Thread: I want to briefly rehearse the problems with the term "Anglo-Saxon" as a medieval term. In sum, it is a term with a racist history--in both Europe and America--since the 19th century at least. It also was not the primary term used in the medieval period.
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Many white scholars have been quibbling with this second point, saying that Alfred used it in some charters or it was part of his title, or that people on the continent, such as Paul the Lombard or the Carolingians, used the term. That is correct but ignores the larger point.
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Replying to @erik_kaars
My issue with people defending the term from this perspective is that they essentially invented a word in English to translate “Angulsaxon” but it was during a time of extreme racism in early academia. The other problem is that terminology in medieval studies changes ALL THE TIME
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Replying to @AdmiralHip @erik_kaars
I mean it wasn’t too long ago we were still calling the Irish “Celts” in scholarly works. I look through translations that differ all the time. We’ve moved away from “tribes” and “tribal” (at least in the stuff I work with, for the most part).
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Replying to @AdmiralHip @erik_kaars
It’s ridiculous how much people are clinging to this. If an old white scholar who was well-established at an institution and had 100s of articles said we should make this change somehow I doubt there would be as much pushback.
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I’m really mad about this. Not to mention I know of a number of discussions about this are happening off Twitter that is skewing the narrative but there’s nothing I can do or say about it because it’s secondhand info.
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