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[yuuago]

Feeling kind of frustrated at my lack of background in history. I know that the only cure for it is to read more nonfiction, but it's still a pain in the ass. It's kind of embarrassing just how much I don't know about big historical events - I'm talking things that are considered common knowledge, I guess - and I just, argh. I don't know.

It's not just the "not having the background" part that bothers me; for some reason it's really difficult to read things and really, truly understand what is being said. I can't just read something and understand what's going on the first time. I need to read about the same thing over and over and if I'm lucky, it'll click. But usually it doesn't click, and I end up thinking that I understand what I'm reading, but actually I'm reading it incorrectly, and I get things wrong.

At least this is a problem that can, theoretically, be fixed. I have a lot of books, and if I read them, and try to keep reading until I actually understand what I'm reading, then maybe that will help things.



I guess it's not that big a deal, but I've been feeling kind of self-conscious about the stuff I write lately. It's a really frustrating situation.

Anyway, leaving that aside, lately I've been thinking about my trip to Halifax. I kind of hope that while I'm there, I might get some inspiration to work on an old story that I had planned out, but never started writing. It's an original story, set in Halifax, about two brothers who work in a haunted restaurant. It's kind of inspired by the Five Fishermen restaurant (which has great food, by the way), though more from the general idea of that setting, rather than the stories about that specific place.

So, I'm hoping that while I'm there, I'll be able to soak up the atmosphere a bit and decide how I want to go about writing that story. Get a feeling of Halifax again, remember the atmosphere, maybe head to the library to do a bit of research, and - of course - take lunch at the Five Fishermen. Purely for writing purposes, of course. ;)

It'll be interesting if I do manage to get this thing written, or at least started. Horror is definitely not a genre that I usually write, and I tend to write things that are more character-driven than plot-driven. But... with luck, this will be both challenging and fun. That is, if I can get started.

Anyway, as far as Hetalia fic goes, I found an old one that I wrote in 2010, finished sometime in 2011, and then promptly forgot about. I read it over today, and it actually isn't that bad, so I decided to clean it up a little. It definitely isn't as good as some of the things I have written, but that's all right. It's kind of an unusual story for me in that it has something resembling an actual plot (and without porn, even!). I don't write a lot of things like that. So, it'll be fun to work with, even if it's not as good as some of the things I've written.

Comments

[tatoeba-tadayou.livejournal.com]

I don't really know what resources exist on the subject so I can't point you anywhere specific, but I know that a lot of my understanding of history came through studying art history because it put things into context with strong visual cues, which stick in my head a lot better than just words do. You might also explore foreign-language historical films; I learned a lot from historical/period American films, but obviously, they have an American perspective and/or only focus on history that's "relevant" to Americans. There'll be fiction thrown in, but it's a starting point?

I really regret how America-centric my world history education was, I feel like there's a lot of important shit kids aren't learning anymore :/

[yuuago]

Hmm. You might be on to something there. I probably wouldn't turn to art, because I'm not very visually-oriented, but it might be worthwhile for me to look to literature more, since that's something I'm familiar with, and it's helped me get some understanding of some small bits of history.

My main problem is that in school, I didn't have any formal historical education whatsoever. We literally did not have history class. We did have social studies, but it focused more on political and economic systems. For example, when we studied WWII, we learned a ton about fascism as a system, and very little (if anything?) about what actually happened during WWII. I learned about the Holocaust in English class. There just seems like there's something wrong with that....

[tatoeba-tadayou.livejournal.com]

haha, wow. I mean, there is some excellent literature about the Holocaust, and both world wars from all sides of the conflicts*, but still, that's... haha. On the other hand, the only thing I learned about political systems in grade school was "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY IS" and we got told how horrible everything else was without actually explaining any of what it is. Hell, I took a comparative politics class in college and I'll be damned if I gained anything valuable from it. Pretty much the only things I remember are Denmark once paid its citizens to move elsewhere during a financial/jobs crisis, and clips we watched from a Bollywood movie called Devdas. :D

* - most of the books I read from those periods were based in fact, but they were also very human, individual accounts, and not really descriptions of the wars themselves. But I suspect that if you read the right accounts from the right people, you'd find a wealth of information about specific battles and key players therein.

