My early research into this theory is getting off to a little bit of a slow start, admittedly. It's turned into a bigger undertaking than I was imagining.
As with any culture, I'm recoiling to treat it as a monolith. Having seen the misconceptions of a monolithic and unchanging Mongolian culture permeate not only history texts but also SCA reenacting, I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the basic precepts, while also not getting into the real intricacies of a culture which isn't my entire focus.
As any hobbyist, I'm prone to fall down rabbit holes of research, as well, taking me off course. I'm deeply and sincerely interested in all of the aspects of what I'm looking at, but I need to keep my focus so I'm not chasing ducks and losing where I want to go and what I really want to accomplish with this project.
To that end, I found a great article from my JSTOR searching which has given a great baseline for how Persians depicted social class during the transitional period into the Il-Khanate.
Not only does the author give the physical positioning and its relation to understood implications of social class, but also he describes the clothing (with the miniatures' images) which also help in decoding the ways in which differing classes dressed. He does this with both Persians and Mongols within the text.
I plan to use this resource to compare with my own collection of Mongols in miniatures I've cultivated on Pinterest.
I'm hoping, using the same journal's archives, to find a more recent source which does the same breakdowns. While fantastic, the source was published in 1959 and I'd like to find out if theories and practices for decoding miniatures has changed over the ensuing decades.
28 February 2014
Research Resources and Chivalry
My father is currently involved in a Master's program and so I had asked him what academic databases he had access to for help with my current endeavor. We're both residents in the greater Boston area and he told me that, with a Boston Public Library membership, I had access to JSTOR and other academic databases free of charge.
Back when I was first developing my persona, mostly doing research into names and Middle Mongolian grammar structures and naming practices (of which I'm still not entirely confident, but that is a project I will delve into at a later time), I spent a great afternoon in the records and journals archive of the BPL and, since I was there I joined the system. My membership had, in all honestly, languishing as just another card in my wallet until he reminded me of this access.
That night, I went on a JSTOR binge and pulled resources on Persian miniatures, culture and biases before, during and just after the Il-Khanid period.
At the same time, I was reaching out to other contacts I had within Society for help in direction. I owe a debt of gratitude to Facebook for making it so much easier for me to get going in everything.
From my contacts on Facebook who're playing in the SCA, I was able to get some help both directly and through "telephone".
I've been a longtime internet friend with Jabra'il Attar, who currently resides in the Outlands but is originally from Calontir. As you can imagine from his persona name, he has a Persian persona and I knew he draws his inspiration for garb from Persian miniatures, with many books -- whether academic or "coffee table" -- on the artform. He has provided me with some images of foreigners, in particular Mongols, from miniatures.
At the same time, I'm close friends with (the newly) Mistress Elinor Strangewayes. She's already proven to be a great moral support, given the size of the project I'm undertaking. I owe the ambitiousness of the project, really, to her encouragement. She's been a great sounding board for me, especially about my nerves about the project (which will get its own post).
As a recently elevated Laurel, she is still has strong contacts with her former Apprentice Siblings, some of whom are also researching Mongol cultural and arts aspects, and she is close with her former Mistress, Mistress Bess of the Northern Shores.
Mistress Elinor was chatting with Mistress Bess about my research interests and my intentions, and Mistress Bess was kind enough to send some of her research using Persian Miniature as a reference for my research.
I've chatted occasionally with Mistress Bess, but never anything in depth or serious, so I am sincerely thankful for her help, as well.
I'm finding this process, already, to be an eye opening experience regarding the helpfulness, the community and the chivalry of the Society. I've reached out for guidance and reassurance and I've gotten more than I could even ask for.
I'm humbled by the amazing qualities of everyone who's help me.
Back when I was first developing my persona, mostly doing research into names and Middle Mongolian grammar structures and naming practices (of which I'm still not entirely confident, but that is a project I will delve into at a later time), I spent a great afternoon in the records and journals archive of the BPL and, since I was there I joined the system. My membership had, in all honestly, languishing as just another card in my wallet until he reminded me of this access.
That night, I went on a JSTOR binge and pulled resources on Persian miniatures, culture and biases before, during and just after the Il-Khanid period.
At the same time, I was reaching out to other contacts I had within Society for help in direction. I owe a debt of gratitude to Facebook for making it so much easier for me to get going in everything.
From my contacts on Facebook who're playing in the SCA, I was able to get some help both directly and through "telephone".
I've been a longtime internet friend with Jabra'il Attar, who currently resides in the Outlands but is originally from Calontir. As you can imagine from his persona name, he has a Persian persona and I knew he draws his inspiration for garb from Persian miniatures, with many books -- whether academic or "coffee table" -- on the artform. He has provided me with some images of foreigners, in particular Mongols, from miniatures.
At the same time, I'm close friends with (the newly) Mistress Elinor Strangewayes. She's already proven to be a great moral support, given the size of the project I'm undertaking. I owe the ambitiousness of the project, really, to her encouragement. She's been a great sounding board for me, especially about my nerves about the project (which will get its own post).
As a recently elevated Laurel, she is still has strong contacts with her former Apprentice Siblings, some of whom are also researching Mongol cultural and arts aspects, and she is close with her former Mistress, Mistress Bess of the Northern Shores.
Mistress Elinor was chatting with Mistress Bess about my research interests and my intentions, and Mistress Bess was kind enough to send some of her research using Persian Miniature as a reference for my research.
I've chatted occasionally with Mistress Bess, but never anything in depth or serious, so I am sincerely thankful for her help, as well.
I'm finding this process, already, to be an eye opening experience regarding the helpfulness, the community and the chivalry of the Society. I've reached out for guidance and reassurance and I've gotten more than I could even ask for.
