Some History and a Question.....

[Child of the 7th Age]

Although many U.S. colleges now offer courses on Tolkien, it wasn’t always that way. Bear with me on a trip down memory lane.

Years ago, you could only find research collections and/or classes at a few schools with Christian ties, including interdenominational Wheaton College in Illinois (Prof. Clyde Kilby) or Catholic Marquette, which had acquired Tolkien’s papers. By the late nineties, a few more professors were working in the field; the best known were Verlyn Flieger - University of Maryland (Her Ph.D. was from Catholic U in 1978) and Tom Shippey who left Leeds to teach at the Jesuit-run St. Louis U..

Over the years, there's been a growing contingent of academic librarians and professors in the U.S. doing research in Tolkien studies. Some of these are well known, others less so, but the numbers are impressive: Richard West (U Wisconsin-Madison), Amy Sturgis (Belmont University), Wayne Hammond (Williams College), Marjorie Burns (Portland State), Jane Chance (Rice University), Neil Isaacs (University of Mississippi), Alfred K. Siewers (Bucknell University), John Rateliffe (Marquette University), Michael Drout (Wheaton College in Mass.), Leslie Donovan (University of New Mexico), David Bratman (Stanford University) as well as independent scholars like Dr. Anne Petty. I could list more, but I don’t want to put you to sleep!

For a long time, the “most selective” schools left Tolkien off their syllabi. (Yale’s Harold Bloom was especially unfriendly.) Now, even this has changed: University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Rice University.

Tolkien is also making an appearance at traditional academic conferences. The International Medieval Congress, a well respected annual session on medieval studies at Western Michigan U, has had as many as three sessions on JRRT.

The question I’m raising is this. Has there been the same expenditure of energy by profs in the UK, and, if not, why? I will admit that the US “kidnapped” T. S. Shippey. Plus, England has always had an amazingly vital Tolkien Society; many dedicated “amateurs” love Middle-earth and turn out wonderful articles and books. In terms of popular culture, there is no other country where Tolkien is so beloved as in England. It's also likely there are university courses being offered in the UK that I am not aware of since I live deep in the backwoods of Texas. Yet, I think I would have caught more names of UK profs on published articles and such, as I do keep an eye on those.

Is this my imagination, or is most of the academic energy in Tolkien studies now coming from the U.S.? I’m not trying to wave a nationalistic flag, and would be happy to be shown that I have overlooked or misjudged something. I am leaving out any consideration of Tolkien studies in Canada or various European countries. since I am woefully ignorant of their contribution.

If my perceptions are accurate, could this be a reflection of the fact that a prophet often fails to receive due respect within his own country? Or is there something about English academics that makes them particularly resistant to Tolkien’s charm, despite the outpouring of love from the rest of their countrymen? Can anyone help or explain?

[Lalwendë]

I'm surprised that you think that Tolkien is more popular in the UK than in the US! I would have it the other way around! Certainly, Tolkien studies are very scant in the UK, and a lot of the English faculties would not approve at all of his inclusion in 'the canon' - some at best may include Tolkien's work in conjunction with studies on Fairy tale or Folklore, or maybe in conjunction with Communication Studies and 'modules' on Sci-Fi or popular culture. I understand the title of one of the Chairs at Oxford is the JRR Tolkien Professor of Medieval English Literature.

However, I have found a couple of links, since I would be interested myself to see if my opinion still holds true or not.... This could also prove to be an interesting project, to compile some kind of 'list' of places where Tolkien might be studied. Some 'Downers contemplating study might also find this useful.

Bristol University has a one semester course on Englishness which includes Tolkien. Bristol is also the home of Ronald Hutton, so potentially some good learning to be had.

The Leeds University School of English is notable for having a few courses including Tolkien's work and Tolkienist- friendly modules. Romance Ballad & fairy Tale includes LotR as a required text. Leeds also has a reputation of having fiercely opposing sides on many critical issues, such as Modernism Vs Romanticism.

I found a PhD student at Manchester researching Tolkien and Empire: The Creation of Middle Earth and though it is not a course, many PhD students also teach.

Royal Holloway (Univ of London) has a course enticingly titled Tolkien's Roots , though I suspect that this is a fancy title to entice would-be first year undergraduates as no Tolkien is studied.

Hopefully I will come back with more links, so I will excuse the possibility of a double post in advance...

