The 10 interests meme

[frualeydis]

I found it strange that you first had to write about all your interests and then they selected ten. I only have 15, so it was rather easy, but if you have 50?
Anyway,

LJ Interests meme results

1. chivalry:
   Isn't obvious? It's what is the essence of the romantic view of the middle ages. It's about honour and ideals, somthing that I think is important in every man and woman. It's an ideal to strive for.
2. courtly literature:
   I love medieval literature. Compared to modern literature it's shallow, the characters are more archetypes than real persons. The stories are often illogical and far-fetched. But still they say so much about the perceptions and ideals of medieval man. And they're funny.
3. early music:
   I love to sing both medieval and renaissance music. It is beautiful and I think it gives a lot of the atmosphere at events.
4. environmentalism:
   I have been active in the environmental movement for many years, though currently in an inactive phase. The issue of sustainability linked with equality on a global scale is the big political question of our age. The way my part of the worls treats the other part is neither fair nor sustainable.
5. historical costuming:
   Ever since I was little I wanted to have historical costumes. I used to read books and wanted to dress the way the people in the books did. I loved all Edith Nesbit's books, but best I liked the part from "the house of Arden" when the children put on clothes from different eras and travelled in time.
6. history:
   I like all kinds of hisotry, not only medieval, but mostly European and Middle Eastern. It is fascinating in itself, but also gives and understandinn and a background to things that happened later. As I tell my studetns: If you don't know your ancient mediterranean hisotry you can't understand the writings of the middle ages and the early modern era.
7. living history:
   I like living historybecause I enjoy the goals of portraying a historical era as faithfully as possible. To strive for autenthicity, based on research. I also like the didactic part of it, to teach people. That doesn't mean that I don't like the magical moments when you feel part of, at least a fairytale, middle ages that you only can get in societies more like the SCA or in LARPs, where you don't have an audience.
8. marxist theory:
   Mostly it's the dialectical materialsm really. It's a very good analytical tool to understanding history. Not so good in predicting the future, but that's not a job for a scholar anyway, but for a soothsayer.
9. medieval literature:
   See courtly literature. It's fun, it's illogical and shallow by our standards but it's also fantastic and filled with high ideals. And it's a valuable source to how people thought.
10. older literature:
    I like to read older literature to get a feel of the times, like reading both Jane Austen and the memoirs of Harriette Wilson (famous courtesan in the early 19th century), which gives you two different views of the same era. I also like that the heroines or heros of the books are _good_ people. Unselfish and nice, I can't really get engaged in characters who are evil or selfish, immature and petty, which is so common in modern literature. I love Louisa M. Alcott.

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.