I'm humbled by the amazing qualities of everyone who's help me.
23 February 2014
Genesis
This blog is dedicated to my research exploits related to the Society for Creative Anachronism. In Society, I go by Erdene Qadajin, a resident of the East Kingdom residing in the Shire of Quintavia but primarily playing in the Barony of Stonemarche. I currently have the persona of a 14th to 16th century Mongol from deep in the Asian steppe, but no particular location as of yet.
My latest project came about from a couple different areas. First, I am admittedly a junky for being authentic. I like to know what I'm creating and putting on my body is as accurate as can be or can be afforded. I like to know that that I'm doing and how I'm doing it is a best can be represented in the culture I'm displaying. It's especially compounded by being one of a small number of the populace with a primary of persona from the Mongol tribes.
Second, I haven't been able to find very many specific resources in the SCA. Many are introductory and, while that is useful for someone who's "dipping their toes" into making Mongol garb, it becomes less useful as I've tried to develop my persona. There is extensive research and exampling on European cultures, especially Western Europe and there's a fair amount of research in Islamic cultures (Persian, Mamluk, Abbasyd, Ottoman) with its recent surge in popularity. However, the resources on an important European contact culture like the Mongols are difficult, if not impossible to find without academic library and database access.
So, I turned to Pinterest for initial inspiration. Pinterest has a wide array of visual information on Mongols in period (pre-1600) -- from extant examples to Chinese and Persian manuscripts.
As I have assembled my army of resources I noticed something peculiar:
in depictions of Mongols, they are typically shown in plain clothing. A single color deel, sometimes even lacking the second (short sleeved) deel layer.
in extant Mongol clothing from grave finds, the clothing is rich in color and pattern, often blindingly so even after centuries of degradation of fabric.
My goal in my research is two-fold and broken into large "stages".
Goal one is to figure out why the miniatures depict the Mongols in the way that they do. My primary focuses are on Persian and Chinese manuscripts -- in particular paintings -- contemporary to the Mongol invasions and occupations of those cultures.
My current theories, which are based on general guidelines, are three-fold.
First, did the artist have enough space to make the patterns associated with extant finds, in the case of miniatures
Second, did the Mongols have Court versus "Day Wear" clothing depending on the task at hand, or is this a symbolism of an emergent Mongol class system
Third, is this propaganda on the part of these cultures to prove their superiority through the arts they created.
My plan is to first start with Persian miniatures, as my personal connections within the SCA are stronger for finding examples. I need to learn how the Persians depicted social classes and foreigners within their miniatures, and how those models are transplanted onto the pictured Mongols.
If necessary and possible, I will then take that information and cross-compare the miniatures with size dimension to determine if space may also be a factor in details.
Second, I will repeat the process through learning about the Chinese style and applying the same precepts and principles and that culture.
Third, I will take those two cultures and what I've learned and apply it to the extants and what can be learned about the social circumstances of those who wore the garments.
Finally, is an analysis for what this means in terms of SCA persona building and Mongol re-enactors for the focus time period in general.
My latest project came about from a couple different areas. First, I am admittedly a junky for being authentic. I like to know what I'm creating and putting on my body is as accurate as can be or can be afforded. I like to know that that I'm doing and how I'm doing it is a best can be represented in the culture I'm displaying. It's especially compounded by being one of a small number of the populace with a primary of persona from the Mongol tribes.
Second, I haven't been able to find very many specific resources in the SCA. Many are introductory and, while that is useful for someone who's "dipping their toes" into making Mongol garb, it becomes less useful as I've tried to develop my persona. There is extensive research and exampling on European cultures, especially Western Europe and there's a fair amount of research in Islamic cultures (Persian, Mamluk, Abbasyd, Ottoman) with its recent surge in popularity. However, the resources on an important European contact culture like the Mongols are difficult, if not impossible to find without academic library and database access.
So, I turned to Pinterest for initial inspiration. Pinterest has a wide array of visual information on Mongols in period (pre-1600) -- from extant examples to Chinese and Persian manuscripts.
As I have assembled my army of resources I noticed something peculiar:
in depictions of Mongols, they are typically shown in plain clothing. A single color deel, sometimes even lacking the second (short sleeved) deel layer.
in extant Mongol clothing from grave finds, the clothing is rich in color and pattern, often blindingly so even after centuries of degradation of fabric.
My goal in my research is two-fold and broken into large "stages".
Goal one is to figure out why the miniatures depict the Mongols in the way that they do. My primary focuses are on Persian and Chinese manuscripts -- in particular paintings -- contemporary to the Mongol invasions and occupations of those cultures.
My current theories, which are based on general guidelines, are three-fold.
First, did the artist have enough space to make the patterns associated with extant finds, in the case of miniatures
Second, did the Mongols have Court versus "Day Wear" clothing depending on the task at hand, or is this a symbolism of an emergent Mongol class system
Third, is this propaganda on the part of these cultures to prove their superiority through the arts they created.
My plan is to first start with Persian miniatures, as my personal connections within the SCA are stronger for finding examples. I need to learn how the Persians depicted social classes and foreigners within their miniatures, and how those models are transplanted onto the pictured Mongols.
If necessary and possible, I will then take that information and cross-compare the miniatures with size dimension to determine if space may also be a factor in details.
Second, I will repeat the process through learning about the Chinese style and applying the same precepts and principles and that culture.
Third, I will take those two cultures and what I've learned and apply it to the extants and what can be learned about the social circumstances of those who wore the garments.
Finally, is an analysis for what this means in terms of SCA persona building and Mongol re-enactors for the focus time period in general.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)