[Lalwendë]

Some more bits I've found:

Some scholars of Tolkien include Dr Gray at Chichester University and Josh Bradbury at Bangor University. London Met has a more cultural studies based class within a wider module, which looks at the films. The University of Liverpool has a unit where Tree and Leaf is a required text.

But how about this course at University of Central Lancashire, AKA Preston University? This is the only entire module devoted to Tolkien that I've yet discovered!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Lalwende

Thanks for the quick response. Just wanted to clarify something first.

I'm surprised that you think that Tolkien is more popular in the UK than in the US! I would have it the other way around!

Whoops! My post is giving a misleading impression if that is how you read it. I was trying to say the opposite. (That's what I get for doing a post in the middle of the night when I am half asleep! ) See this sentence (the italics are mine):

.....England has always had an amazingly vital Tolkien Society; many dedicated “amateurs” love Middle-earth and turn out wonderful articles and books. In terms of popular culture, there is no other country where Tolkien is so beloved as in England.

I lived in England for several years when I was younger: working as a nanny, attending school in Cardiff, and later staying in London to do thesis research. I was constantly impressed by how many "people on the street" loved Tolkien and could talk about his writing in a way that showed both passion and intelligence. What I was questioning in my post was strictly Tolkien in an "academic" setting:

• whether there were classes in the UK that university students could take to study the writings of Tolkien, and
• whether there weren't a larger number of professors in the U.S. who focus their scholarly research on Tolkien than in the UK.

In the course of helping my son with college applications, I had noticed how many colleges and universities in the U.S., at least those that had a liberal arts curriculum, now offer electives on Tolkien and his writings. A quarter of the schools that were on his list for consideration had one or more classes in Tolkien (and though he definitely has an interest in Tolkien, that choice of schools wasn't intentional). Thinking about this and making a list of recent "scholarly" publications in my head, I began to wonder if there weren't many more academics in the U.S. than in the U.K. who were specializing in Tolkien.

If that is true--f there is more university scholarship focusing on Tolkien in the U.S. than the U.K., I was very curious why that would be so. One of the things some people who love Tolkien are concerned about is that the writings be regarded as "serious" literature. Part of the process of being accepted as "literature" is that Tolkien be included in the university curriculum in some fashion, critics take him seriously, and so-called academics do "research" on him and his works.

All this rambling really touches on a third set of questions, perhaps questions that are even more important than my original ones. How important is it that Tolkien be embraced by academics to be recognized as an extraordinary piece of literature in the long sweep of history? Or can "popular" acclaim alone, the feelings and assessment of people-at-large, assure that the books continue on from generation to generation? Or is this really a "useless" question? Perhaps, it doesn't matter a fig whether Tolkien's writings are considered "literature"? And yet I sense when we talk with such frustration about critics and the lack of understanding that some show towards Tolkien, some of us do think this question of "literature" is not unimportant.


I have to run now, but your links look enticing. I'll come back later and check them out.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I don't know; I once had to talk about 'Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics' for a seminar, which went into the 'money for old rope' category.

The interesting point is that almost all of the academics mentioned above are concerned in some way with medieval studies. Jane Chance was in Nottingham last year, delivering an Institute for Medieval Studies lecture; Tom Shippey used to occupy Tolkien's old chair at Leeds, and writes mainly on Old English and Old Norse literature. Michael Drout teaches Old English, but has also done work on Herman Melville (an author whose works received hardly any critical approval when they were published). Also, as Lalwende has pointed out, the majority of British Tolkien courses are concerned mainly with his sources, be it from the perspective of folklore, myth or medieval literature. I know that some of the English faculty at Nottingham wanted to set up just such a course to lead students into early medieval studies through a study of Tolkien's influences.

I think that the reason for this, aside from Tolkien's persistent problems with scholars of English literature, is that British universities are often wary of devoting entire courses to single authors. Exceptions tend to be hardy perennials like Chaucer and Shakespeare or the institution's more distinguished alumni, as in the case of D.H. Lawrence. This approach makes sense, since there are just so many British vernacular writers from the seventh century to the present day that much of the corpus can only really be understood in terms of eras and movements. To be honest, I think that as a subject of academic study Tolkien really isn't prolific or accepted enough to warrant his own courses just yet. In the medieval community he's accepted largely for two reasons: firstly because his academic work in that field has been so influential, and secondly because the tools he uses in his fiction are more acceptable to someone who enjoys medieval literature than they are to someone who prefers the late-twentieth-century novel. To my mind, if Tolkien fits into any movement it's the medieval Nordic revival spearheaded by people like William Morris, which was finally killed off by the Nazis when they adopted a lot of its influences. That, I suppose, would make a very interesting course, or at least a lecture, but, like most courses that could involve JRRT, it would require a lot of cross-faculty co-operation and the study of some unfashionable and obscure people.