[yuuago]

Yeah, it's absolutely ridiculous.

I'm sure tomorrow I'll feel better about all this, but right now I just feel like a dumbass who knows absolutely nothing about, well, anything. Sob.

On a completely unrelated note, you just reminded me that I've been meaning to watch Devdas for years, but haven't gotten around to it *_*

[tatoeba-tadayou.livejournal.com]

bwahaha. I've never watched an entire Bollywood film (FOR SHAME... unless you count Roadside Romeo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Romeo) but... FOR SHAME) but I had the song Bairi Piya (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMrRVEYf1Lc) on repeat for weeks after I saw the clip. ♥

and don't worry, even if you were a master of History, there'd probably be some other topic you suddenly felt yourself woefully uninformed of. I have these moments on a regular basis. :[

[daughteroffall.livejournal.com]

This is exactly my problem too! I have a serious lack of background in History, and it always makes me feel uneducated and inferior. Add to this that I have a father who is an expert at history (and geography, politics and current matters) despite not working at this area at all, two brothers who are also very good at history and a mother who has B.A. in history (although to be honest she doesn't remember that much), and you may understand why I feel so stupid and why I spend much of my spare time trying to cure my ignorance by reading as much history material as I can... I read more non-fiction stuff these days than fiction.

For me the biggest problem is that it doesn't stick. I never had good memory for history. I hated this subject at school, because for me it meant remember a lot of things that seem to me rather random and without much logic. I good at remember rules, not specific cases, and that's what history seems to me like - a bunch of specific cases I have to remember in order to get a good grade. I hated that.

It took me quite some time to realize that history is not continuity of incidents that has nothing to do one with the other, but actually there is a strong relation between the difference events, there are effects from all sides, there are processes. As soon as I realized that, history finally made sense to me, and I started to see the advantages of learning it. But it is still very hard for me. I'm not good at remember details and history is full of details. It's pretty much composed of many, many details and complicated ideas and concept that aren't easy for me to remember. So I forget a lot of what I read, and that totally frustrating and SUCK. My friend suggested that I read historical fiction because then I might remember better, but I find the idea unsatisfactory because I know I'll remember all the fiction staff and forget all the historical ones. I've read Gone With the Wind a few times, but do you think I remember any of the historical stuff that happened there? hardly.... I know there were bombardments, for examples, but where, when and what exactly is the background for that, I don't remember. I do remember, however, that it happened during these months that Melanie was waiting for her childbirth and Scarlet stayed with her because that's what she promised to Ashley...

So I'm in the same boat as you! I have no solutions but read, read and read so more, because eventually I do remember some of the stuff, but I'm afraid my whole life might pass by with me trying to reach to the point that I'd know what most normally educated people already know at the age of 16...

[yuuago]

Fff, I'm glad it's not just me. I just... feel so DUMB sometimes. I don't encounter anyone in real life who knows anything about history, but then when it comes to Hetalia fandom I'm found feeling awkward because I lack so much basic knowledge.

I wish I'd had history class in school at all. It might have helped. [/facepalm]

I find... instead of reading historical fiction, what has helped in some small ways, for me, was reading fiction written during whatever historical time period I was interested in. Not just the story itself, but also the essays that usually come at the front of the book in academic editions. Usually it would explain whatever historical context/discussion of politics existed in the literature itself. Reading the Kalevala, for example, is one thing, when it comes to absorbing a bit about Finnish folklore - but it's another thing to read the essays contained in the edition and understand, from that, a little bit about the importance that compiling and publishing the Kalevala had in the overall movement toward development of Finnish national identity.

