I think some people might see the title of this book and think it does not have any relevance to them or their interests and that’s too bad because White Mythic Space offers a valuable framework for countless situations beyond just those explored within its pages. This is the kind of book that, if there is any justice, will be referenced for decades to come. It’s a fascinating, well written, and approachable work that expanded my understanding of more subjects than I can readily count. I’m going to try, though, because if I just continue sing it vague praises that do it an injustice and wouldn’t make for a very interesting review.
I want to start with the core theme of the book, and the one that I think will be of use to most people: the idea of the White Mythic Space. Stefan Aguirre Quiroga proposes the concept of subjects which white culture believes to be the unique and exclusive property of a homogenous white identity. Essentially, these are topics, be they fantasy or real history, that large proportions of (primarily white) society believes to only include white people. The topic which is explored for much of the book is the First World War and the erroneous belief that only (or nearly only) white Europeans fought in the trenches of the Western Front. However, this concept is hardly limited to this one historical event. Indeed, elsewhere the author has written about the popular backlash to the inclusion of non-white characters in the animated movie Frozen 2 and non-white actors in the recent Amazon series set in Tolkien’s fictional Middle Earth.
Part of what makes the White Mythic Space particularly interesting, and troubling, is that its beliefs persist even in the face of obvious contrary evidence. The presence of non-white soldiers in Europe during the First World War is well documented and (you would think) indisputable and yet there are thousands of people who are unwilling or unable to accept this reality when presented with it in the form of the video game Battlefield 1’s inclusion of non-white soldiers.
As someone who specialises in medieval history, I can immediately see the applicability of the concept of White Mythic Space beyond modern warfare. Arguably few areas are as much a White Mythic Space as medieval Europe. The degree to which the Middle Ages is seen as a White Mythic Space is so strong that it bleeds into pure fiction – nearly all works of fantasy that happen to include elements of medieval Europe in their world building are also automatically White Mythic Spaces. We see this in objections to casting of non-white actors in worlds created by Tolkien or, as Stefan explores in his book, the casting of Marvel’s Thor movies – movies where the (fictional) Norse gods are aliens from another world and not in fact Scandinavian at all. The concept of White Mythic Space provides a valuable framework for analysing the public backlashes to the inclusion of non-white people in these spaces, or more generally to the denial that non-white people were ever present in medieval Europe, and make no mistake, there were non-white people in medieval Europe. Even in my weird narrow field I have found a Peter the Saracen and Benedict the Moor working as crossbow makers in early 13th century England. While we don’t exactly have photos of these men it is hardly a stretch to suggest that they may not have been white.
White Mythic Space contains more than just the conceptual framework of the White Mythic Space. It also contains a thorough exploration of how it applies to the game Battlefield 1 and the backlash it faced for including non-white soldiers among its cast of characters. The book’s structure deftly interweaves criticism of the game itself – noting that its single player campaign is, despite its promotion, distinctly lacking in non-white stories – with analysis of the intense backlash it faced across multiple internet forums. It expands upon previous work analysing the historical accuracy of videogames to introduce a more specific and much needed discussion of how race factors into understandings of historicity and audience expectations when engaging with historical representation in media.
Stefan also sets Battlefield 1 within two broader contexts. The first is the general representation of WW1 in popular media from the immediate aftermath up to a few years after Battlefield 1’s release. The second is within the more specific context of the centenary celebrations of the war, which aligned with Battlefield 1’s release, and how the game fits within the broader re-evaluation of the conflict that this event spurred. I really appreciated how this contextual information helped enhance my understanding of popular representations of WW1 generally and how they specifically related to the game Battlefield 1 (which, for the record, I have played and found reasonably enjoyable).
There’s just so much to like about this book. I’m far from a specialist on any topic covered in its pages but I was easily able to follow it thanks to the clear writing style and intuitive structure. About the only critique I could level against it is that as an academic book published by an academic press it’s very expensive. That’s barely a critique, but it is what would stop me from saying that you need to go out and buy this book right now. Instead, you should try and convince your nearest library to buy it for you, and then borrow it from them!