Oh man, sympathies on the Dunning-Kruger discovery. That was totally how I felt when I disappeared down the rabbit hole of 80s punk subculture only to discover that Billy Hargrove was (in fact) a metalhead, sworn enemy of the punks. XD On the upside, I know a lot of fascinating stuff about the punk movement now!
I think you're probably wise to be careful about getting the history right (Civil War history being such an identity-maker in our culture). Brian points out (with the saltiness of a person of an oft-mischaracterized ethnic background who works in an oft-mischaracterized field—"Sure, I summon the ancestral spirits while I hack the Gibson! Every other Thursday!") that the immigrant identity part is probably going to have relatively fewer people who care about it. Which isn't to say it's not worth getting right, but maybe don't beat yourself up too much about almost missing it.
I swear, writing history is like picking your way through a minefield at times. If only we had some way of knowing whether the things we're missing are squibs, or full-on claymores...
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2020-11-25 03:11 pm (UTC)I think you're probably wise to be careful about getting the history right (Civil War history being such an identity-maker in our culture). Brian points out (with the saltiness of a person of an oft-mischaracterized ethnic background who works in an oft-mischaracterized field—"Sure, I summon the ancestral spirits while I hack the Gibson! Every other Thursday!") that the immigrant identity part is probably going to have relatively fewer people who care about it. Which isn't to say it's not worth getting right, but maybe don't beat yourself up too much about almost missing it.
I swear, writing history is like picking your way through a minefield at times. If only we had some way of knowing whether the things we're missing are squibs, or full-on claymores...