ENG239H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: John Clute, Middle-Earth, Eucatastrophe
Document Summary
Tolkien, lewis & the explosion of genre fantasy: most fantasy writers are either imitating [tolkien] or else desperately trying to escape his in uence (62) Tolkien & lewis helped give fantasy its medievalist cast (63) Lewis interested in what stories in medieval literature revealed about the way in which medieval ppl thought. Tolkien interested in what the language of the past revealed about the way in which medieval ppl thought. Both fought in the first world war (both invalided out before the end) Tolkien was instrumental in converting lewis from atheism to christianity. Characteristics of genre fantasy (termed by john clute) introduced in lotr: middle-earth is subject to thinning: a decline from its former state (due to sauron, the dark lord, wrongness in the world demands healing (purpose of the quest) Typical of the portal-quest that the heroes move from a familiar world to an unfamiliar one. Learn about unfamiliar world via uncontested explanations from a mentor-
