English Language and Literature Commons^™

Middle-Earth’S Middleman: Exploring The Contradictory Positionalities Of Faramir In J.R.R. Tolkien’S 'The Lord Of The Rings', Kelsey A. Fuller-Shafer

Journal of Tolkien Research

In the large pantheon of characters in The Lord of the Rings, Faramir stands out for his position of unbelonging, and is usually analyzed comparatively to other characters rather than in-depth in his own right. However, more focused considerations of Faramir can articulate the breadth of Tolkien’s influences that were incorporated into Middle-earth as well as the ways in which those influences conflicted with Tolkien's own moral compass, and thus needed to be openly challenged and modified. Those internal conflicts can be interrogated throughout Faramir’s contradictory positions within the literature, history, and societies that Middle-earth represents. His positioning in a …

Recognizing Traps And Frightening Wolves: Foxes And Lions As A Representative Of Machiavellian Political Ideology In Shakespeare’S Comedies, Grace A. Powell

Student Scholar Showcase

While William Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets have been discussed time and time again over the past few centuries, one topic that has been less traversed is the connection between his Comedies and Niccolò Machiavelli’s political ideologies. This project will explore references of lions and foxes in Shakespeare’s Comedies and the leaders and monarchs within them to determine how beliefs about Machiavelli’s political ideology influenced Shakespeare’s literature and became symbols for leadership and power. This project will be important for gaining historical context on Machiavellian political discourse and how it was represented in the contemporary dramatic literature of William Shakespeare. I …

Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

What happens to us after death is one of the oldest and most difficult questions. Even the standard response of many Christians, that we go to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, can only partly satisfy, because while we experience the passing of time in a linear manner, those places are said to exist completely outside of time. How, then, can it make sense to speak of “going” to Heaven or Hell after death? Must we not always and forever be there—even during our lifetimes? Russell Kirk, a Catholic historian from Michigan who often speculated about the afterlife in his fiction …

Tolkien, Augustinian Theodicy, And 'Lovecraftian' Evil, Perry Neil Harrison

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

A number of scholars have commented upon Augustine of Hippo’s influence upon J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayal of evil in his legendarium. However, in his seminal work J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, Tom Shippey pushes back against this perception, noting that there are some forms of evil in the legendarium that do not adhere to the Augustine’s belief that evil is merely a “twisting” of good. This article argues that Ungoliant is one such exception to the Augustinian paradigm because of the uncertainty regarding her origins.This uncertainty complicates the Augustinian view of evil that permeates the legendarium and instead echoes …

Pity, Power, And Tolkien's Ring: To Rule The Fate Of Many (2023) By Thomas P. Hillman, Marilyn R. Pukkila

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Marilyn R. Pukkila, of Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many (2023) by Thomas P. Hillman

Concealment And Darkness In Horace Walpole’S The Castle Of Otranto, Alexandra G. Speck

Global Tides

This paper examines the relationship between darkness and fear in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, widely recognized as the first Gothic novel. Walpole wrote Otranto soon after the rise of Enlightenment thought, which stressed sensory observation as the foundation for human reason. Walpole engages with Enlightenment ideas through Otranto’s dark setting, which invokes fear and irrationality in the heroine, Isabella.

Tracking Walpole’s manipulation of light and darkness through the narrative, this paper illustrates how darkness inspires more fear in Isabella than either the novel’s infamous supernatural dangers or its human villain, Prince Manfred, who pursues her through …

Bibliography For "Pico Iyer Display", Isabella Piechota, Arianna Tillman, Kalea Brown

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to support a display about Pico Iyer at the Leatherby Libraries during April 2024 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Carol Ann Duffy And War Weariness, Ava Hickman

Student Writing

An analysis of Carol Ann Duffy's poems "War Photographer," "Last Post," and "Poker in the Falklands with Henry & Jim." These poems explore the effects of war on soldiers and civilians alike, detailing the psychological changes people go through during times of war.

“Éowyn It Was, And Dernhelm Also”: Reading The ‘Wild Shieldmaiden’ Through A Queer Lens., Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

The Éowyn we first meet in 'The Two Towers' is a woman who has been traumatised by the loss of her parents at a young age, the recent loss of her cousin Théodred, the apparent weakening of her uncle Théoden, and her inability to escape the lascivious gaze of Wormtongue. Marginalised by her gender and by social expectation, her desire to find purpose in her life as a shieldmaiden is repeatedly thwarted. Seeking to reclaim control over her life and to make her own choices, she rides out with the Rohirrim not as Éowyn, but as Dernhelm.

