Digital Archive Storytelling
Recovering the Neglected Narratives of Women Writers From the Early Modern Period (1550-1700 C.E.)_
_Through the Digital Documentation of Their Material Culture_
The (Prototype) PhD Research Blog of Erica Robert Pallo
ARCHIVE
Material Culture of Women Writers From the Early Modern Period in the United Kingdom
Material culture contains many lost stories of women and female-identifying persons missing from the global historical record. With my long-term research, I intend to show how many women used their handiworks, available modes of communication, and social resources unique to their situations to produce objects that had multi-layered intentions and complex, even subversive meanings below the surface.
THE MAP
Where in the World Women Left Their Mark Through Material Culture
CLICK MAPS BELOW TO VISIT INTERACTIVE WEBSITES
The final iteration of the database application will include a multi-dimensional digital map of documented material objects as its main interface, highly aesthetic video, photo, and audio content augmented with special considerations for visitors with visual and hearing impairments, and clickable, supplementary links.
Audio narratives and soundscapes will augment the visual components and bring the objects to life. They will be original, fictionalized stories that I will write, and then have recorded in the women's native language, in English, and eventually in other languages, the narratives playing with a tap on a computer mouse.
Click on map to see a database of material culture of women during the Early Modern Period
from the United Kingdom:
England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
(Isle of Man not included).
Click on the version below to see how I envision the longer-term research to manifest:
as a world map database of women from the entire global historical record.
CATEGORIES
Ways That Women Expressed Themselves Through Material Culture
Below are possible ways of organizing future databases that archive cultural data into themes, genres, groups, and subgroups that would allow for cross-referencing and preliminary analysis.
MATERIAL CULTURE
PRINTED WRITING
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Cookbooks / Receipt Books
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Fiction Books
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Non-Fiction Books
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Published Poetry
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Newspaper Articles
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Magazine Articles
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Book Binding
HAND WRITING
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Manuscripts
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Plays
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Journals
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Letters
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Political Petitions
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Religious Pamphlets
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Other Correspondences
VISUAL ART
Painting
Sculpture
Tapestries
Engravings
Drawings
Illustrations
Map Colorists
FABRIC
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Clothing
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Tapestries
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Embroidery
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Housewares
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Rugs
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Weavings
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Spinning Tools
MEDIA
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Photography
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Film
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Ephemera
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Advertisements
EDUCATIONAL
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Cartography & Maps
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Medical / Health Books
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Alchemical Instruments
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Scientific Equipment
VESSELS
Pottery
Basketry
Glassware
Metal Goods
INTANGIBLE CULTURE
Live Performances
Non-Recorded Songs
Dance
RITUAL
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Religious Objects
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Mourning Items
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Childbirth Commemorization
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Masks
MUSICAL
Scores
Song Lyrics
Instruments
Recording Equipment
ORNAMENTAL ADORNMENTS
Jewelry
Makeup
Beauty Products
Perfume
SEXUALITY
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Menstruation Aides
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Birthing Apparatuses
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Contraceptives
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Objects for Pleasure
LOCATIONS
EUROPE
NORTH AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
AFRICA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
THEMES
HISTORY
Feminism, Domesticity, Private vs. Public Spheres, Gender Roles, Discrimination, Repression, Women's Suffrage Movements
CAREER
Earning Wages, Public Sphere Work, Unpaid Work, Financial Independence, Upward, Mobility, Notoriety, Agency
DOMESTIC LIFE
Household Management, Housework, Culinary Interests, Cooking, Motherhood, Childrearing, Family, Marriage
CREATIVITY
Form vs. Function, Aesthetics vs. Utilitarianism, Artistic Expressions, Musical Instruction, Musical Performance
SPIRITUALITY
Rituals, Mourning, Gender-Specific Practices, Religious Devotion, Musical Instruction, Musical Performance
IDENTITY & BODY POLITICS
Sexuality, Gender Representation, Lactation in Art, Symbolism, Violence, Agency, Body Shape
APPROXIMATE TIME PERIODS
PREHISTORY
(Until 700 BCE)
ANCIENT PERIOD
(700 BCE - 600 CE)
(600 CE - 1500 CE)
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
(1500 CE - 1750 CE)
(1750 CE - 1945 CE)
LATE MODERN PERIOD
CONTEMPORARY
(1945 CE - Present)