Representing Middle-earth: Tolkien, Form and Ideology

J. R. R. Tolkien's classic works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion comprise a legendarium with a complex world-system presented through an array of poetic forms. Through historical, geopolitical, and multicultural detail, combining elements of myth, romance, and the modern novel, Middle-earth is seen as much more than an adventure tale. This book analyzes Tolkien's 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 writing, 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, traditional views of race, class, morality, escapism, and general fantasy are called into question. Close reading mixed with theoretical speculation lets readers see Middle-earth, as well as our own world, in a new way.

Table 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