Some History and a Question.....

[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.