really grieving just now is the loss of place, and the loss of story that comes with it.

See, so much of Appalachia, at least the corner of southern Appalachia I'm familiar with, is bound up by an oral history, and it's situated in a certain place and in a nexus of particular people as your neighbors. Which isn't to say Southerners don't write, or that Appalachian Southerners in particular don't write. But somehow the story changes. There's an ineffable quality that I loved, hearing scandals and ghost stories and all sorts of local accountings shared at the church youth group camp-out or family BBQ's or over beers sitting on someone's back porch.

And now there's whole small towns, places that almost don't deserve that name, that are just gone and that probably aren't coming back, or if they are, they'll be different. It seems like such a small thing to be struck by. But it weighs heavy on my heart tonight.

So if I may offer some suggestions aside from donating to the recovery (which everyone absolutely should do if they can) : Read an Appalachian story.

The Bitter Southerner is a favorite podcast of mine, though they've not updated in years. The season two episodes "Progress, Heartbreak & Art: The TVA" and "Hillbillies Need No Elegy" seem particularly on point. And the TVA one tells the stories of some real bangers of local women. Just remembering those stories makes me smile.

I've not read it yet, but the way people talk about it in that second episode makes me think "Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy" (ed. Edward Karschner) is also worth a read. Just on general principles with J.D. Vance in the cultural bloodstream, but perhaps now more than ever.

"Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity and Community" (Amy Clark) was more nonfiction than story, but still really interesting.

"Ghosts and Haunts from the Appalachian Foothills: Stories and Legends" (Linda Crider) has lots of good local history and .... what do we call urban legends when there's no urban at hand? rural legends? ... Particularly fun in this our season of the spooky.

"A Place Called District 12: Appalachian Geography and Music in The Hunger Games" (Thomas Paradis) This one I haven't read yet, but judging from this interview it might be interesting for people wanting to tap into the region through more fannish lenses.

Honestly, I'm grasping a little at straws here. If anyone has anything worth reading, please let me know so I can add it to the list.

Also, at the risk of being too flippant, I'm wondering if it might be time to take a crack at reading Vulgarweed's and htebazytook's "The Bone Fiddle." Not that there's ever a bad time, I suppose.

Seriously. Seek out these stories if you can, always but especially now, and if you have any good recommendations along those lines let me know.

[newhistorybooks]

"This book is one of the best studies written in any language about the “memory wars” led by imperialistic Russia against Ukraine since the early nineteenth century. This book, based on a meticulous research of the letters, written by the iconic figures for Ukrainian identity (Mykola Hohol, Taras Shevchenko, Lesia Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, and Volodymyr Vynnychenko), is a fascinating historical-philological study, which represents a unique scholarly analysis of the very important and sometime forgotten (especially by mainstream historians) history of the contested memory of Ukraine and Ukrainian national identity vs. the imperial Russian/Soviet attempts to suppress and replace them with the Russian/Soviet cultural models. This book will be must-read for any student of Ukrainian history and literature."

[huariqueje]

Fjällgatan 38    -  Tomas Mandel

Swedish, b. 1923 -

Oil on canvas ,  59 x 49 cm.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why human culture became monogamous

Let me talk about one thing: The reason for the prevailance of monogamy these days. Because I think a lot of people are not quite aware of this.

If you are monogamous, this is not a slight against you - it is simply about the history of it.

Because here is the thing: Homo Sapiens as a species is not monogamous. And all that we can say about our biology so far is, that we are not even a seasonally monogamous species.

To explain: There are species, that are monogamous, or seasonally monogamous. In a monogamous species, animals mate for life. And once they have mated, they will not be interested in any other animal anymore. We actually see this behavior most often in different birds, like some swans and penguins.

There are also species, who are seasonally monogamous. Again, this is mostly seen in birds. Seasonally monogamous species mate once per mating circle and then again do not experience any interest in potential other partners.

The reason that this is mostly seen in birds is probably an evolutionary adaption based on the fact that with birds at least one partner needs to keep the eggs warm, so that the other partner needs to bring in food to the nest.