Nonetheless, universities, whatever they might say, are followers of profit and fashion. With more and more people discovering both him and medieval studies, Tolkien may yet appear on more syllabi just as a matter of supply and demand. Obviously Oxford isn't likely to lose many 'customers' (apparently students should be regarded as such nowadays) by ignoring him, but other, less secure, institutions might feel tempted to jump on the Tolkien bandwagon. If, as Germaine Greer lamented, Tolkien has proven to be the most influential writer of his century, it may be inevitable that his work will get its own courses. Time will tell, and the only objection I can think of is that Tolkien would have preferred it if people were to study Cynewulf or Bede rather than him. Personally I prefer to apply academic tools to the private study of his work, which is cheaper and doesn't threaten to take the fun out of it.

[Cailín]

Since you specifically mentioned either the UK or the USA, I’m not really sure whether you would find this relevant, but I thought I would mention it anyway. I’m a Celtic / English (with an emphasis on Old and Medieval English) student at a Dutch university and though Tolkien is often mentioned in relation to Anglo Saxon and Medieval English texts, his Middle Earth and Lord of the Rings are not considered part of the Academic canon and discussing him during sessions can be risky if you have the wrong professor.

However, I am planning to continue my studies somewhere in England, Ireland or Scotland next year and for example, UC Dublin offers a seminar on Tolkien (Twentieth-Century Epic and Romance: The Lord of the Rings and Gormenghast), and so do several other universities I briefly glanced at, but on the other hand at Trinity college it is considered as ‘Popular Literature’ again (though that does not necessarily mean it is less worth looking at).

Perhaps there are simply much more American academics than British ones (which would be rather logical in terms of population). Or the stereotype that Americans more easily except modern and particular genre works as literature than the British might just be true. But I would say that what The Squatter of Amon Rûdh says is quite true; I seem to be hearing more and more Tolkien during lectures and I believe there is actually someone doing their BA thesis on him this year. Though - it could be I’m just getting hyper-sensitive to anything ME related.

[davem]

I remember Ronald Hutton's comment at Birmingham that while Tolkien may have set out to create a mythology for England, what he had actually done was to create a mythology for America.

I wonder if there's some truth in this. I wonder if the reason for the seriousness with which Tolkien is taken in US accademia is that American culture is such a recent creation (relatively speaking) & is still, in many ways, in formation. Mythology is bound up with a nation's culture & history. For all Tolkien missed England's lost mythology, we do have a long history & a strong cultural identity. I grew up in a village with a medieval church, only a few miles from a ruined Priory & a beautiful old castle (Conisborough, which was Walter Scott's inspiration for Ivanhoe). An hours drive from where I currently live there are stone circles.

What I'm suggesting is that while we may not have a mythology which has survived intact from the pre-Christian period, there are 'echoes' of it all around us, which we can almost 'hear' if we listen hard enough. In that sense we don't need another mythology. So, we love Tolkien as a source of entertainment, 'philosophy', & 'escape', even as a way of connecting us to that 'hidden' mythic world that lies all around us, but we don't need him to provide an 'identity' for us.

I wonder if this is the reason for the 'Tolkien cult' that swept American campuses in the sixties, & lead Tolkien to say that some of his American readers were involved in the stories in the way he himself was not. Americans of European origin in particular don't have such a 'cultural/mythic landscape' - there is, of course, such a thing for the native peoples, but its not truly accessible for non Native Americans. Tolkien's mythology is like a European mythology, but its not a specifically English, Germanic, Norse, French, or Romance one. Therefore its one that all European-Americans can relate to (I note that all of the Accademics Child mentions share a white European Ancestry).

In short, for English readers Tolkien's work is a link to our real historical & cultural identity, our mythology, our living link with our ancestral landscape, whereas for European-Americans it is a substitute for their lack of one. Hence it will have a greater value for Americans than for us, & so they will make more of it.


I'll get me coat.......