Description
Book Synopsis In such classic works as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien depicts a vast, complex world-system. Tolkien''s Middle-earth comes to life with intensely detailed historical, geographical, and multicultural content, which is presented through different poetic forms that combine elements of epic, romance, myth, history, and the modern novel. This book analyzes Tolkien''s project, paying attention to narrative form and its relation to social contexts, while also exploring his broader philosophical conception of history and the role of individual and collective subjects within it. Tolkien''s published and posthumous writings, the film adaptations, and recent scholarship are all examined to provide an enlarged and refined critical perspective of these major works. Drawing upon Marxist literary theory and criticism, Robert T. Tally Jr. calls into question traditional views of race, class, morality, escapism, and fantasy more generally. Through close readings mixed with theoretical speculation, Representing Middle-earth allows readers see Tolkien''s world, as well as our own, in a new light.
Trade ReviewIn this original and inspiring book, Robert Tally gives us the Marxist criticism of Tolkien that he has long deserved. Transcending stereotypes fostered equally by piously apostolic readings and academic snobberies, Tally shows us how Tolkien recognized social complexity, experienced history and modernity, and comprehended that even the Orcs want to get away from the Big Bosses. Written in an accessible, involving style,
Representing Middle-earth shows us both a Tolkien we did not know before and a world that can tremendously gain from reading Tolkien wisely."—Nicholas Birns,. New York University, author of
The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J. R. R. TolkienTable of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Perilous Realm in an Era of Multinational Capitalism
- Strange Bedfellows: Tolkien and Marxist Literary Criticism
- Towards a Literary Cartography of Middle-earth
- On the Shadowy Marches of Faërie
- 1. "Almost it seemed that the words took shape": Narrative, History, and the Desire Called Marx
- "The theatre of my tale is this earth"
- In the Hall of Fire
- "Endless untold stories"
- 2. Formulae of Power: Generic Discontinuities in the Saga of the Jewels and the Rings
- Harmonizing Heterogeneous Narrative Paradigms
- Modern Epics
- "The starry sky is a map of all possible paths"
- The Red Book of Westmarch
- "A more or less mediocre, average English gentleman"
- The Cauldron of Story
- 3. Three Rings for the Elven Kings: Trilogizing Tolkien in Print and Film
- "There is no real division into 3": Defining Trilogy
- "The rhythm or ordering of the narrative": Trilogizing The Lord of the Rings
- "Too much hobbitry": The Hobbit as a Film Trilogy
- An Artificially Ordered World
- 4. The Geopolitical Aesthetic of Middle-earth: Space, Cinema, and the World System in The Lord of the Rings
- "I wisely started with a map"
- The Eye of Sauron
- The Conspiracy of the Ring
- Geopolitical Fantasy
- 5. The Politics of Character: The Dark Lord, the Witch-Queen, and the White Wizard
- Sauron, Healer of Middle-earth
- Galadriel, Witch-Queen of Lórien
- Song of Saruman
- "Satan fell": Ethics as False Consciousness
- 6. Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Middle-earth's Inhuman Creatures
- "Whence they came or what they were"
- No More Big Bosses!
- Human, All-Too-Human
- Orcs' Untold Stories
- 7. Demonizing the Enemy: Monstrosity, Ethics, and the Sense of the World Wars
- Manufacturing Monsters
- Sympathy for the Devils
- After the Wars
- 8. "Places where the stars are strange": Fantasy, Utopia, and Critique
- Surveying the Great Schism
- "The world as it appears under the sun"
- Reflections on Magic
- Beyond Good and Evil
- The Fantastic Is Good to Think With
- Conclusion: "We should not neglect the red dragons"
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
