Re-presenting the Past

 Sean's and Stephanie's Virtual Reconstruction of the San Jose de Moro Archaeological Site

As with the map assignment, I had a hard time conceptualizing what I felt would be an appropriate way to virtually reconstruct either Gries' or Brandenburg's cultural rhetorical site. I was stuck, particularly on how to "'unveil[] [] the rhetorical practices therein."

In looking at the Rome Reborn virtual reconstruction, I was flabbergasted by how impersonal the entirety of the project seemed to me. I felt so disappointed viewing the videos - as a minor long ago in biological archaeology, I was ecstatic to be viewing these projections of historically-accurate virtual worlds, but I was miffed at what I felt the project came off as - merely a show.

I felt shortchanged - as if I hadn't been given any background on the world or how it was excavated. I was just thrust in to what it might have looked like. I had no authority or freedom to venture around Rome as I pleased - I was stuck going wherever the camera went. As noted by Ashley, it didn't quite feel authentic. I, too, wanted authenticity to be clear in my virtual reconstruction.

Further, I didn't feel as if I gained much rhetorical knowledge. I discussed my conundrum with my colleague - "Why are we panning around Rome from above? What am I learning about the culture other than the size and magnitude of the buildings?"

She chimed in with a good point - many of the buildings were built around rhetoric. For example, the coliseum - this was a place where the rhetors could come and talk and the massive audience could encircle the rhetor and learn from their great minds. ("School of Life" video).

This, to me, was an intriguing concept. Finally, the buildings were speaking. I, too, wanted the objects found in the San Jose de Moro excavation to do the talking. But then I wondered - can these objects really talk? As we discussed in class, do they have agency on their own?

I do not believe so. Rather, I believe the objects require contextualization for a deeper understanding of their meaning.

As noted by Brandenburg, Urbieta's painting of the Zapotec martyers "appears to be fairly straightforward." (Brandenburg 160). It was not until the artiest, in an interview, revealed the layers of meaning, that full understanding of the symbolism in the painting was achieved. (Brandenburg 160). This exemplifies the duality noted by Brandenburg in Mesoamerican rhetoric. (Brandenburg 157).

Similarly, duality can be found in Steve Bourget's interpretation of the Moche burial rituals. Burials were just that - burials. However, by providing context regarding the Moche lifestyle - for example, the fact that transitions from one given ruler to the next appeared seamless - Bourget was able to theorize that the Moche used duality, inversion, and concealment to perpetuate prevailing ideologies of one everlasting ruler despite death. (Gries 108-09).

Thus, I determined that, in making the virtual reconstruction of the San Jose de Moro archaeological excavation, I wanted duality to become apparent. Sean had the great idea of an infographic map [explanation here] - the burial site could be seen as it was so that the initial meaning and placement of the objects would remain intact - but with a little hovering and some text, the user could learn numerous theories from a number of scholars studying the Moche culture.

However, I wanted to be careful not to use too many words - as I believed the Victoria's Lost Pavilion Project did. Though I'm aware the project is still coming together, and the blog is being used to show what the project hopes to encapsulate, I was frustrated by the inability to zoom in to various portions of the textured depictions of the walls.

I did not want my virtual reconstruction to be about me. I did not want to be the one in charge, leading a follower through the pack. I wanted the objects to speak for themselves as much as they could. One quote from Gries was really very influential for me - it was a quote from Mao's "Studying the Chinese Rhetorical Tradition in the Present." There, Mao demonstrated how to "re-present," rather than represent, ancient rhetoric traditions, by "both anchoring it in its own context and its own terms." (Gries 89-90). By presenting a map of the archaeological site as it looked throughout excavation, and allowing the follower to view the excavation as it was being done - and then, presenting information from various scholars if that information was desired with a simple click - I thought that a "re-presentation" could be accomplished effectively.