Well, it's been a calm and quiet day on Medieval Twitter /s
I wanted to take yesterday to read and think, because this makes twice in two days that something that claims to "reclaim" the past from white supremacy instead upholds it.
I wanted to take yesterday to read and think, because this makes twice in two days that something that claims to "reclaim" the past from white supremacy instead upholds it.
First, @ISASaxonists revealed that her review of #TheBrightAges was killed for being "too critical" about the book centering wyte perspectives. I had been hopeful for the book based on other reviews, but silencing critical perspectives is unacceptable.
https://twitter.com/ISASaxonists/status/1518288936438751233?s=20&t=3FgjwV_2j_TDDbtzlbANnw
(I actually haven't had a chance to read it yet, since @HarperCollins never sent me the copy that I won in a giveaway, so that's my bad for recommending texts I have not personally read.)
Second, #TheNorthman made big claims to reclaiming the Viking World from white supremacists, but as @guardian and expanded by Princess Weekes @TheMarySue, white supremacists love the film. I think that's called a failed mission. themarysue.com/the-northman-w…
The two threads intersect in this @SmithsonianMag fluff piece by the authors of #TheBrightAges, who are not experts in the Vikings. It doesn't evaluate where it falls short - i.e. the constraining of the Viking World to an umbrella idea of a white world. smithsonianmag.com/history/the-tr…
This isn't a case where the historical record wouldn't allow a more explicit critique of wyte imaginings. Sagas regularly include non-white characters and as @ashotmarg2004 et al explored, there is room in paleogenetic record for much more diversity. nature.com/articles/s4158…
My thoughts this morning have also turned towards the idea of "reclamation". That seems to be the word of choice for wyte progressives to talk about the struggle against w. supremacists.
As if w.s. are suppressing the past, and if only it spoke on its own terms, that'd be enough
As if w.s. are suppressing the past, and if only it spoke on its own terms, that'd be enough
This.. seems appropriative, based on the idea of groups "reclaiming" slurs, turning harm into power. But it also frames the struggle in terms of wyteness, only "good" wyteness instead of "bad" wyteness.
In that framework, it's easy to mistake traditional work as revolutionary
In that framework, it's easy to mistake traditional work as revolutionary
Every incentive structure in this industry likes wyteness, and likes raising up wyte/male/cis voices as authoritative. I know, I'm benefiting in my streams from that every day. I am not ostracized for being "unrigorous" even when talking about a period I know little about.
And I've been complicit in that too - not seeking out PoC's perspectives enough in research, not doing enough to listen to friends who have called me in, not doing enough to seek out partnerships on #twitch with scholars and creators of color.
But the point is to continue to choose to fight against those structures and listen when when we fall short. leverage privilege as much as possible (limitations exist- eg I can't afford to pay guests and I do not want to deceive them into sharing their labor without compensation)
And maybe ditch the term "reclamation." Wyte progressives can't fight for their own sake, but rather to restore historical erasure and ongoing oppression. And if that means pushing the envelope of the "traditional" history to piss off supremacists, do it boldly.
Oh, and read histories of medieval Europe by scholars of color. @OlivetteOtele's other work has been on my radar for a while now but I totally missed this book, so thank you @ISASaxonists for the recs and all you do.
https://twitter.com/ISASaxonists/status/1518307750190669825?s=20&t=3FgjwV_2j_TDDbtzlbANnw
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