Quote:
|
Originally Posted by davem
Cultural references change so the meaning of tales can also change. This is why feminist or marxist interpretations of traditional tales are at best questionable & at worst completely misleading - we cannot know the worldview(s) of the culture(s) & individuals which produced, adapted & altered them. We cannot know what they meant to our ancestors or what they will mean to our decendants. To state, as some 'experts' do, that this particular tale means 'such & such' & so our ancestors must have believed such & such is nonsensical. 19th-20th century political theories tell us nothing about traditional songs & tales.
|
That's the nature of criticism though. It doesn't seek to find 'the truth' of the text, it seeks to find the 'truth' of individual readers' experiences. It's that old chestnut applicability. It's also a critical phenomenon of the post-modern era. If we want to find the truth, or what the author intended then that's a different thing. But for example, Marxist criticism might seek to discover what Tolkien's text (but not necessarily Tolkien) says about society and the class struggle. So there's nothing wrong in a feminist critique of the text in itself. Some might seek to find what the text says about that, and I'd defend their right to do so, even if i did not agree with what they said.
Might not bring us any closer to what Tolkien wanted the text to mean, in fact it might take us further away from that, but it's not about that, it's about seeking to discover and articulate what the reader might find.
I'm not saying what I think is the right way.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Child
What most fascinates me about this thread is the emotion it elicits. We can debate canon, language, or whether the earliest chapters are successfully integrated into the rest of the book and, only rarely, will posters show strong personal feeling. Yes, they will have well defended opinions, but it is not at the "gut level" we are talking about here. But the minute the question of gender is raised, the discussion takes a different turn. I believe this is part of what Lush was referring to in her initial post. The only other question that I can think of that has a similar impact is how and if race plays a role in the delineation of characters and peoples in LotR. (And I am not talking about a bone headed and over simplistic question that asks whether Tolkien was a racist!)
|
Simple answer? It's that the most common and vehement criticisms of Tolkien have centred around three things: it's childish, it's racist or it's sexist. So naturally our hackles are raised when we hear those three things being raised! We have ready lines to take and we fire them out!