Historical Authenticity and Interpretative Strategy at Hampton Court Palace

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-119
Author(s):  
Suzannah Lipscomb
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Real Case ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Historic Site ◽  
Historical Authenticity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Indicators Of Success ◽  
Early Indicators

Abstract To mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession, the Tudor palace at Hampton Court in the UK was re-interpreted by a team of curators and interpreters from Historic Royal Palaces. In this article, one of the lead curators reflects on the process. Creating a new visitor experience raised questions about what it means to be authentic in a historic site, and whether interpreters need to choose between authenticity and visitor engagement. The article considers nineteenth-century answers to the question, some real case-study examples from the 2009 re-interpretation, the interpretative principles that were chosen, and some early indicators of success.

Urban Transformation of Muslim Spanish Cites after 1492: The Case Study of Baza, Granada (Spain); from a “Petrified” City to Its Great Expansions

2020 ◽  
pp. 009614422093107
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Santiago Zaragoza ◽  
Francisco Javier Lafuente-Bolívar ◽  
Francisco Javier Salas-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Historic Site ◽  
Urban Transformations ◽  
The City ◽  
Strong Expansion

Spanish Islamic cities stagnated or declined after 1492. Because of the expulsion of Jews and Moors, despite the repopulation policies, they seemed to “petrify” their size. The uninhabited houses and the suburbs disappeared. The extension and population of the main Muslim cities, Almeria, Seville, Toledo, Valencia, Zaragoza, tended to decrease. Murcia and Granada are two paradigmatic cases of evolution. In the kingdom of Granada, Baza was an important settlement at the end of Middle Ages. Urban transformations adapted it to Castilian policies: mosques were transformed into churches, squares and gates were opened, some streets widened, and so on. However, its size remained “petrified.” In the nineteenth century, there was a strong population growth cushioned by the phenomenon of “cave-house.” From mid-twentieth century, it had a strong expansion and growth regardless urban plans. Currently, the city, declared as Historic Site, has slowed down its growth, although its planning foresees it will keep growing.

scholarly journals ACTIVITY AND PASSIVITY: CLASS AND GENDER IN THE CASE OF THE ARTIFICIAL HAND

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Stainthorp
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Artificial Limbs ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Military Surgery ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
Artificial Hand ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Uk

This article analyzes the tensionbetween the active, present body and the absent, passive body in this medical case study, presented by doctor and prosthetist Henry Robert Heather Bigg in his 1885 bookArtificial Limbs and the Amputations which Afford the Most Appropriate Stumps in Civil and Military Surgery. I reproduce Bigg's account in its entirety because, to date,Artificial Limbshas not been digitised, although it is held at around a dozen academic libraries in the UK and USA respectively. Bringing attention to and providing a close reading of a source not previously discussed academically sheds new light on the way the disabled body was read by medical professionals in the second half of the nineteenth century. In addition, I consider Bigg's narrative rendering of this unique case study alongside several contemporary sources, including memoirs, novels, short stories, and journal articles. In doing so, I identify how assumptions made by Bigg about the (disabled, female, privileged) hand mirror and echo those in the wider cultural sphere. The sensing hand is an instrument of will, and the creation of such a prosthesis troubles the dynamics of active and passive, touching and touched that Pamela K. Gilbert has identified as crucial to nineteenth-century discourses surrounding the hand. By designing and making this prosthesis, Bigg exerts his professional and masculine agency to make the woman's body assume the position of something beheld rather than embodied.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

More than a “Petty Chief”: Understanding Fijian Chiefship through the Entrance Ceremony and Local History

1969 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
Hao-Li Lin
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Local History

The diverse nature of Fiji’s chiefship and how its supremacy was strengthened by colonialism have already been closely examined. However, few studies have focused on village chiefs, who have limited authority and are at the lower end of regional chiefly hierarchies. Using both historical and ethnographic materials from a Fijian village, I argue here that its “petty chief,” as the role was called by nineteenth-century Westerners, is a powerful linkage to a past of stability represented by the chiefly title. This is particularly important for communities that have experienced historical turbulence. In this case study, it was mainly the measles crisis that caused population decline. The linkage is materialised by a standardised entrance ceremony in which the chiefly title is routinely acknowledged by foreign visitors through offerings (i-sevusevu) and thus elevated to a symbol that holds the community together. I also argue that the entrance ceremony that we observe today may have been prompted by Western contact. Through the analysis of the ceremony and local history, this study shows that the power of “petty chiefs” should be understood not solely by the structure of hierarchy, but also by their significance to historically turbulent communities.

Case Study #3: When I Was a Lad & Modern Major-General by William S. Gilbert

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Kenneth Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Government Official ◽  
Political Satire ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Generalist Education ◽  
Arthur Sullivan ◽  
Major General

“When I Was a Lad” is from H.M.S. Pinafore, a nineteenth century British operetta by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. It’s sung by a man who has become “the ruler of the Queen’s Navy.” Through the song, he tells about his climb to success. “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” is from Pirates of Penzance. Sung by the major-general, it extols his many qualifications and hints at his ambition.Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas often involved political satire, and this is the case with both of these songs. Both songs describe the talents, experience, qualifications of a government official. Both songs poke fun of officials and their self-importance. Both songs point to the benefit of having a broad, generalist education for higher-level positions. And both songs make the point that public officials need appropriate qualifications and experience. But the characters singing these songs display many differences as well, and very different outlooks on how to succeed. As you follow the lyrics, what do you make of the two gentlemen? Who would you want to work for? Who would you want working for you?

Neither Victors nor Victims

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Whetham
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
High Street ◽  
National Survival ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Realistic Goal

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document