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JaneDoe
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 0
Location: My own little world
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 Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:14 am Post subject: an interesting article |
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| I was actually doing some research for some of the assumptions about mankind and the future created by Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I came across an article by this guy that very thoughtfully voices some of his ideas about LotR. Though I'm not too inclined to take his view of the Elves (and especially Elrond), his ideas about the demonization of science and technology, as well as the very peculiar way the good guys and bad guys are differentiated, are quite thought-provoking. Whether you agree with his views or not, I do believe that critical inquiry and deep thought can only enhance our understanding of literature, which to me often seems more respectful than always repeating the same thing. |
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KhazarKhum
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 234
Location: Quartz Hill, CA--USA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 3:42 am Post subject: |
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David Brin has been writing variants on this for some time now. In life he is not a very pleasant person; he tends to be dismissive of people whom he considers his "inferiors". FWIW, that seems to include all females.
His grasp of history, like that of most people in the sciences, is quite weak. he does not understand just how old the tropes of these stories are; he does not quite comprehend how heavily interwoven sagas are with human history.
He also doesn't understand a lot of the underpinnings of the "enlightenment", but that's a whole 'nother topic. He would be appalled to know just why & how so many of the 18th C constructs came into being.
As for Tolkien, I don't think he espouses anything new. He does manage to drag out the tired canard about "racism" in LOTR. That particular criticism was handily debunked by a conservative writer when FOTR first hit theaters.
He does manage to mangle the history of the rings quite nicely. I would like to know just where in Tolkien the professor dwelled on the background of the Nazgul. I sure haven't found that, and you bet I've looked. And somehow he completely avoided the message of the King as Healer in Aragorn's acsension to the throne; contrary to what Brin believes, there was redemption offered to the men who had served Sauron.
His arguments about Wells vs James completely misses the LitCrit point--James' novelistic techniques are what have become the gold standard. That he doesn't believe that every generation experiences similar emotions goes a long ways towards explaining why he has trouble with the recurring themes used in epics: he doesn't understand that human nature hasn't changed in a long, long time.
And don't forget the rather snide comments directed at fantasy in general, while his "own" genre--scifi--is held up as more "enlightened" and progressive.
My own encounters with the man have not been pleasant. He has the typical arrogant, self-righteous attitude of so many who believe themselves to be superior. He knows what's good for us, dammit,
and we'd better listen.
Sorry this got so long.
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JaneDoe
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 0
Location: My own little world
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| Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:30 am Post subject: |
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| KhazarKhum wrote: |
As for Tolkien, I don't think he espouses anything new. He does manage to drag out the tired canard about "racism" in LOTR. That particular criticism was handily debunked by a conservative writer when FOTR first hit theaters. |
I'll comment on this since it's a topic that hits fairly close to home. I read several rebuttals of the racist elements in Tolkien's works (in which I include LotR, the Silmarillion, and the History of Middle-earth series) and all of them depend upon the most simplistic definition of a complex problem. I don't really care if Tolkien himself was racist or not or what he would think about people's reactions to his works because in the author-text-audience relationship, he is not the only subject of interest. I do care if his works can, without much effort, support a certain way of viewing things. Unfortunately, many of the rebuttals people make against the arguments for racist elements in Tolkien's works are based solely upon what color clothes the good guys and bad guys wear. The elements of Tolkien's works that strike me as being possibly racist go far deeper than that. I'd be willing to go further, but I'd prefer to take it to PMs if that is the more appropriate venue for it. |
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Anna
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
Posts: 548
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 10:40 am Post subject: |
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Hmmm...interesting. I don´t know what else to say...a lot of it was rather provocative, some of it a bit pretentious...but it´s always fun to read something new about Tolkien.  |
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