But maybe this approach just works for me because of my background in literature, I dunno. :Va

(And you've just reminded me that I should get around to reading Gone With The Wind... I really enjoyed the film)

Sigh, well, anyway. We can be in this boat together. And read and learn together. That works for me. ;)

[gramarye1971]

*waves hello, first of all, from the friending meme*

Speaking as a historian by study and training, I can count on my fingers the number of historical subjects and periods that I don't consider myself to be thoroughly ignorant about. I was firmly reminded of this not too long ago, when I picked up a book on the history of North Korea (because I realised that my knowledge about it all but started and ended with the Korean War), and as I was reading the book I came to a part where the author mentioned the assassination of the dictatorial South Korean President Park Chung-hee by the head of South Korean intelligence in 1979. And then I realised that I was remarkably clueless about that incident as well, and about South Korean politics since the end of the Korean War...so each additional bit of historical information opens up a whole new world to explore. This is probably why I have about 85 books on my nonfiction history list to check out from the local library, and keep adding new books every time I read one of the ones on my list, and yet I still find that I have to read multiple books about a person (or event, or period) before I can keep all the related names and dates straight.

Part of the reason why I got into Hetalia was because it let me write fic that uses that knowledge and encourages me to piece together all of the bits of history reading that I've collected over the years. Some of the fic comes from periods that I know quite well already (e.g., colonial American witch-trials); some of it comes from my current research obsessions (e.g., Swiss mercenaries in the 1500s). But I'm definitely still learning, and there are fic-ideas in my brain that I know I won't be able to write down until I do some more reading.

That said, please don't feel discouraged or embarrassed by your background in history, or lack thereof. If you have particular periods or events that you'd like to know more about, I'd be more than happy to go looking for book recs to give you a sense of where to go. (If I don't know of good books myself, I can probably find someone who does.) And you can get a lot out of reading book reviews, too -- the Institute of Historical Research's Reviews in History pages are excellent short summaries of recent publications, complete with criticisms and comments from leading scholars. The London Review of Books often publishes well-written and free-to-read book review articles as well.

I hope you have a good time in Halifax. It's been ages since I've been there, and I'd dearly love to go back someday.

[yuuago]

Hello! <3

Heh. I guess we all have something, even within our area of study, that we're ignorant about. It just seems that sometimes the sheer amount of things I don't know is a little overwhelming.

This fit of sulking was sparked by a conversation I had with an acquaintance about a fic they started working on centred on Denmark's role in the Napoleonic Wars. They were kind of trying to nudge me to do one related to that subject too, since I find the idea really cool, but... slight problem: I know absolutely, completely zilch about the Napoleonic Wars at all, aside from having a vague idea about what time period we're dealing with and knowing that, of course, Napoleon had something to do with it. (And a little bit about the aftermath in Scandinavian context - Denmark losing Norway to Sweden as a result of all this business, of course). So... yep. How about those Napoleonic Wars, eh.

(Thanks for the links, by the way!)

I think I might feel a bit better about all this if I had access to a decent library. Gods, I really miss being able to just pick up books on whatever subject I might be interested in. Living in a remote area sucks so badly sometimes.

But, anyway. Thanks for talking with me on this! And oh man, yes, I'll definitely enjoy Halifax. :D It'll be so nice to be back there again.

[diplopod.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I know what that's like. All I learned in social studies was how to cram for tests, then forget everything to make room for the next test, etc., etc. I probably learned more about history from watching Time Squad. But I'm sure not having any interest didn't help. I wish I could offer some useful advice, but I can't get things to "click" either. Well, unless I simplify things into notes, but that's really boring, especially when you're just trying to read.

Oh, and I hope you have fun in Halifax! I didn't get the chance to comment on your last entry, but it sounds like you've got a pretty solid plan. Takes lots of pictures and share them with us, coastal cities are the best. <3 /so not biased at alll

Also, if this fic is the one I'm thinking of based on those WIP threads, I'm looking forward to it. *3*b

[yuuago]

UGH. CRAMMING. Don't even talk to me about cramming, bro. I just. Eugh, I'm so glad those days are over. And yeah, not having an interest didn't help here, either... the few times we actually learned anything about history, it was mostly early Canadian history, when I generally find kind of dull, at least the way that it was taught. Though I probably would have liked it more if we'd learned something about, say, actual people, rather than just vague things about provinces being established and such.

I certainly will enjoy Halifax, though! I'll do my best to take lots of photos, though I suspect there'll be snow, so who knows how it'll turn out. Well, snow or rain. It's a really beautiful city, though. I think you'd like it. In some ways, Helsinki reminded me of it. Though Stockholm a little, too, as well.

