Unwritten Histories

The Unwritten Rules of History

Author: Andrea Eidinger (Page 18 of 38)

Paleography à la Française

January 16, 2018 / / 8 Comments
excerpt of seventeenth century trial of Anne Lamarque, June 1682. Taken by author at the archives of BANQ Vieux-Montréal

Signatures from the first deposition in the Anne Lamarque case. Fonds Judiciaire BANQ Vieux-Montréal, June 1682. Photo taken by author.

Note From Andrea: Today we have another special post by Stephanie Pettigrew! Enjoy!

When I first started doing my research, the biggest problem I encountered was simply deciphering my texts. As many of you already know, I work on documents from sixteenth and seventeenth New France. In North America, there are far more resources available specifically for English etymology and paleography, the study of historic handwriting and handwritten texts. Christopher Moore contends in a recent blog post that paleography is dying a slow and painful death, and I don’t completely disagree with him; the growing dependence on crowd-sourcing transcription projects is a huge concern. But even when sources are transcribed for you, as a historian you are still expected to consult the original source. Several universities offer undergraduate courses in medieval English and middle English. One school that I attended even had a course on reading medieval Scottish handwriting (complete with its own textbook!). Leah Grandy also has already done some fantastic blog posts introducing the issue of paleography, which I highly recommend (“What Does That Say?!”: Getting Started with Paleography is particularly helpful!) While all of these are valuable resources, they aren’t really helpful when it comes to dealing with my documents. So in today’s blog post, I’m going to talk about some of the main challenges of working with early modern French written texts and provide you with some tips and tricks that will hopefully make this work a little bit easier!

 

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Memories and History: The 1998 Ice Storm

January 9, 2018 / / 4 Comments

Branches under a thick layer of ice, with a blue tint.

There’s no power, there’s no food,

There’s no nothing, we’re all screwed.

While I was compiling the roundup a few weeks ago, I came across a reference to the 20th anniversary of the 1998 Ice Storm. My first thought was that it couldn’t possibly have been twenty years, since it didn’t feel like it was so long ago. I have to admit, I’ve been rather bemused by the media coverage of the 20th anniversary of the 1998 Ice Storm. Most of the stories that I’ve read are of the “feel good variety,” like this one, where “Quebecers recall funny and heartwarming moments.” Or this interview with Jean Chrétien, who, when asked whether people would be so resilient in the face of another ice storm, replied, “I guess so. I hope so. I think so. We’re still Canadian, you know.” Meanwhile, this piece even has a nifty infographic of the Ice Storm, including the percentage of maple syrup taps that were under more than 40mm of ice (20%, in case you were wondering). Aside from a few photographic essays and a couple of more somber pieces, the overall emphasis has been on the indomitable spirit of those affected. And this is not at all what I remember. Memories, however, are funny things. So in today’s blog post, we’re going to take a look at the 1998 Ice Storm, the relationship between personal and collective memories, and how we use the past to make sense of our lives.

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2017: A Year of Canadian History in Review

December 19, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Against a blurry background at dusk, two hands hold lit sparklers.

Welcome to our second annual Unwritten Histories year-end review and the last post of 2017! As  I did last year, I have divided this look back into two parts. The first is a month-by-month recap of some of the most important events in Canadian history over the past year. Obviously I haven’t included everything here. I’ve tried to pick the most significant events and those that were relevant to individuals all over the country. And of course, there are a few more whimsical additions.  In the second part of this blog post, Stephanie and I list some of our favourite reads from the past year.

A quick note: several of the events below refer to archives posted on Storify. The company recently announced that it would be closing as of May 2018. In January, I will begin the process of converting these archives to HTML format, which will preserve them on this blog. So there is nothing to worry about!

Without any further ado, enjoy!

 

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Best New Articles from October/November 2017

December 12, 2017 / / 0 Comments

This image is of a woman sitting in bed. She is wearing a cozy grey sweater and socks, and she is holding a cup of coffee or tea with milk. In her hands is an old book with text and illustrations in black and white. The photograph was taken from above, showing the woman from the chest down.

