I am a tremendous supporter of first person interpretation, but it is just a tool. There are a number of areas where first person interpretation can be more of a hindrance than an aid. I do believe there are fewer than many other people think, but they are still there. All forms of interpretation have their various strengths and weaknesses. I do believe that the strongest method is to vary your methods of interpretation, just as a good teacher varies educational techniques. Your point about the first principle is interesting to me as I just recently presented a paper on re-applying Tilden to first person interpretation (For the ALHFAM Annual conference in Des Moines). I believe that the first principle in fact is a good part of the natural draw of first person. Now I have never interpreted in first person a far back as you are. The furthest back I have interpreted in first person was Elizabethan, and of course the world was already a far more modern place than your period. Even so, I still believe that there is relevance to modern American even with your programs. There has to be. That is why I think the first principle is actually one of the easiest for first person. Let me borrow a concept from the National Park Service and from the NAI. I do not belong to either of these organizations, but I have been reading some of their materials lately. They suggest that you look for "Universal Concepts". Those needs and desires that never change. A first person interpreter should not be simply a third person interpreter in the present tense. You are a person, living in the past. Sure as an interpreter you are very likely to be interpreting some process, or some artifact. Of course your "character" is not likely to be doing that at all. With that in mind, remember Principle V. You are interpreting the whole. Why are you doing what you are doing? I don't mean something like "I am finger braiding this yarn to make trim for a gown. I mean "I am braiding this trim for a gown that might daughter well wear this twelve night. I hope we find a wife for her. Winter's coming and with her father dead I have no idea how I will make things meet otherwise". This is what I mean by Universal Concept. There are a few Universal concepts in that example. There is Death, there is longing to protect loved ones, and concern for an unknown future. These are universal concepts. Things that all people, in all times, and places can understand. The details that cause your concerns, this is where you place your social and material differences. It also makes your interpretation more immediate, and anchors it in it's period. In the above scenario the women is finger braiding. She is showing and interpreting that process, but a first person interpreter is also portraying a person. If they aren't than don't bother with first person. In the above scenario you have met Tilden's principles. If you do it well, and alter it for children you meet them all! Of course I know very little about your program, or your period for that matter. I am sure that my scenario is rough or historically inaccurate. All I mean to show, is that by tying your interpretation to your character and their life, and to these Universal Concepts, that you can find relevance. Is this the answer, maybe, maybe not. Are sites and styles are all different. Even what we describe as first person interpretation varies from site to site. Lie you I do believe that no one should become to locked into just one technique or style. Ron Carnegie Chair of First Person Interpreters Professional Network ALHFAM And building on what Annmarie wrote below, I too have done living history interpretation from a number of eras. The toughest nut to crack for me has been trying to help modern Americans understand the material and social cultures of late 14th-century English people. It's extremely hard to stay in a first-person narrative with something that is so far removed without drawing parallels to things that modern Americans are familiar with. We've sometimes done a mix of first- and third-person narration, welcoming them onto the site and talking in one area as our first-person selves (especially about basic stuff like food) and then having a "museum tent" in the third person to address the more complex things (the ubiquity of the church, the complex strata of society after the Black Death, etc.). I find it easier to connect modern Americans with something that is *so far* removed from their experience when we can talk in the third person about the parallels that do exist. First-person works best, in my experience, when the differences aren't so great. In short, perhaps it can be easily said that there are instances where first-person narrative gets in the way of fulfilling Tilden's first principle: "Any interpretation that does not somehow relate what is being displayed or described to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will be sterile." If that can't be done using first-person techniques due to distance or complexity as I mentioned or some other reason, then third-person interpretation might be in order. The point, I'd say, is to be effective rather than to lock oneself into a single form of presentation. Either way, it's a fun challenge, but I'm always interested to hear "best practices" when it comes to interpretation--whether based on Tilden's seminal work or on "home grown" solutions. Peace, --Eric Eric D. M. Johnson Proprietor The Village Factsmith Historical Research & Consulting http://www.factsmith.com/ [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: Annmarie Zan To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 2:37 PM Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Interpretation or Not? I work for a historical museum and we do first person interpretation but there are still hard facts that are neccessary to get out. I feel we short change our audience by just let them see, smell, touch, etc the buck skin but not share the wonderful thought of how this buckskin became soft by brain tanning and the inginuity of the Natives that created this tool just because it would be telling people facts and not interpreting. Just my 2 cents ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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