Homo Sapiens meanwhile are not that. Homo Sapiens do experience attraction to people other than their current partner. And in fact there is a lot of biological evidence, that biologically speaking we have evolved to live in groups and within these groups just fuck whoever.

Biologists have pointed out that the fact that our bodies produce oxytocine in response to sex, which builds trust and produces generally positive feelings towards others. This does seem like an evolutionary adaption to produce closer knit groups.

We can say this, because we can see the same in bonobos - one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

Biologists also assume, that our moaning during sex is actually an adaption to invite others to join us.

And of course we do just know that we will just randomly fall in love and feel attracted to other people independent of our romantic status right now.

So, why is our society geared towards monogamy?

The answer is simply: Patriarchy.

See, monogamy is mostly a result of the patriarchy. Which is also why monogamy mostly sprang up in patriarchal cultures, while not being that prevalent in matriarchal or more egalitarian cultures.

Patriarchy only emerged once we settled down and started owning land. Why exactly it sprang up, we do not really know, but we do know that it ran into one problem: It relied on the patrilinear succession and inheritance. And that is a bit more complicated than matrilinear succession, right?

Because a woman will always know who her children are. It is quite easy to know, given that the woman is the one pressing the child out of her uterus.

A man meanwhile? Well, he cannot know who his children are in a world before paternity tests. At least not unless he makes sure that the woman birthing the child has slept with nobody but him. And hence: Monogamy. At least enforced monogamy for women.

This is also what led to all those other ways of men controlling women. Controlling how they dress and shaming them for whatever thing they might do, that men find attractive. Because it all has to do with this patriarchal fear of not knowing whether a child is yours or not.

Of course it has to be noted that originally this only led to polygyny. So a man, who would take several wives, but control the wives so that they would not sleep with another men. But we do assume these days, that the reason it led to monogamy was, that polygyny made the societies too instable, because it would naturally mean, that some men would not have any women and that was not good.

Hence... Monogamy was what people started to settle on more and more. Including this idea that men somehow owned women.

If you feel more comfortable with monogamy... Sure, fine. Good for you. But I think we really should speak more openly about the fact, that monogamy is something that is based completely in the patriarchy and in the end mostly exists to suppress women. For no other reason.

[rosielindy]

I encountered a self-proclaimed witch doctor this week. Among other gifts she bestowed was this book recommendation. I got it from my local “L-eye-barry” and am on a journey further back in time than I’ve ever travelled before. I like that the framing of science and human culture starts on the first page.

[claraameliapond]

Lauren Booth: "Now here's another proof that the Zionists do not belong there. If you go there and you feel this, much less if you feel you own the land, could you destroy 750,000 ancient olive trees? Could you absolutely decimate an are where ancient stones where prophets are and where profits have walked? No. Not if you believed in any way in a love for that land. The Zionists are alien bodies, are viruses in a beautiful body - they're a virus because a virus kills. A virus does damage. And people are going to freak out : 'oh my god, you're calling them viruses ' but - show me what good they've done for the land of Palestine. ..."

She's completely right.

You can't claim to have a spiritual connection to the land, that land and it can only be that land, because of the spirituality connection, and then destroy it.

If you base your entire claim on the land on a spiritual value, you render your entire claim void the second you don't respect that land that you claim is yours through a spiritual connection. The second you destroy its native plants and habitats, native animals, ancient buildings and architecture directly connected to that spirituality you claim is so sacred, and is the whole reason for this, you reveal yourselves.

The ancient buildings, architecture, the land and nature on it, the very things that are the cultural history of that spirituality that should by definition be sacred to you, the second you disrespect and destroy that, you expose the truth of your intentions. And what this has always been about.

Decolonise Palestine now

Full interview

[germanpostwarmodern]

For almost 10 years between 1929 and 1938 theoretician and architectural historian Sigfried Giedion worked on a book project that only peripherally dealt with architecture and eventually also remained unpublished: „Die Entstehung des heutigen Menschen“, the emergence of modern-day man. It was an ambitious project spread over approximately three volumes dealing with different topics related to the emergence of modern-day man. In Giedion’s archive at the ETH Zurich the material related to the book project has survived and Sokratis Georgiadiscin collaboration with Almut Grunewald edited and annotated them. The result is has recently published by @gtaverlag

In the first volume, entitled “Construction and Chaos”, Giedion recounts the discoveries and inventions from the 17th century up to the First World War, effectively the emergence of the industrialized world and the human being within it. It is the most complete of the three volumes and through Georgiadis’ introductory text receives additional political, sociological and ultimately intellectual context that especially with regard to the Industrial Revolution is helpful.

