joinng group, focus of visigoth

[Kristin Marie Wall]

Carl,

Indeed, I'm 'hoping' for more insights from families who have lore 
or hoarded facts on their visigothic-spanish lineage to share some; 
I've met some that do and who want their lineal information kept 
private in order to avoid being targetted; I honor their requests 
and desire not to share with scholars that would return nothing to 
them in recompense for private family information. That is where I'm 
coming from, and now I think I understand where your skeptical 
reaction is coming from. 

I'm a writer, and am in resaerch mode. Thanks for sharing your 
interest on the topic and for referring books in English. I read 
Spanish, but with a dictionary, mostly. 

Cheerio,
Kristin-Marie





--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, Carl Edlund Anderson <cea at ...> 
wrote:
>
> On 16/03/2007 15:42, Kristin Marie Wall wrote:
> > Do you have visigoth information for me? If so, please email me. 
In 
> > any event, email me with your skeptical questions so as not to 
take 
> > up time from the rest of the group. I have my information from 
the 
> > top echelon families in Spain. I'll be indebted to know the 
sources 
> > of your skepticism.
> 
> I want to emphasize that my skepticism (and, yes, sarcasm) was 
_not_ 
> aimed at you -- but I freely admit it is aimed whoever told about 
this 
> mysterious information unknown to "the scholars".  I would also 
like to 
> emphasize that Gothic issues were never my main area of work, but 
I do 
> know a number of people who have worked on late antique and early 
> medieval Spain, including on Visigothic issues, and my skepticism 
is 
> based on my general background and experience, as well as what 
I've 
> gleaned about the field from friends and colleagues.
> 
> With regard to the particular issue at hand -- that of private 
families 
> (regardless of their echelon) in Spain having genuine information 
about 
> Visigothic Spain that is not known to the academic and scholarly 
world 
> in general -- I think I will leave it at saying I find it utterly 
> incredible in every sense of the word.  Of course, it's a free 
internet, 
> and one can choose to believe what and who one will.  But I am 
> _strongly_ inclined to file information alongside concepts such as 
> Merovingians being descended from Jesus and Atlanteans building 
the 
> pyramids.  I'm not a dogmatic knee-jerk kind of guy, though, and I 
am 
> entirely open to being proven wrong -- it would not be the first 
time :) 
>   But I would be _extremely_ surprised and (in the event that 
there was 
> genuine new information available to the world) very happy.
> 
> With regards to the topic Visigothic Spain generally, I cannot say 
much 
> specific that's of any value since that is, as I note, not my area 
of 
> expertise.  I can say that I know the subject has always been a 
> difficult one, and the history of its study is littered with 
ethnic, 
> religious, and political issues.  (Even during the period of the 
> Visigothic kings, ethnicity and identity seems to have been fairly 
fluid 
> concepts in the Iberian peninsula, thanks to the complicated 
religious 
> and political situation.)  I fear the best overview of the subject 
in 
> English is still E.A. Thompson's, _The Goths in Spain_ -- an 
excellent 
> book, just now 40 years or so old.  More promisingly, there has 
been a 
> lot of interest in ethnicity and identity in late antiquity and 
the 
> early medieval period in recent decades, and there's a good deal 
of 
> Spanish-language scholarship that appeared in the form of journal 
> articles and such dealing with such issues regarding various 
Roman, 
> Visigothic, and Moorish identities (as well as Basque) around the 
time 
> of the Visigothic kings and also effects of relations with the 
Frankish 
> polities to the north.  If you read Spanish, seeking out recent 
articles 
> treating Visigothic identity is probably the best bet.  Visigothic 
Spain 
> is unquestionably a fascinating field over which there surely much 
> debate yet to come.
> 
> Cheers,
> Carl
> 
> -- 
> Carl Edlund Anderson
> mailto:cea at ...
> http://www.carlaz.com/
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/gothic-l/attachments/20070317/f47c54f3/attachment.htm>