🚦 A-Game M.A.R. Barker, creator of Tékumel, wrote a neo-Nazi novel in 1991 (He also sat on the board of a Holocaust-denial publication)

[Martin Ralya]

Moderator Text:

This is an A-Game thread, and as such A-Game rules apply.

The novel was written under a pseudonym and published by National Vanguard Books, a neo-Nazi publisher. I haven't signed up on the Tékumel forum linked in the post, but the comments on Reddit make things pretty clear, including some "highlights" from the novel itself. (Why would a neo-Nazi organization publish one's book, if not because it supports their ideals?)

The book was called Serpent's Walk, and was published by the same company that published infamous neo-nazi book The Turner Diaries. This has been known by a few people for a couple of years, or possibly longer. A former archivist for The Tekumel Foundation posted the following in 2020:

"I had had no idea that this book existed until I found the manuscript, the original cover art, the publishing contract, the photocopy of the payment check, and the proof copies of the book in amongst Phil's papers. I secured all this material for the Tekumel Foundation, in my capacity as an archivist, at that time under contract with them, and the last I saw it was all still on their shelves when I did the photo inventory of Phil's collection in their offices in October of 2012 after I did not renew my dollar-a-year contract with them. (I do not judge the data I collect; I set it in the context I find it, and let others evaluate it. My reaction, as it had been when Phil had done things like this in the past, was "Oh, Phil, WHY?")"

 

[Shadom]

Yeah I read about this a few month ago. The evidence seems credible and the book in question seems to be a nazi wish fulfillment fantasy.

The question the fans seem to be struggling whether Tekumel which at least seems to not have much of the far right ideas, is tainted by this as well or if you can separate author from his work.

 

[Oxygen Destroyer]

It looks like I can drop Tekumel from my list of "curious about, would like to try someday" games, because all the fun has just been sucked out. However, I don't fault anyone who feels differently. I am curious about what else is known about Barker. The opening message mentions "when Phil had done things like this in the past" and other posts in the reddit thread seem to be saying that he was known to be antisemitic.

It seems like a real failure of the Tekumel Foundation for trying to suppress this.

 

[S. A. Gaston]

Well fuck.

 

[sunstealer]

I feel this is worse than the situation with HPL as Barker wrote this crap in relatively recent time in the light of the Holocaust. At least thats how it feels to me, not looking to argue about it.

I've previously run Empire of the Petal Throne on a local osr-con, that won't be happening again.

 

[BigJackBrass]

Since this is all being hashed out again, I strongly suggest that everyone read the full posts by Chirine linked above, not only the excerpts. The matter is better explained by people who knew and worked with the Professor for decades, rather than amateur sleuths and philosophers on Reddit.

 

[Killfalcon]

Since this is all being hashed out again, I strongly suggest that everyone read the full posts by Chirine linked above, not only the excerpts. The matter is better explained by people who knew and worked with the Professor for decades, rather than amateur sleuths and philosophers on Reddit.

I think you can do a bit more than wave vaguely at a link - a link that, near as I can tell, isn't available to unregistered users.

What additional context do you, personally feel is relevant here?

 

[Broda]

I think you can do a bit more than wave vaguely at a link - a link that, near as I can tell, isn't available to unregistered us.

What additional context do you, personally feel is relevant here?

The posts I think he is referring to hint that the whole thing may have been some sort of elaborate, misunderstood practical joke on the part of Professor Barker. Not the likeliest of scenarios, and "Chirine" seems to be the only one to even suggest such a thing. On the other hand, I've seen someone on a Tekumel discord refer recently to Prof. Barker's "strongly held and abhorrent views", and I personally get the impression that this was a well-known facet of his personality, at least to those who knew him best. In any event, I have not yet seen anyone who knew him deny that he was anti-Semitic, and that silence is speaking volumes right now. I'd love to be proven wrong, but...

Edit: even accepting the above "absolute best case scenario", which I just can't, the Tekumel Foundation hiding this for at least a decade doesn't do anything to make it seem like anything other than what it appears to be.

 

[marurun]

There's one user post on Reddit that I think is of great value in situations like this:

ThesaddestMillenial

Agreed. Robert E. Howard has said some racist things but we can read his stuff and enjoy it because we have had that conversation not because we made excuses for it.

When discussing separating an author from their work we have to first have that discussion about the author and come to terms with what they said or did and what that means to specific groups of people.

 

[Baron Opal]

Well, this is a punch in the gut for me. I'll have to dig into this to find what context there is.