To reenact, by definition, is to make sense or understand something (Magelssen). Just like a work of art or a museum exhibit, reenactment allows people to better understand history through a physical action, rather than words or a painting. These gatherings of people not only serve as an outlet to remember an event, it brings diverse people together that have a common interest.
However, both the Civil War and Easter Rising started as controversial events to reenact due to their place in each nation’s history. Congressmen and delegates seeking remembrence in both countries were perplexed with the idea of reenacting the darkest and most tragic events to happen in the United States and Ireland.
“…Our Civil War was the greatest tragedy in the history of any country. After two centuries its battle might be commemorated, but one centuries a short period in the history of a country and I fear it is quite impossible to relive the four years of our Civil War without recalling experience that will be unpleasant to the people of both North and South.” -James F. Byrnes
Though events that featured reenactments were held in both countries soon after the battles ended, it was until the early 1900’s that the United States saw yearly, accepted reenactments and not until nearly 1970 in Ireland (Fahs & Waugh, 64)(Link).
But why do they reenact? Is there no better way to understand history than dress up? These questions are what separates the reenactment culture in America and Ireland. In the United States, primarily men will dress as Union and Confederate soldiers. The truth of Confederacy reenactment is that these men are representing men who were fighting for slavery in America but their will to reenact is so they can revive an idea of masculinity and honor. This sheds light onto a key difference in Ireland as they are doing this activity to give honor to the men and women who died fighting for a central idea of freedom.
In 1998, Dr. Michael Levy conducted a study into the psychology behind reenactments, specifically those done by trauma victims. The study gave insightful knowledge into the world of military reenactment as well.
“Individuals may actively reenact elements of a past traumatic experience as a way to cope with and master it. At times, the attempt is an adaptive process that facilitates the successful resolution and working through of the earlier trauma. In other cases, however, the effort to master the trauma is a maladaptive mechanism and the strategy results in continued distress and difficulties for the individual.” -Dr. Michael Levy
He concluded that reenacting acted as a mechanism for people to understand a traumatic past experience, whether it was direct or indirect. For example, a person who wishes to reenact the Rising may do so due to their desire to connect with revolutionary Irish ideas and to “master” the event to understand what the Rising’s leaders fought for (Levy 228).
Dr. Levy also found that the desire to reenact may come from an individual’s intense feelings and drive to react to past events through a different personality (231). This would apply to a hobbyist who plays a Union solider from the 4th Vermont Infantry in reenactment battles, because he wants to alternatively experience the Civil War through a different person within his imagination, rather than truly understand the meaning behind the war and the beliefs of the time.
Just as a curator at a Civil War site museum obsesses over the accuracy of artifacts or a muralist in Dublin expresses historical art with a brick wall and spraypaint , reenactors are simply attempting to better understand and appreciate history. However the culture in Ireland is predominantly to showcase the revolution that has come to define their culture and American reenactment culture is to glorify the participants and events in the Civil War.
To read Dr. Levy’s research on reenactment conceptualization, click here.