Antyk w prozie J. R. R. Tolkiena
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Date
2011
Authors
Advisor
Editor
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
0302-7384
Title alternative
Antiquity in J. R. R. Tolkien’s prose works
Abstract
The article tends to analyse the problems concerning the reception of classical texts and ideas in twentieth
century, using as an example the prose works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Description
Tolkien’s oeuvre and its problematic relationships with classical tradition serve in my paper as
an illustration of the diverse approaches, methods, and styles of lecture concerning the nature of
literary allusivity. As a point of departure in the paper has been taken the reflection on the common
phrase about “antiquity in something” deployed broadly in the reception studies. T he questions
raised here are as follows: what does precisely “in” mean in that metaphor? O r, to put it in more
general terms, when an allusion to another text can be treated as an inherent part of interpretation?
Answer to these questions was possible due to U mberto E co’s statements in the well-known
dispute relating to the interpretation and overinterpretation; in conclusion I was trying to show that
his criterion of textual economy in interpretation justifies somehow (as I believe) the new look
on the essential T olkien’s symbol, i.e. the ring of power, as a symbol of the R oman imperial rule.
This means (in the context of the translatio imperii and cultural change from pagan to Christian
empire) that The Lord of the Rings can be seen in a way as a novelistic version of Augustine’s The
City of God.
Sponsor
Keywords
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, reception studies, literary theory, ancient tradition
Citation
Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium, 2011, nr XXI/1, s. 95-117
ISBN
978-83-7654-160-0