Description
Book Synopsis Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatization of past events using costumed actors and historical props—has only in recent years attracted serious attention from scholars. Drawing on examples from around the world, Historical Reenactment offers a fascinating, interdisciplinary exploration of this cultural phenomenon. With particular attention to reenactment’s social and pedagogical dimensions, it develops a robust definition of what the practice constitutes, considers what methodological approaches are most appropriate, and places it alongside museums and memorial sites as an object of analysis.
Table of Contents List of Illustrations
Introduction: Approaching Historical Reenactments
Mario Carretero, Brady Wagoner, and Everardo Perez-Manjarrez
Part I: New Theoretical and Methodological Approaches
Chapter 1. On Motives for Reenactment: The Kindertransport
William Niven
Chapter 2. Conceptualizing the Period Rush: Ludic Dimensions of Immersive History in Historical Reenactment
Robbert-Jan Addriaansen
Part II: Reenactments as Tools of Cultural and National Identities
Chapter 3. Historical Reenactments in Spain: A Critical Approach to Public Perceptions of the Iron Age and Roman Past
David González- Álvarez, Pablo Alonso-González, and Jesús Rodríguez-Hernández
Chapter 4. Reenacting the Reconquista Myth? Some Reflections on Moros y Cristianos Festivals in Spain
Ignacio Bresco and Floor van Alphen
Part III: Politics of Reenactment: Troubled Pasts, Colonialism, and Democratic Prospects
Chapter 5. Statue Wars and Reenactments: Reinterpreting the Colonial Past in Australia
Stephen Gapp
Chapter 6. From Yogyakarta to Independence: Negotiating Narratives in the Historical Reenactment of Re-colonization in Indonesia
Lise Zurne
Chapter 7. Memory Sites and Reenacting State Terrorism: The Museum at Argentina’s Naval Mechanics School
Marisa González de Oleaga
Part IV: Reenactments as Educational Devices in Formal and Informal Contexts
Chapter 8. Reenacting the Past in the School Yard: Its Role in History and Civic Education
Mario Carretero, Everard Perez-Manjarrez, and Maria Rodriguez-Moneo
Chapter 9. Inside Historical Reenactment
Tyson Retz
Epilogue: What Is the Task of Reenactment?
Vanessa Agnew
Index
