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Tags: Place

The purpose of tags is to make information relatively easy to find. For a project like the Lesbian Historic Motif Project, this means a certain flattening of nuance, particularly when a tagged entry covers a broad scope of information fairly superficially. In some cases, when I’m tagging an entry, the specific geographic or cultural scope isn’t entirely clear. This essay is intended to explain briefly how the “place” tags are being used.

The second purpose is to provide a tag list that the visitor can use to explore the site. The number of tags used in the project, and the organization into four different categories, doesn’t lend itself to a traditional tag-cloud. I’ll be setting up one of these tag essays for Place and Time Period tags, and probably multiple topic-specific essays for the Event/Person and Misc. tag-sets.

Tags Associated with Africa

  • Africa: Africa is used as a tag when the article covers multiple cultures within the continent.
  • Algeria: Covering approximately the region of modern Algeria in northern Africa. See also Arabic and Islamicate for inclusion in general discussions.
  • Egypt: Covering approximately the region of modern Egypt in north-eastern Africa. See also Arabic and Islamicate for inclusion in general discussion, but many uses are for Roman-era or Coptic Egypt.
  • Ethiopia: Covering approximately the region of modern Ethiopia in eastern Africa. May sometimes be covered under Arabic and Islamicate tags for general discussions.
  • Morocco: Covering approximately the region of modern Morocco in northern Africa. See also Arabic and Islamicate for inclusion in general discussions.

Tags Associated with the Americas

  • Aztec: Relating to the Aztec culture in Central America.
  • Canada: Primarily used when specifically Canadian individuals or publications are discussed. General North American topics are somewhat misleadingly tagged USA. Also see Native America.
  • Cuba: Persons or events relating directly to the island of Cuba.
  • Native America: Topics relating specifically to indigenous cultures in North America. These articles typically cover a number of different cultures.
  • USA: Includes Colonial America in what would become the USA. May also be used generally for North America if sources were not specific. See also separate tag Native America for discussions of indigenous North American cultures.

Tags Associated with Europe

  • Europe: Used when discussions cover a number of European topics, or discuss Europe in general. See also specific countries/regions.
  • Albania: Covering approximately the region of modern Albania in south-eastern Europe.
  • Austria: Covering approximately the region of modern Austria in central Europe. May also be used for regions covered by various incarnations of Austrian Empires.
  • Bohemia: Covering approximately the region historically known as Bohemia in central Europe (roughly the modern Czech Republic).
  • Crete: Covering topics related to the island of Crete (primarily Classical references). See also Greece.
  • Denmark: Covering approximately the region of modern Denmark in northern Europe. See also Scandinavia.
  • England: Covering topics relating specifically to England or generally to the region equivalent to the modern United Kingdom. Sometimes lazily and inaccurately used generally for the British Isles, especially when articles don’t specifically identify the nationality of authors.
  • Flanders: Covering approximately the region historically known as Flanders in north-western Europe (part of modern Belgium).
  • France: Covering approximately the region of modern France in western Europe, or to topics relating to French-language culture in Europe.
  • Germany: Covering approximately the region of modern Germany, but sometimes more generally the broader historic scope of German-speaking regions.
  • Greece: Covering the region equivalent to modern Greece in south-eastern Europe, but also the larger scope of Greek-speaking cultures, especially in the Classical period.
  • Iceland: Covering the region equivalent to the modern island of Iceland. Primarily used in relation to medieval literature and legal texts. See also Scandinavia.
  • Ireland: Covering individuals and cultures associated with the island of Ireland, but topics relating to Anglo-Irish culture may be tagged England, especially if the nationality of the individual is unclear in the source.
  • Italy: Covering the region equivalent to modern Italy in southern Europe, but also used for topics within the cultural scope of the Roman Empire, if a more specific region is not indicated.
  • Netherlands: Covering the region equivalent to the modern Netherlands in north-western Europe, but sometimes also used generally for the region of the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemboug) if the source is unclear.
  • Poland: Covering the region equivalent to modern Poland in eastern Europe.
  • Portugal: Covering the region equivalent to modern Portugal in south-western Europe. Topics relating generally to the Iberian region will generally be tagged Spain.
  • Russia: Covering the region equivalent to the European portion of the former USSR. If I find more publications relating to this region, I may add more specific tags.
  • Scandinavia: Covering topics generally relating to Scandinavia (including Iceland), generally in reference to medieval cultures, especially in relation to literary traditions shared amoung the region.
  • Scotland: Covering topics relating to the region of modern Scotland, but see also England for Anglo-Scottish topics or when specific nationality is unclear in the source.
  • Spain: Covering the region equivalent to modern Spain in south-western Europe, or for topics relating generally to the Iberian peninsula. In the medieval period, see also some items tagged with Arabic or Islamicate.
  • Sweden: Covering the region equivalent to modern Sweden in northern Europe. See also Scandinavia.
  • Switzerland: Covering the region equivalent to modern Switzerland in central Europe.

Tags Associated with the Middle East

  • Middle East: Used for discussions covering cultures in the Middle East generally. See also specific countries/regions, also Arabic and Islamicate.
  • Byzantium: Covering topics relating to the Byzantine Empire (roughly, the eastern end of the Mediterranean region). In some cases, see also Greece or Turkey.
  • Iran: Covering the region equivalent to modern Iran, including historic Persia, But see also: Middle East, Arabic, and Islamicate.
  • Iraq: Covering the region equivalent to modern Iraq, but see also Middle East, Arabic, and Islamicate.
  • Turkey: Covering the region equivalent to modern Turkey, but see also Middle East, Arabic, and Islamicate, and in some cases Byzantium.

Tags Associated with Other Regions

  • Australia: Covering individuals, publications, and cultures in Australia.
  • China: Covering individuals, publications, and cultures associated either geographically or culturally with China.
  • India: Covering individuals, publications, and cultures associated either geographically or culturally with India.

Tags Referring to Cultural Rather Than Geographic Groupings

  • Arabic: This tag is primarily used when discussing Arabic-language texts when the specific cultural context is either unclear or has broad geographic scope. See also Islamicate and specific countries/regions that have historically been Arabic-speaking.
  • Islamicate: This tag follows recent scholarly practice in referring to cultures in regions strongly influenced by Islam, whether or not those cultures practice Islam. In general I’ve used this tag when the publication itself does. See also Arabic and specific countries/regions.
  • Jewish communities: Covering cultures and practices relating to Jewish people in disapora, primarily in Europe. Discussions of specific people of Jewish heritage will usually be tagged with their specific countries/regions of residence.
historical