Fantasy : its definitions, its critics, and J.R.R. Tolkien /

Abstract

In 1996 the Waterstone's chain of British bookstores conducted a poll of its readers in conjunction with the BBC. The readers were asked to list the five greatest books of the century. In a surprising decision, the readers selected J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The result of the poll sent ripples throughout the literary community. On one side of the debate sits the fans and supporters of Tolkien's epic. Opposite them are the critics of Tolkien and fantasy as a whole. The clashes that followed spawned an interest in Tolkien as well as the genre of fantasy. What soon became evident in this new look at fantasy was that it is difficult to define. Standard dictionary definitions fail, as do many of the literary attempts. J.R.R. Tolkien also examines fantasy in some of his own writings. He also fails to discover a definition that stands up to analysis. The thesis will examine the results of the Waterstone poll as well as the responses of some of the critics and readers. It will also trace the path of Tolkien's attempt to form a theory on fantasy through the idea of Primary and Secondary Worlds in comparison to the definitions currently being used.