This seminar considers J.R.R. Tolkien’s works from a Cultural Studies perspective. Points of interest will include how cultures are presented in these literary texts with a view to interrogating difference, otherness and identity with regard to the categories of race and gender among others. Related questions are discrimination, stereotyping, as well as tolerance and cooperation made possible through transcending cultural boundaries. The histories and contemporary contexts of the diverse cultures in Middle Earth will thus bear scrutiny. At the same time, the effects of Tolkien’s works and the intermedial aspects of these on their reading public in our world will also bear reflection. The film adaptations of these works will be salient part of the seminar, and students are advised to get familiar with them. An important frame of enquiry for this class would be to consider how fantasy literature can be used in the classroom to approach the above questions.
Presentations will be a required part of this class. A reader will be made available. Students are required to acquire the novels and have read them before classes begin. Do consider getting the text editions provided below to facilitate text references during class.
Texts:
The Hobbit. HarperCollins Publishers. 1991. [1937].
The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins Publishers. 1991. [1954, 1955].
Films:
Peter Jackson. (dir.) The Hobbit. New Line Cinema. (Parts 1-3). [2012, 2013, 2014]
Peter Jackson. (dir.) The Lord of The Rings. New Line Cinema. (Parts 1-3). [2001, 2002, 2003] |
