Post-pop Tolkien
— Jem Bloomfield, Assistant Professor of Literature, University of Nottingham
Paper given 13 February 2021 at Tolkien Society 2021 Winter Seminar This paper briefly sketches a taxonomy of Tolkien’s reception since the 1950s, before arguing that the twenty-first century saw the emergence of “post-pop” Tolkien. This “post-pop” Tolkien is articulated in two strands: medieval studies and Catholic Christianity. The recent new publications of Tolkien’s own works have moved from elaborating his fictional world to disseminating his medieval scholarship: e.g. his Beowulf and Gawain. Though essays like “The Monsters and the Critics” were always influential in academe, this marks a development in the popular image of Tolkien. At the same time, increased attention to the theological aspects of Tolkien’s novels has positioned him as not only a Catholic novelist — contemporary with, but very different to, Greene, Waugh and Lodge — but as one whose ideas have shaped people’s experiences of Catholic Christianity. At least one priest I know includes “Elbereth” in the titles by which they address the Virgin Mary, as the image originated from the Catholic tradition and can reverently be used within it. Post-pop Tolkien is a distinctive mode of reception, and identifying it can clarify his role in contemporary culture and controversy.The taxonomy:
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