The Historical Persona
To make their equipment authentic, a reenactor must first decide on the time period, geographic location, and social status they wish to portray. The collection of clothing and equipment is typically called a "kit" and the fictional alter ego is called a "persona".
Sometimes when a person has interests that a single persona can't reasonably encompass, for the sake of being authentic, they might create more than one persona. For example, someone might be interested in Norse ("Viking") cultures but also be interested in economics and social history that led to the Landsknecht, might create two separate personae and kits. They can then choose the persona they will portray according to which hobby they want to do, the location of the reenactment, or the weather (cultures that wore a lot of wool and fur are more popular to reenact in winter than summer).
Read more about this topic: Authenticity (reenactment)
Famous quotes containing the word historical:
“Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who resembles everybody’s mom in that she knows what’s best for us. But if you look at the historical record—Krakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the ages—you have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)