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.

今天，我们在英国周围看到的东西很少可以被归类为“本土”。当海洋将岛屿与大陆其他部分隔开时（约 8000 年前），动植物群和人口发生了很大的变化。几千年来，英国的生态和文化已经发生了变化。变化是唯一不变的，人口流动造就了岛上独特的生物文化遗产。古代人类、思想和动物的迁徙受到广泛庆祝，并被纳入英国文化认同的表达中。然而，移民越近，人们对他们的态度就越消极。关于“本土”与“外来”地位的讨论，无论是与动物、人还是宗教意识形态有关，都最好地体现了这一点。一般来说，本地人被认为是积极的和“自然的”，而“外星人”一词则与文化和环境问题有关。这些看法常常转化为社会态度和政策制定，特别是与生物多样性有关的态度和政策制定，尽管它们可能是“基线变化”的结果。 “基线转移”是指人们认为童年时期的社会环境是“自然的”、道德上绝对的现象。在缺乏更深入的历史和考古学理解的情况下，这些怀旧理想被盲目地（而且常常是错误地）用作个人层面以及更广泛的科学和政策决策的基础。该项目旨在通过备受瞩目和公众参与的复活节例子，调查基线转移的作用及其对“本土”和“外来”动物、人和意识形态的价值判断的影响。复活节是最重要的基督教历法中的事件，但令人惊讶的是，人们对它何时首次出现在英国及其组成习俗的起源知之甚少 - 例如。据称是复活节“兔子”送来的鸡蛋礼物，或者它们如何结合起来形成当前的做法。复活节及其相关动物——即棕兔、兔子和鸡——对英国来说都是“外来的”。然而，他们受到积极的看待，因为他们来到了早已被遗忘的过去。因此，复活节是一个很好的例子，可以强调基线变化的影响并挑战对文化和生物“外星人”的消极态度。我们的团队将通过整合人类学、（动物园）考古学、（艺术）史、进化生物学、法律、历史语言学、自然历史和宗教研究的证据来回答以下问题来实现这一目标：1。现代复活节传统是在何时何地首次开始的，它们何时到达英国，以及宗教传统和棕兔的到来之间的关系有多密切？ 2. 生物文化、政治和宗教机制是怎样的？ - 拉丁逾越节和日耳曼复活节形式的衍生品在中世纪早期欧洲的基督教社区中传播并相互作用？ - 兔子在欧洲传播并取代了复活节在后来的英国传统中，野兔是主要的复活节动物吗？3．能否重建本地山兔、引进的棕色野兔和兔子之间古老的相互作用，以便为“外来物种”的影响提供更深入的时间视角？4。填补关于人类与动物生物文化历史的知识空白如何在社会层面和野生动物管理政策中改变“本地”与“外来”的话语？解决这些问题不仅会缩小有关英国最重要的宗教的知识差距（但也包括世俗的）节日，也包括那些与标志性动物物种有关的节日。这些数据集将共同进行加工，以适应和挑战现代文化对社会、宗教信仰和自然世界的态度。这将通过令人兴奋和创新的外展和参与计划来实现。