Medievalism and its discontents

Gigging it in the shire: information practices of Renaissance faire performers and artisans

“…Lloyd and Olsson (2018) noted that they “extend this understanding of information practice to emphasize the body as a site of embodied knowledge that is central to information practice, acting as a site where social and epistemic information intersect” (p. 1312). Renaissance faires are inherently sensual; as Trilling (2011) observed, “The novelty of such immersion is rooted in these bodily experiences and in the sense of authenticity they impart by staging a break with the everyday Now” ( sic ) (p. 216). Lloyd (2010) noted that “bodies are accessed and read as information sources by co-participants who actively interrogate the bodies of others in practice in order gain (sic) access to embodied knowledge” (no pagination).…”

“…Renaissance faires are inherently sensual; as Trilling (2011) observed, "The novelty of such immersion is rooted in these bodily experiences and in the sense of authenticity they impart by staging a break with the everyday Now" (sic) (p. 216). Lloyd (2010) noted that "bodies are accessed and read as information sources by co-participants who actively interrogate the bodies of others in practice in order gain (sic) access to embodied knowledge" (no pagination).…”

“…To Korol-Evans (2009), the multiple sensescapes participants and guests move through during the faire day were key to creating and maintaining the illusion of being in another time and place. Trilling (2011) problematized the popularity of Renaissance faires in America as a form of nostalgia and noted that "The combination of minute details that serve to reinforce the experience of authenticity and the tongue-in-cheek reminder that such detail is unauthentic in the extreme exemplifies the dialectic at the heart of nostalgic medievalisms" (p. 220).…”

Retirement in Utopia: William Morris's Senescent Socialism

“…7 Yet Trilling grapples with the ambivalence of reverting to this earlier-happier, unmindful-stage of life that rejects the Western narrative of "superlative effort" and preeminent genius. 8 If Trilling arrives at an impasse regarding the value of youth, Karen Chase explores the opposite pole: the "prominence of aging characters within the utopic life of Nowhere." 9 For Chase, the long memory and historical perspective of the elderly play a mediating role between "decrepit, degraded Victorian values" and a utopia that sacrifices "creative vitality."…”