White World Lost Lands:
The Mythical History of the West

Instructor: Ben Woodard Date & Time: November 01, 08, 15, 22 09:00-11:30 ET

DESCRIPTION: This Seminar investigates the historical and ongoing role of myth, pseudo-history, and the imagination of lost lands in constructing and reinforcing right-wing and white supremacist ideologies in the West. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Western European societies, confronted by new discoveries in archaeology and the deep history of non-Western civilizations, responded to their own anxieties about origins, degeneration, and racial hierarchy by inventing and popularizing narratives about “lost” civilizations such as Atlantis, Lemuria, Hyperborea, and Thule. These myths were not mere fantasies or harmless stories. Instead, they became powerful tools for rationalizing colonial domination and constructing a narrative of European cultural primacy. The logic of social Darwinism, initially couched as a biological theory, migrated into anthropology and history, serving the needs of empire and white supremacism by presenting Europe as both the pinnacle and the point of origin for civilization. Even when archaeological evidence from Victorian-era colonial expeditions revealed the antiquity and sophistication of non-Western societies, these findings were quickly assimilated or distorted by myths that posited Europe as the inheritor, if not the source, of all ancient greatness. The Seminar takes up Sylvia Wynter’s analysis of how the European colonial project universalized its own concept of “Man” and explores how this form of narrative power persists into the present, both in contemporary far-right and alt-right movements and within popular culture, particularly science fiction and digital conspiracy milieus. Throughout the Sessions, we will examine the historical genesis, transformations, and contemporary implications of these myths, aiming to understand why they remain so resilient and what this persistence reveals about the ideological operations of whiteness and tradition in the West.
Session 1, Lost Lands and the Colonial Encounter with Deep Time: We begin by exploring the conditions that led European colonialists in the nineteenth century to create and circulate myths of lost lands. Encounters with the deep past, the prospect of extinction, and the discovery of spectacular ancient civilizations such as the Maya, Aztec, and Egyptian societies, all combined to fuel new anxieties and ambitions in the context of nationalist and imperial projects. These anxieties gave rise to a widespread fascination with stories of vanished continents, which allowed Europe to imagine itself as both the inheritor and the origin of civilization.
Readings: Sylvia Wynter, “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation–An Argument,” CR: The New Centennial Review, 3 (3), 2003, Excerpts from Lost Continents by L. Sprague de Camp, Heald and H. P. Lovecraft, “Out of the Aeons”

Session 2, From Atlantis to Mars, Ancient Astronauts and Aryan Fantasies: In this Session, we examine the persistent fascination with ancient astronauts and advanced lost civilizations. These narratives, popularized in both pseudo-archaeology and science fiction, have often been closely tied to racialized ideas about the supposed incapacity of non-Western societies to achieve technological greatness. We will look at how such myths support fantasies of a pure Aryan origin and explore their enduring appeal in the culture of the far-right.
Readings: Garrett P. Serviss, Edison’s Conquest of Mars, L. Sprague de Camp, “Hunting for the Cognate”, Georges Bataille, “The Absence of Myth”
Session 3, Decayed Eden, Mu, Lemuria, and the Pseudo-Anthropological Imagination: This Session addresses the invention and spread of pseudo-anthropological myths, especially those related to the lost continents of Mu and Lemuria. These stories, often presented as scientific or historical, were used to undermine the achievements of non-Christian and non-European societies and to provide alternative explanations for cultural diffusion. We will also discuss the contemporary afterlife of these myths in science fiction and popular film.
Readings: CCRU, “Lemurian Time War”, Excerpts from James Churchward, The Lost Continent of Mu, the Motherland of Men, Film: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (dir. Ryan Coogler)
Session 4, Tartaria and the New Old Traditionalism, From Lost Lands to Digital Conspiracy: The final Session focuses on the current resurgence of lost land narratives in the context of new traditionalist thought and internet-driven conspiracy culture. By looking closely at post-Soviet Russia and the influence of thinkers such as Alexander Dugin, we will analyze how myths of ancient civilizations are mobilized today to create new forms of identity, legitimacy, and political motivation within far-right and online communities.
Readings: Miri Davidson, “Sea and Earth” Film: Alexander Dugin, YouTube lecture.

IMAGE: John Gast. American Progress, 1872

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