In the second volume Giedion finally deals with architecture, namely in the form of social building tasks, and thus one of the most discussed topics of modern architecture in the first half of the 20th century. For this Giedion collected examples of German, French and British housing designs, a hint at his overall focus on Europe.

In the shortest fragment, dealing with the prevailing taste, Giedion takes to the popular art of the 19th century and reveals his bourgeois perspective on his research subject.

Although sympathetic with Giedion, Georgiadis keeps his distance and critically discusses his conceptions and also uncovers his shortcomings, e.g. the underlying assumption that a division between thought and feeling characterized the industrialization: Georgiadis proves that this notion is insufficient to explain the actual hardships of the industrial labor forces and typical of a bourgeois point of view. On the other hand the book closes a gap in Giedion’s list of publications and due to its unfinishedness offers interesting perspectives on a major thinker’s trains of thought and research methods. A fascinating read, most of all because of Georgiadis’ brilliant annotations.

[dendro80]

Old church of Särna. The oldest parts of the church are from 1684-1697.

July 2024

Särna gammelkyrka, Särna, Älvdalen, Dalarna, Sweden

[racefortheironthrone]

Maybe this is too broad, but wondering if there's a better term than "conspiracy theorist" to describe some large figures in the ongoing national discourse? Not that "fluoride in the drinking crowd" were serious thinkers or total harmless, but am I alone is finding "conspiracy theory" too quaint and mild to describe how mainstream rather fringe these things are and also how totally evidence-free and something just plain dumb they can also be?

I don’t think conspiracy theories have ever been quaint and mild.

Think about the history of antisemitism from medieval blood libels to 19th century theories of Jewish financial cabals to the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” dreamed up by Tsarist agents-provocateur that took the theory global and spawned untold numbers of imitators, to Hitler’s invention of “Judeo-Bolshevism” that married traditional antisemitism to anti-Communism and nationalist populism. Conspiracy theories one and all, but fully capable of spawning pogroms and fascist dictatorships.

Likewise, we think of Anti-Masonic or Illuminati conspiracy theories as self-evidently ridiculous and harmless, but we forget that they were used by cultural conservatives in church and state to wage culture wars on the Enlightenment, liberalism, secularism, democracy, every revolution from America to France to 1848 and beyond, feminism and almost every social movement of the 18th and 19th century. People died or were surveilled or were sent to prison, political parties were formed or banned, and conservatism itself was founded in the name of “poisoning the minds of the lower orders” to inoculate them from the influence of secret societies.

As Dan Olsen has shown, even seemingly benign conspiracy theories like the JFK assassination cover-up or the Moon landing was faked or the earth is flat can hide much more malign motivations, just waiting for the opportunity to radicalize and proselytize:

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

Feast Days: Martinmas

Anthony Van Dyck ~ "St. Martin Dividing His Cloak" (c.1618)

Happy Martinmas!

Today marks the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, who was bishop there from 371 CE until his death in 397 CE. He is the patron saint of many things, including: against poverty, against alcoholism, the poor, cavalry, Buenos Aires, quartermasters, wool-weavers, soldiers, and tailors, as well as wine growers, makers, and sellers. Whew! He must be very busy.

Keep reading for info about his life, a snitch goose, where the word 'chapel' came from, and how to tell what the weather will be like at Christmas.

His Life

Much of what we know about Martin comes from his hagiographer, Sulpicius Severus, who includes some 'artistic license' that is common in chronicles of the time, and therefore must be taken with a grain of salt.