And the fic is the same one you're thinking of, if you mean the stuff I've posted in the last couple of WIP threads. I... really have improved a lot since the time I wrote it, and there are some things in it that I usually don't prefer in fic, but it's fun and cute and whatever, I hope you'll like it, anyway. '3' <3

[kainoliero.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I know that feeling too and I've done a fair amount of history studying! Although mostly only the Nordic countries' history, because that's how history is taught in Finland: order of importance is Finland - Sweden - Nordics - Europe - the rest of the world when it's somehow liked to European countries (f.ex. Britain getting up to no good in China etc.) - remaining countries. Whenever I start to write historical fic the first step is always to hit the wikipedia. Just in case I misremember something. Just in case history is different when written by a non-Finn. Just in case there are details included that I don't know of/cannot remember that would make an awesome addition to the fic.

Btw I also learn history easiest through reading fics or the forewords of books in context with what's written in them. Sometimes the content of the books tells you valuable things about the way people thought around the time the book was written too. My favourite example is Auður from Laxdæla saga, a woman whose husband divorces her on false claims of cross-dressing. She eventually dresses up as a man and attempts to murder her husband in his sleep. He wakes up in time and sees who attacked him, yet forbids his men from going after Auður, saying that she only did as she should have done. From that can f.ex. be deducted that

- cross-dressing was a severe breach in morals, bad enough to file a divorce for
- revenge was a well-understood method of cleaning one's name
- killing someone in their sleep was not considered immoral if it was done for revenge
- once someone's name was tarnished there was no other way of cleaning it - Auður doesn't stand to lose anything more even if she does what she was falsely accused of earlier AND
- that it was only considered proper for men to carry a weapon: Auður might have donned trou just to avoid anyone stopping her on her way to her ex
- women sometimes went for the direct approach of getting their revenge, even though this was rare

Whoah that was a huge wall of text, sorry! :D Btw when you post that fic please make sure I'll see it, you're one of my favourite fic authors. :3

[yuuago]

Somehow it makes me feel better to know that you have problems like this too, pffff.

...the forewords of books in context with what's written in them YES YES YES this is one thing that I've found helps quite a bit for me when it comes to literature written in a distant time period... There's just so much about understanding what's going on in literature that requires having at least a basic idea of the historical context. Thank fuck for forewords, else so often I would have no clue.

And you just reminded me that I should read more sagas, because I have some stowed away in a trunk somewhere, as I haven't gotten to them yet, except for Grettir's Saga, which I liked. :Va

Also... alsdkfjdf okay. ;3; I will! I'll be putting it on the kink meme first, because it is a response to a prompt there, but I'll be sure to do a second revision and post it in my journal just for you. (It's... kind of sappy and sugary and I'm not sure if it's really the kind of thing you prefer? But I will blame that on it being in response to someone's prompt. I dunno.)

[noyadespate.livejournal.com]

You wanted some book recommendations on twitter so I'll put them here:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-European-History-Birdsall-Viault/dp/0070674531
If you want a general overview of European history from the Renaissance onwards. It's kind of a test-prep book- we used it in AP Euro so it teaches to the AP test a little, but it's a good general overview of European history. I haven't read the whole thing through since 10th grade, so I can't be certain of the quality of it, but I do remember finding it very useful.

http://www.amazon.com/Baltic-New-History-Region-People/dp/1585678635/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349745229&sr=1-1&keywords=the+baltic
When this author says the Baltic, he means literally everything that touches the Baltic Sea, so instead of being Latvia+Lithuania+Estonia it's really more oriented towards the bigger powers of the Baltic throughout history, which would be primarily Sweden, Denmark, and Russia. I found this one pretty good for getting an overview of Scandinavian history (unfortunately the author doesn't include Norway much, since Norway doesn't face the Baltic).

http://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Sweden-Cambridge-Histories/dp/0521012279/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349745542&sr=1-1&keywords=a+concise+history+of+sweden
I haven't actually read this one through, just in bits and pieces, but it seems fairly good for getting a good overview of Swedish history. Idk if you have this one, I think you might have it already?

There are probably other things I could recommend but I don't have access to most of my books rn so I'm struggling to think of other books :|a And I already recommended you Sweden and Visions of Norway...