J.R.R. Tolkien

by Peter Hunt

Overview

J.R.R. Tolkien is arguably the most influential and popular of all fantasy writers. Although his position and status have long been controversial, his popularity has not faded. His best-loved works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, have sold millions of copies around the world and continue to enthral readers young and old.

This lively collection of original essays examines The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the light of children's literature theory and approaches, as well as from adult and fantasy literature perspectives. Exploring issues such as gender, language, worldbuilding, and ecocriticism, the volume also places Tolkien's works in the context of a range of visual media, including Peter Jackson's film adaptations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350310506
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Series:	New Casebooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	485 KB

About the Author

Peter Hunt is Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University, UK, where he was the first specialist in Children's Literature to be appointed full Professor of English in a British university. He has written or edited 26 books and over 150 articles on children's literature. In 1995 the International Society for the Fantastic in the Arts presented him with their Distinguished Scholarship Award, and in 2003 he was awarded the Brothers Grimm Award for services to children's literature, from the International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka, Japan.
Peter Hunt is Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University, UK.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Preface
 Acknowledgements
 Notes on Contributors
 Introduction; Peter Hunt
 1. The Hobbit, the Tale, Children's Literature, and the Critics; Keith O'Sullivan
 2. Sources and Successors; Maria Sachiko Cecire
 3. The Pastoral Impulse and the Turn to the Future in The Hobbit and Interwar Children's Fiction; Hazel Sheekey Bird
 4. Tolkien and the Traditional Dragon Tale: An Examination of The Hobbit; C.W.Sullivan III
 5. Tolkien's Language; Louise Joy
 6. There and Back Again: The Gendered Journey of Tolkien's Hobbits; Zoe Jaques
 7. Tolkien and Worldbuilding; Catherine Butler
 8. A Topoanalytical Reading of Landscapes in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; Jane Suzanne Carroll
 9. Tolkien and Trees; Shelley Saguaro and Deborah Cogan Thacker
 10. From Illustration to Film: Visual Narratives and Target Audiences; Kate Harvey
 Further Reading
 Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This Casebook of approaches to Tolkien is a fine introduction to the breadth and concerns of Tolkien criticism for undergraduate readers, yet advances some new ideas that will intrigue the scholar. The essays are uniformly readable and deal with perennially interesting topics: gender, film, ecology, and children's and young adult books that influenced or were influenced by Tolkien's works.' - Janet B Croft, University of Oklahoma Libraries, USA

'This wide-ranging collection of essays has much to offer students of fantasy, children's literature, film, illustration, and anyone who has a deep interest in Tolkien's writings. Contributors analyse the puzzlement that has been evident in surrounding critical commentary to date and, using material from his letters, essays, and his books themselves, explore Tolkien's art from a variety of illuminating perspectives.' - Susan Hancock, University of Roehampton, UK

Editorial Reviews

"This Casebook of approaches to Tolkien is a fine introduction to the breadth and concerns of Tolkien criticism for undergraduate readers, yet advances some new ideas that will intrigue the scholar. The essays are uniformly readable and deal with perennially interesting topics: gender, film, ecology, and children's and young adult books that influenced or were influenced by Tolkien's works." - Janet B Croft, University of Oklahoma Libraries, USA

"This wide-ranging collection of essays has much to offer students of fantasy, children's literature, film, illustration, and anyone who has a deep interest in Tolkien's writings. Contributors analyse the puzzlement that has been evident in surrounding critical commentary to date and, using material from his letters, essays, and his books themselves, explore Tolkien's art from a variety of illuminating perspectives." - Susan Hancock, University of Roehampton, UK

From the Publisher