Because, let’s face it – who has time to catch up on all the journal articles published in Canadian history?

 

Welcome back to the Best New Articles series, where each month, I post a list of my favourite new articles! Don’t forget to also check out my favourites from previous months, which you can access by clicking here.

 

This month I read articles from:

 

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A Jewish History of Christmas

December 5, 2017 / / 2 Comments
This Christmas card shows a father and son from the 1870s, standing outside on a snowy hill. They are wearing wool coats in cream with red accent stripes, and tuques. The son is wearing snow shoes and is standing to the left. Next is his father, carrying the snow shoes. They are followed by a brown dog. In the background, two boys are going downhill on a toboggan. And further in the background there are pine trees topped with snow, and a log cabin with snow on the roof. The card’s sentiment is: “Compliments of the Season,” and in smaller lettering at the bottom, it says “Young Canada on snow shoes.”

Compliments of the Season, Young Canada on Snow Shoes. 1873-1878. Christmas card that was part of G. & W. Clarke’s first Scenic Series. Card has a scene of father and son snowshoeing. Child is a popular image used widely in Canadian imagery, known as “Young Canada”. Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Arch. Ref. No. R11648, album 9, item 12 ; Copyright: Expired.

It’s always a little strange being Jewish around Christmas. When I was growing up, Chanukah wasn’t really a big deal. My sister and I would each get a gift (just one, not eight), some chocolate money, and we would light the menorah. My mother would make latkes, but I never really liked them (turns out the problem was her recipe, not latkes in general). Christmas wasn’t really a big deal. We did put out milk and cookies, though in hindsight, this was mostly for my dad. I do remember being convinced by my dad that Santa had to be real, since CTV News was tracking him via radar. But this was pretty much the extent of it. Because Santa didn’t give presents to Jewish girls.

But one year the impossible happened: Santa came! My mother, for reasons that I still don’t know, put out presents on the two living room chairs. One chair was for me, and the other was for my sister. They contained a board game, some other little things, and a chocolate advent calendar. It was magical. I was so excited. Santa didn’t forget me! And while from that point on my mother would always give my sister and I chocolate advent calendars on Christmas, our Christmas chairs remained empty. And yes, my mother is very well aware of how advent calendars work. She’s just repurposed them for our family tradition.

These days, in shopping centres, online stores, and social media, you’ll find a wide array of gifts and decorations specifically for Chanukah. From strings of lights with Stars of David and menorahs, to the hilarious Mensch on the Bench, the options are really quite endless. But this is a very recent phenomenon, as I mentioned last week. I just couldn’t keep  you guys hanging like that! So in today’s blog post, we’re going to take a look at the emergence of Chanukah as an important holiday celebration in North America, its relationship to Christmas, and the religious aspects of Canadian identity.

 

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2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Historians

November 28, 2017 / / 2 Comments

Macro shot of a snowflake crystal, with extraordinary detail.

Do you know a Canadian historian? (::nods::) Are they impossible to shop for because they already own all the books? (::nods vigorously::) Then have we got just the thing for you!

Welcome to the Second Annual Unwritten Histories Holiday Gift Guide for Canadian Historians! Once again, I have compiled a list of gift suggestions for historians and other history professionals!

Some important caveats: this guide does not (with one exception) include books. However, if you do want some book suggestions, check out my previous blog posts on upcoming publications in Canadian history). If you are shopping for a history buff, I would highly recommend the 2017 Book and Gift Guide from Canada’s History.

Second, while I am Canadian, and many of the recommendations I’ve included down below are specific to Canadian history, this list should be helpful to history professionals no matter their country of origin or residence.

And third, I haven’t repeated any of my suggestions from last year, because well, where’s the fun in that? So, for even more suggestions, make sure to check out last year’s gift guide!

Without any further ado, let’s get brainstorming!

 

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