Aiwendil, I find your professor’s response absolutely fascinating. I would suggest that you mention in class that allegory is a rhetorical device used to convey an idea or some meaning; allegory, in-and-of-itself, is not the actual idea or meaning being expressed, but only one device in many that can be employed to express meaning. I always thought that irony was a mere rhetorical device, as well. Well, what would I know?… I was one of those philosophy major types.
Don’t get me wrong, though. It is critically important to discover the meanings in any work of literature. However, to say that meaning can only be expressed via allegory and irony is incredibly shallow minded. I can see it now… a whole generation of writers who confuse the public with trivial irony so that they might be considered good writers. It’s laughable.
There is a plethora of many leveled meanings in Tolkien, but, if your professor is a good example of the general literary critic (which I suspect he is), they are ill equipped to find these meanings. Thus, your professor has bolstered my opinion that Tolkien should be left to the mythology experts.
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I could easily envision survey classes of twentieth century literature focussing on the various treatments that authors have given these subjects, and Tolkien would fit naturally into those discussions, even if his particular views and mode of writing differ somewhat from those of other authors.
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You have a valid point. However, the utility issue arises. In order to get the whole breath of Tolkien’s imagery and thought, the whole of LotR would have to be tackled at the very least. Then there would have to be some considerable digging to unearth the potency of his imagery. Because of the sheer length of Tolkien’s work, I would find it hard to include him in a survey class without his work taking center stage.
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And certainly there is material enough for a few courses devoted entirely to Tolkien.
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I couldn’t agree with you more, as long as such courses approach Tolkien from a mythological studies perspective rather than a purely literary perspective.