Exploring the Easter E.g. - Shifting Baselines and Changing Perceptions of Cultural and Biological "Aliens"

探索复活节

基本信息

批准号：
AH/N004558/1
负责人：
Naomi Sykes
金额：
$ 86.21万
依托单位：
University of Nottingham
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2017 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FN004558%2F1
关键词：
Exploring Easter E.g.Shifting Baselines

项目摘要

Very little of what we see around us in Britain today can be classed as 'native'. When the sea cut off the island from the rest of the continent (c. 8,000 years ago) the flora, fauna and human population were very different. Over millennia, Britain's ecology and culture have been transformed. Change has been the only constant, with population movements being responsible for the island's unique bio-cultural heritage. Ancient migrations of people, ideas and animals are widely celebrated and incorporated into expressions of British cultural identity. However, the more recent the migrations, the more negative the attitudes towards them. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in discussions about 'native' versus 'alien' status, be it in relation to animals, people, or religious ideologies. In general, native is perceived as positive and 'natural', whereas the term 'alien' is attached negatively to cultural and environmental problems. These perceptions often translate into societal attitudes and policy making, in particular that relating to biodiversity, even though they may result from "shifting baselines". "Shifting baseline" refers to the phenomenon whereby people consider the socio-environmental circumstances of their childhood to be 'natural' and morally absolute. In the absence of deeper historical and archaeological understanding, these nostalgic ideals are adopted blindly (and often erroneously) as the foundation for decision-making both at a personal level and more broadly in science and policy. This project sets out to investigate the role of shifting baselines and their impact on the value-judgements placed on 'native' and 'alien' animals, people and ideologies through the high-profile and publicly engaging example of Easter.Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar, yet astonishingly little is known about when it first appeared in Britain, the origins of its component customs - e.g. the gifting of eggs purportedly delivered by the Easter 'bunny' - or how they coalesced to form current practices. Easter and its associated animals - namely the brown hare, rabbit and chicken - are all 'alien' to Britain. However, they are viewed positively because they arrived in the long-forgotten past. Easter is therefore an excellent example to highlight the impact of shifting baselines and challenge negative attitudes to cultural and biological 'aliens'. Our team will achieve this by integrating evidence from anthropology, (zoo)archaeology, (art) history, evolutionary biology, law, historical linguistics, natural history and religious studies to answer the following questions:1. Where and when did modern Easter traditions first begin, when did they arrive in Britain, and how closely correlated are the arrival of religious traditions and the brown hare? 2. What were the bio-cultural, political and religious mechanisms by which:-The derivatives of Latin Pascha and Germanic forms of Easter spread and interacted with each other in Christian communities in early medieval Europe?- The rabbit diffused across Europe and replaced the hare as the main Easter animal in later British traditions?3. Can ancient interactions between the native mountain hare, the introduced brown hare and the rabbit be reconstructed to provide a deeper-time perspective on the impact of 'alien species'?4. How can the filling of knowledge gaps about human-animal bio-cultural history transform 'native' versus 'alien' discourse at both a societal level and within wildlife management policy?Addressing these questions will not only close knowledge gaps about Britain's most important religious (but also secular) festival but also those pertaining to iconic animal species. Together these datasets will be workshopped to contextualize and challenge modern cultural attitudes to society, religious beliefs and the natural world. This will be achieved through an exciting and innovative outreach and engagement programme.

我们今天在英国所看到的很少的东西可以归类为“本地人”。当海上从非洲其他地区（约8000年前）切断岛屿时，动植物，动物群和人口大不相同。在数千年中，英国的生态和文化发生了变化。变革一直是唯一的常数，人口运动是该岛独特的生物文化遗产的原因。人们广泛庆祝人，思想和动物的古老迁徙，并将其纳入英国文化认同的表达中。但是，迁移越多，对它们的态度就越消极。在与动物，人或宗教意识形态有关的“本地”与“外星人”地位的讨论中，没有什么比关于“本地”与“异国”地位的讨论更好的了。通常，当地人被认为是积极和“自然”，而“外星人”一词与文化和环境问题负相关。这些看法通常转化为社会态度和政策制定，尤其是与生物多样性有关的，即使它们可能是由于“转移基线”而造成的。 “转移基线”是指人们认为童年时代的社会环境环境是'自然'且在道德上绝对的现象。在没有更深入的历史和考古理解的情况下，这些怀旧的理想被盲目地（通常是错误地）作为个人层面和更广泛地在科学和政策上更广泛的决策的基础。 This project sets out to investigate the role of shifting baselines and their impact on the value-judgements placed on 'native' and 'alien' animals, people and ideologies through the high-profile and publicly engaging example of Easter.Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar, yet astonishingly little is known about when it first appeared in Britain, the origins of its component customs - e.g.复活节“兔子”据称传递了鸡蛋的礼物，或者它们如何合并以形成当前的做法。复活节及其相关的动物 - 即棕色的野兔，兔子和鸡 - 都是英国的“外星人”。但是，他们被积极看待，因为他们到达了长期以来的过去。因此，复活节是一个很好的例子，即强调转移基线并挑战对文化和生物“外星人”的负面态度的影响。我们的团队将通过整合人类学，考古学，（艺术）历史，进化生物学，法律，历史语言学，自然历史和宗教研究以回答以下问题的证据来实现这一目标：1。现代复活节传统何时开始，什么时候开始，它们何时到达英国，宗教传统和棕色野兔的到来有多紧密？ 2.在中世纪早期的基督教社区中，在欧洲早期的基督教社区中，复活节的拉丁帕沙和日耳曼形式的衍生品是什么生物文化，政治和宗教机制？可以重建本地山野兔，引入的棕色野兔和兔子之间的古代相互作用，以对“外星物种”的影响提供更深入的观点？4。在社会层面和野生动植物管理政策中，关于人类动物的生物文化历史的知识差距如何变化“本地”与“外星人”话语？解决这些问题不仅会对英国最重要的宗教（也是世俗的）节日的知识差距，而且还将与标志性动物物种有关。这些数据集将共同进行研讨会，以对社会，宗教信仰和自然世界的现代文化态度进行背景化和挑战。这将通过令人兴奋的创新宣传和参与计划来实现。