M.A.R. Barker, author of Tekumel, also author of Neo-Nazi book?

[billd91]

The link to this was posted privately in Facebook. It’s an attempt at a defense of M.A.R. Barker.

The idea that he "infiltrated" the editorial board of a marginal, anti-Semitic, pseudoscientific journal strikes me as farcical.

 

[Ancalagon]

Writers write for money. So yes soft porn = pro nazi = star wars porn = whatever.
I amused y'all are griping about a DEAD man.

ooooh boy.

First, writers write for money yes... or do they? A lot of people write for free. (edit: Barker was a tenure professor, did he really need the money?)

Second, writers choose what they write (usually). Baker chose to write and edit antisemitic material.

Lastly, I would contend that no equivalence can be drawn between soft porn erotica and antisemitic/neo-nazi material.

I am glad I asked you to clarify, I didn't want to rush to judgement. I think I have enough data now however...

 

[Dire Bare]

The link to this was posted privately in Facebook. It’s an attempt at a defense of M.A.R. Barker.
However it actually makes it worse for me. He knew how bad this book was so much so he kept it secret to not upset people. And it was written in the 80s as he took a while shopping it around.

Was Professor M A R Barker a Nazi?

No, of course he wasn't a Nazi. But if you were unlucky enough to get caught in the stampede of denunciation this week you might have got th...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

The author of that blog is definitely reaching . . . he complains about how Barker is being treated currently, and then spins a yarn to try and find a narrative that fits into the "Barker is OK" position.

But he does bring up good points. One of the reasons why the news of "Serpent's Walk" is so troubling and surprising to many Barker fans is it seems incongruous with other aspects of Barker's life. There is more unknown about Barker's engagement with Nazism than there is known.

Barker is gone, we can't ask him WHY he wrote "Serpent's Walk". Was it to explore his own Nazi sympathies? Or just a story that sprung from the recesses of his mind? A literary hoax? A sci-fi novel that explores Nazi characters and themes without the author endorsing those ideas?

But still . . . the disappointment, anger, and sadness aimed at Barker is legitimate and fair. As @darjr said, Barker was well aware of the problematic nature of his novel, and decided to not only publish it anyway, but to go through the whole "literary hoax" idea of creating an alternate persona, engaging with an anti-Semitic journal . . . ugh. Barker went through a lot of work to publish a very problematic novel, all fully aware of what he was doing. And yet, to choose a pseudonym so close to his own name . . . I don't think Barker would be surprised at the reactions he's getting today.

Barker was either a Nazi sympathizer, or as put forth way earlier in this thread, Barker was "that guy". An intellectual so detached from society that he thought writing and publishing this novel was a fine idea for a "literary hoax". I have little sympathy for the man or his legacy.

 

[BookTenTiger]

The author of that blog is definitely reaching . . . he complains about how Barker is being treated currently, and then spins a yarn to try and find a narrative that fits into the "Barker is OK" position.

But he does bring up good points. One of the reasons why the news of "Serpent's Walk" is so troubling and surprising to many Barker fans is it seems incongruous with other aspects of Barker's life. There is more unknown about Barker's engagement with Nazism than there is known.

Barker is gone, we can't ask him WHY he wrote "Serpent's Walk". Was it to explore his own Nazi sympathies? Or just a story that sprung from the recesses of his mind? A literary hoax? A sci-fi novel that explores Nazi characters and themes without the author endorsing those ideas?

But still . . . the disappointment, anger, and sadness aimed at Barker is legitimate and fair. As @darjr said, Barker was well aware of the problematic nature of his novel, and decided to not only publish it anyway, but to go through the whole "literary hoax" idea of creating an alternate persona, engaging with an anti-Semitic journal . . . ugh. Barker went through a lot of work to publish a very problematic novel, all fully aware of what he was doing. And yet, to choose a pseudonym so close to his own name . . . I don't think Barker would be surprised at the reactions he's getting today.

Barker was either a Nazi sympathizer, or as put forth way earlier in this thread, Barker was "that guy". An intellectual so detached from society that he thought writing and publishing this novel was a fine idea for a "literary hoax". I have little sympathy for the man or his legacy.

It reminds me of how LGBTQIA+ fans of Harry Potter found a lot of themes to relate to throughout the books, and even made fan groups based on those interpretations... Only for Rowling to then clarify her own views. Sometimes an author's work and their own perspectives seem miles apart! It's always quite shocking and disappointing.

 

[dragoner]

The link to this was posted privately in Facebook. It’s an attempt at a defense of M.A.R. Barker.
However it actually makes it worse for me. He knew how bad this book was so much so he kept it secret to not upset people. And it was written in the 80s as he took a while shopping it around.

Was Professor M A R Barker a Nazi?

No, of course he wasn't a Nazi. But if you were unlucky enough to get caught in the stampede of denunciation this week you might have got th...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

I'm part Jewish, and probably Romani so that even if I had fun with EPT in the 80's it is fully spoiled and I won't touch it again, and having nothing good to say, so I really have nothing to say at all... However, what has become self evident is how many people knew, since at least the 80's and said nothing. I mean crafting a "response" for ten years? Then only saying anything after the news has broken, makes me unsettled to say the least.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Look, we can ask some still-living authors why they wrote problematic things (Glenn Rahman comes to mind, in a somewhat superficially similar situation), and they can provide whatever defense they wish (if they wish), but at the end of the day, everybody has to make their own decision what they will support with their purchases. In the Information Age, pleading ignorance of what your purchases support is becoming rapidly no longer a valid defense. Authorship should be enough to taint a work, yes, but maybe not a whole brand. Buying anything Harry Potter related supports JKR and keeps her creation in the public eye. Is that a bad thing? Yes and no. It's personally painful to provide even incidental support for an abhorrent viewpoint, but I also know LGBTQ+ people who found themes they related to in HP. I don't want to cheapen what they got out of it. Where is the line?

 

[Fifth Element]

I don't want to cheapen what they got out of it. Where is the line?

As you already noted, it's an individual decision. Hopefully one that's informed by considering other peoples' opinions on the matter to see if they make convincing points, which is the purpose of having discussions about it.

 

[Jer]

Where is the line?

There isn't a single line. Everyone will have their own line in all of this kind of stuff.

What matters is that the information gets out there so that people can make their own judgments about where it falls on their own line. For me Barker's work was mostly historical curiosity anyway so not supporting it means very little both in the bigger picture and in my personal "what lines am I willing to cross" small picture. (Though the stewards of his work have already done a lot of damage in that respect anyway - even if I wanted to buy his books I'm not sure I actually could - AFAIK only a few of his books are readily available these days outside of very expensive used copies).

 

[Fifth Element]

The OP posted to get responses, I will post an amusing response.

When will you do that?

 

[Dire Bare]

It reminds me of how LGBTQIA+ fans of Harry Potter found a lot of themes to relate to throughout the books, and even made fan groups based on those interpretations... Only for Rowling to then clarify her own views. Sometimes an author's work and their own perspectives seem miles apart! It's always quite shocking and disappointing.

True. But with Barker, its not just his known work on Tekumel that seems incongruous with "Serpent's Wake", but details of his life. He was a convert to Islam, married a non-white woman, had many friends and colleagues who are shocked he wrote "Serpent's Walk".

People are complicated and weird, that's for sure.