Martin was born anywhere from 316-336 CE in Savaria, now Szombathely, Hungary. His father was a senior officer in the Roman Army, and as such was given land in northern Italy for his retirement. At the age of 10, Martin attended a Christian church against the wishes of his parents, and became interested in Christianity. Because of his father's status as a veteran, he was required to join the cavalry at 15. Dates surrounding his military service are shaky, but Severus states that, during his time stationed in Gaul, he was riding on horseback when he encountered a poor man with threadbare clothes. Having compassion on him, Martin used his sword to cut his own woolen cloak in two and gave the other half to the man. That night, Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream, surrounded with angels and wearing half of the cloak. After this, Martin was baptised as a Christian. Though other miracles of his are recorded, this tale is the one most associated with Martin's life. It fits in with depictions of God or his angels in disguise as a beggar, traveller, &c., and is also a narrative found in many other religions and traditions. (Biblical examples include Abraham feeding the three angels in Genesis 18).

Martin dips from the army ~ fresco by Simone Martini (c.1320s)

With his new faith now firmly a part of his life, Martin decided to leave the army. Before a battle near modern-day Worms, Germany, Martin went before Emperor Julian and refused his salary, saying, "I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight." They threw him in prison for this, but due to ye olde extenuating circumstances, he was released and discharged without further incident.

Martin made his way to modern-day Tours in France and declared himself a hermit, becoming a disciple and friend of Hilary of Tours. Because Christianity was Not OK™ in the Roman Empire, he and Hilary faced a lot of discrimination, including corporal punishment and exile. After converting his mother to Christianity and having numerous adventures, like living pretty much alone on an island, he and Hilary settled down in and around Poitiers, where Martin established Ligugé Abbey. It is the oldest known monastery in Europe! Martin made it his home base while he preached throughout western Gaul.

In 371 CE, the bishop of Tours died, and Martin was considered a good candidate for a successor. However, he liked living as a hermit and monk, and they resorted to tricking him into coming to Tours and then forced him to become the bishop. Legend holds that he tried to hide in a barn, but a honking goose gave him away. Hence he is the patron saint of geese, which I think is adorable. Martin proved true to his hermit ways, living very simply in huts with his monks. He established a rudimentary parish system, through which he visited different Christian communities and established monasteries. He was very determined in his efforts to convert local Pagans, as well as protect Christian institutions from unfriendly sects in the area, and in some cases he was successful. He died in 371 CE, already a venerated man. His popularity was ensured by his adoption by various French royals and by the Third Republic as a national symbol.

Martin has been portrayed by several famous artists, including Van Dyck, Peter Bruegel the Elder, and El Greco. He is usually portrayed on horseback, dividing his cloak for the poor man, though occasionally he can be seen riding a donkey. This references another story in his life about the time where he met the Devil and outwitted him. It also connects him to the image of Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem (recounted in Mark 1:1-11).

Martinmas and its Traditions

Martin lent his legacy to a host of English words and phrases, including those relating to the word 'chapel'. Temporary buildings that held the relic of his cloak (cappa in Latin) were referred to as cappella, and hence the word 'chapel' was born. A similar thing happened to the word 'chaplain', which derived from the word for the priest in charge of the cloak.

Though the Anglo-Saxon church did celebrate St. Martin to some extent, more references to Martinmas celebrations begin to crop up after Norman Conquest of 1066, when the Frenchman William the Conqueror invaded England. Supposedly, he promised to build an abbey dedicated to Martin if his invasion of England was successful. William was very likely familiar with the early Mediaeval association of the battle-hungry rulers of France with St. Martin, and was possibly responsible for his increased popularity in England.

In England and Scotland, and indeed through much of western Europe, Martinmas became a celebration marking the culmination of the harvest and the beginning of winter. From the late fourth century through the late Middle Ages, it also served a similar purpose to Mardi Gras/Carnivale: a period of fasting was ordained for the day after Martinmas through Christmas, so Martinmas was your last chance to stuff your face for a long time! (This period later became Advent, though with much laxer rules). As such, it was a time for feasting, celebration, bonfires, getting really drunk, and even events such as bull-running, as in Stamford, Lincolnshire. It was also a time for the end-of-harvest tasks, such as sowing winter wheat and slaughtering pigs and cattle. An old English saying goes, "His Martinmas will come, as it does to every hog", meaning, "they will get their comeuppance" or "everyone dies someday". Due to Martin's association with geese, some celebrated with a roast goose, but in Britain particularly it was also popular to eat salted pork or beef. For those not rich enough to have a goose, a duck or hen would also suffice. Other traditional fare included black pudding, haggis, and the first wine of the season.

