Description
Book SynopsisThis book opens up new perspectives on the English fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien, arguing that he was an influential thinker of utopianism in 20th-century fiction and that his scrutiny of utopias can be assessed through his dialogue with antiquity. Tolkien's engagement with the ancient world often reflects an interest in retrotopianism: his fictional places cities, forests, homes draw on a rich (post-)classical narrative imagination of similar spaces. Importantly for Tolkien, such narratives entail eutopian' thought experiments: the decline and fall of distinctly classical' communities provide an utopian blueprint for future political restorations; the home as
oikos becomes a space where an ideal ethical reciprocity between host and guest can be sought; the ancient forest' is an ambiguous, unsettling site where characters can experience necessary forms of awakening. From these perspectives, tokens of Platonic moderation, Augustan restoration, Homeric xenophilia, and the Ovidi
Trade ReviewMore than a simplistic sources-and-influences study of the classical origins of some of Tolkien’s literary creations, this book dives deeply into material others have only skimmed or avoided altogether. Williams also does justice to the influence of Tolkien’s Catholic beliefs on the philosophical/theological foundations upon which much of his legendarium rests, avoiding doctrinaire axe-grinding for or against Tolkien’s religion. This book is essential. -- Jonathan Evans, Professor of English and Linguistics, University of Georgia, USA
Fascinating, erudite, timely, and theoretically informed,
J.R.R. Tolkien's Utopianism and the Classics deftly traces Tolkien’s classicism and its use to explore utopic possibilities and their elusiveness. Tolkien devotees and scholars of high fantasy, utopia studies, and classical reception in fantasy will find Williams’ book essential reading. -- Jesse Weiner, Associate Professor of Classics, Hamilton College, USA
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: Utopianism and Classicism: Tolkien’s New/Old Continent 1. Lapsarian Narratives: The Decline and Fall of Utopian Communities in Middle-Earth 2. Hospitality Narratives: The Ideal of the Home in an Odyssean
Hobbit 3. Sublime Narratives: Classical Transcendence in Nature and Beyond in
The Fellowship of the Ring Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index
