ABSTRACT
Historical reenactment television has flourished since the early 2000s, lately turning its attention to histories well within the memory of many viewers. This chapter traces the development of the new form of reenactment, which has emerged out of the conjunction of historical reenactment television and online digital video. Historical reenactments of any sort collapse temporal boundaries. Carrying out reenactments with living participants brings this collapse to the fore. Digital video platforms – with YouTube in the vanguard – provide an outlet for historical reenactments of every type. Historical reenactment television was hands on, challenging its participants to make bread in coal ovens, and wash clothes with dolly and mangle, feeling the awkwardness and unfamiliarity of their labour at the very tips of their fingers. The majority of online reenactment is generated by individual users, who create highly personal videos which impart their own memories, experiences, and contexts of use upon the reenactment accounts that they produce.