On the business side of things, Martinmas served as a quarter day in Scotland and in parts England. A quarter day was one of four days on which major legal business was conducted. Servants and labourers would be hired or let go, rent was paid, contracts would begin or end, &c. Hiring fairs would be held for agricultural labourers seeking employment, and there would also be entertainment, food, trading, and other scenes of merriment. One of the most famous Martinmas fairs was at Nottingham in England, which lasted eight days.

Like many other English holidays, there is weather folklore associated with Martinmas. To have a warm fall and winter is to have a "St. Martin's Summer". If Martinmas proves an icy day, Christmas (or the rest of the winter) will be very warm. The rhyme puts it more pithily: "If the geese at Martin's Day stand on ice, they will walk in mud at Christmas".

If you stand at the back of the church and observe the congregation on Martinmas, those with a halo of light around their heads will not be alive by next Martinmas.

Interior of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, with a funky window!

The church of St. Martin-in-the-fields in Trafalgar Square in London is named after Martin. Many people commemorated there are associated with his anti-war sentiments -- these include Vera Brittain, a memoirist and pacifist; and Dick Sheppard, founder of the Peace Pledge Union. The church also supports houseless and vulnerably housed people.

The holiday gradually fell out of practice due to the English Reformation (when England split from the Catholic Church throughout the 1500s) and the Interregnum (Puritan republican government, 1649-1660). The observance of Armistice Day on the same day largely overshadowed the holiday in the UK, though many regions in Western Europe still take part in traditional festivities.

Martinmas is celebrated on 12 October in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

If You're Still Interested...

"The Life of St. Martin" by Sulpicius Severus himself! (pdf)

Pot Roast Martimas Beef Recipe by Chatsworth House

Sources

Historic UK

Wikipedia (Martin of Tours)

Wikipedia (St. Martin's Day)

Fisheaters.com

The Encyclopedia of Saints by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

"Medieval English "Martinmesse": The Archaeology of a Forgotten Festival" by Martin Walsh (via jstor)

[elektrischemaidchen]

We have a little something planned for tonight ;) Let's see if it works out the way we want it to. In the meantime, I've collected a few probs, including this lovely book that I don't want to withhold from you.

It's by Hope Bridges Adams (-Lehmann), the first German woman to be allowed to take the state examination in medicine. Unfortunately, my copy is rather battered as it has been used a lot. (In another life I once studied cultural history, with a focus on female sexuality & gender in the 19th century, hence perhaps the one or other Maidchen lyrics and my dedication to Lisztomania ;)) And yes, we are planning a song about her. ;)

H.B. Adams was not only a doctor, but also a women's rights activist. She had a really difficult time at university, was constantly bullied by her male fellow students and cut off her hair and wore men's clothes so as not to attract too much attention. When she campaigned against the ban on abortion in 1914, her licence to practise medicine was summarily revoked for a time, and her reputation was completely destroyed afterwards.

Girls can be anything. Unless it's the 19th century. Or the upcoming weeks in 2025...

This book, ‘The Women's Book. A medical guide for women in the family and for women's illnesses’, was published in 1899.

Tag yourself ;) :

And although it is of course characterised by medical knowledge of the time, it is very progressive.

"Enthusiasts, fanatics and hypocrites demand the use of abstinence for reasons we can refrain from discussing here. Reasonable people do not bother with such proposals. They know that nature is a force that can no more be overthrown by theories than a mountain can be overthrown by a swarm of gnats. Least of all does the sexual instinct submit to the compulsion of any academic or religious determination. No religion, no philosophy and not even necessity has been able to suppress it. And do we want to be smarter than nature? If we imagine we are, her revenge will soon teach us how little we have understood her. If we really do succeed in depriving the species of its rights, we will sacrifice our happiness and our peace."

Bäm, burn your corset! Or not! Your choice!