People
have been looking at their own images in pools of water since there
have been people, but you don't get a really good view that way.
Polished metal was an improvement, then glass, but a really clear look
at oneself requires a mirror. These came about at around 1300 CE, and
proved to be a game changer as they spread through the world in the 15th
century. Before mirrors, people identified themselves as part of a
group, because their experience of self was mainly in relation to those
around them.
This is why the medieval punishments of
banishment and exile were so severe. A tradesman thrown out of his
hometown would lose everything that gave him his identity. He would be
unable to make a living, borrow money, or trade goods. He would lose the
trust of those who could stand up for him and protect him physically,
socially, and economically. He would have no one to plead his innocence
or previous good behavior in court, and he would lose the spiritual
protection of any church guild or fraternity to which he belonged. What
happened in the fifteenth century was not so much that this community
identity broke down, but rather that people started to become aware of
their unique qualities irrespective of their loyalty to their community.
That old sense of collective identity was overlaid with a new sense of
personal self-worth.
But the transition was not for
everyone at once. Mirrors were expensive, and only the wealthy had the
means to perceive themselves as individuals at the time. Royalty,
artists, philosophers, and scientists led the way, with common people
following over time, as you'll read
in an article at Lapham's Quarterly.
No comments:
Post a Comment