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Title Concentering the Fantastic and the Postmodern: A Study of Fabulation in J.R.R Tolkien’s Legendarium

Author(s) MAHA FAROOQ

Abstract This study is an exploration of British fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) trilogy from a fabulative perspective. Fabulation, a term coined by Robert Scholes, is associated with postmodernism and I employ this concept to highlight the concentering or common points where postmodernism overlaps with the fantastic. As a twentieth century fantasy fiction text, The Lord of the Rings trilogy provides ample opportunity to investigate the fabulative aspects of modern fantasy. The central argument of the study is that postmodernism and modern fantasy fiction are dissimilar genres that largely run along diverging lines; however they converge and overlap at certain points. I postulate that this convergence is along fabulative lines. Fabulative world-making in fantasy fiction entails inventing secondary worlds with an arresting strangeness. These secondary worlds mimic the primary or real world; therefore, amidst the strangeness the reader can still sense a semblance of similarity with the real world. The readers commit their belief to the secondary reality because as soon as their belief falters, the immersive experience of the imaginary fabulative world disappears. On the outset, it seems as if the imaginary worlds are composed of other-worldly, supernatural elements but on closer inspection it is revealed that there is a juxtaposition of reality and the unreal in modern fantasy texts such The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This study also undertakes a discussion of the Tolkienian concepts of Fall, Mortality and the Machine (or Magic) as fabulative devices. The research method employed in this study is textual analysis. This study is likely to be a significant addition in the production of knowledge in the field of Tolkien studies and fantasy fiction.

Type Thesis/Dissertation MS

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Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2022-01-13

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