Past scholars have …

Beyond "His Native Town": Travel And Alienation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Erin G. Quinn

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein features a surprisingly extensive variety of locations through which Victor Frankenstein travels, ranging from the vibrant cities of London and Oxford to the isolated Orkney islands and Arctic lands. Scholars have analyzed the roles which some of these settings, namely, the Alps and the Arctic, play in the novel, and many have noted the importance of travel to the text. However, little scholarship exists assessing how Victor’s travels as a whole impact him, as well as their collective purpose within the story. Given the prominence of travel in Shelley’s text, as well as the fact …

“Creating And Maintaining Black Life-Worlds”: The Black Aesthetics Of Bernardine Evaristo’S Blonde Roots And Girl, Woman, Other, Sharanya Dg

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Black Aesthetics is the philosophical inquiry into the objects and practices of expressions coming from people who have been racialized as black. These expressive practices then lend to the creation of the life-worlds of people subjected to racist discourses. One such author in the contemporary English society, Bernadine Evaristo, responds to anti-black racist discourses by exploring the cultural plurality of British black life-worlds. This paper is a textual and formal analysis of two experimental novels of Evaristo to study how they distinctly present the quotidian lives of various characters in their racialised bodies to reflect on the sociocultural and political …

You’Re Invited! Collaborating With Faculty And Students To Create A Successful Library Event, Laura Semrau

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

To celebrate the 400^th anniversary of the printing of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Baylor University Libraries hosted a three-day celebration; “Shakespeare 400” drew faculty members from six academic departments and leveraged the talents of both graduate and undergraduate students. The four main events drew a cumulative crowd of over 200 people. Graduate students contributed to the events through music performance, a dramatic reading, enthusiastic promotion, and engaged participation. This presentation will explore key take-aways for including graduate students in library events.

The success of Shakespeare 400 was largely due to collaborations between the library, faculty members, and graduate …

Tolkien: Uomo, Professore, Autore (2023), Ivano Sassanelli

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by Ivano Sassanelli, of Tolkien: Uomo, Professore, Autore (2023)

Tolkien And The Relation Between Sub-Creation And Reality (2023), Edited By Guiseppe Pezzini And Eden O'Brien, John Wm. Houghton

Journal of Tolkien Research

Book review, by John Wm. Houghton, of Tolkien and the Relation between Sub-Creation and Reality (2023), edited by Guiseppe Pezzini and Eden O'Brien

Sauron: Weirdly Sexy, Robert T. Tally Jr.

Journal of Tolkien Research

A popular meme depict Galadriel and Frodo admitting that Sauron is "weirdly sexy," a humorous allusion to The Rings of Power’s Halbrand. The show's controversial revelation of Halbrand as Sauron highlights the differences between Tolkien’s construction of Second and Third Age Sauron as an attractive or admirable leader compared to Peter Jackson’s portrayal of him as a monster or disembodied fiery eyeball. This, in turn, has implications for the geopolitical order of Middle-earth in which many people legitimately might wish to be on Sauron’s side. Acknowledging Sauron's "sexiness" may allow us to see Tolkien's world system in a new …

Miscellaneous, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Announcements:

Call for papers (The Abolition of Man 80 Years On)

The C. S. Lewis Correspondence Project

The Inaugural Undiscovered C.S. Lewis Conference (George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon September 5-8, 2024)

Submission guidelines, style guide, copyright notice, and order form.

Review Of Further Up And Further In, Bruce R. Johnson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Further Up and Further In. Written and performed by Max McLean. Phoenix, AZ: Herberger Theater, 18 March 2023.

Review Of Bareface, David Bates

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of C. S. Lewis, Bareface (Proposed title for Till We Have Faces). Produced by Ballet 5:8. Choreography and Lighting by Julianna Rubio Slager. Costumes by Lorianne Robertson. Props by Sarah L. Freeman. Chicago, United States: Harris Theatre, 22 April 2023.

Review Of The Nature Of Middle-Earth, Brenton D.G. Dickieson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of J. R. R. Tolkien, The Nature of Middle-earth, ed. by Carl Hostetter (New York: Mariner Books, 2021). 464 pages, including appendices and index. $32.00. ISBN 9780358454601.

Review Of A Narnian Vision Of The Atonement: A Defense Of The Ransom Theory, William Gentrup

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Charles Taliaferro, A Narnian Vision of the Atonement: A Defense of the Ransom Theory (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022). 134 pages. $37.00. ISBN 9781666796537.

Review Of The Lion's Country: C.S. Lewis's Theory Of The Real, David N. Beckmann

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Charlie W. Starr, The Lion’s Country: C. S. Lewis’s Theory of the Real (Kent, OH; Kent State University Press, 2022). 132 pages. $18.95. ISBN 9781606354537.

Review Of The Man Born To Be King: Wade Annotated Edition, Barbara L. Prescott

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Dorothy L. Sayers, The Man Born to Be King: Wade Annotated Edition, ed. by Kathryn Wehr (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023). 464 pages. $43.49. ISBN 9781514005330.

Review Of C.S. Lewis In America: Readings And Reception, 1935-1947, Gina Dalfonzo

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Mark Noll, C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935 –1947 (Donovan Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023). 176 pages. $20.00. ISBN 9781514007006.

Review Of Mere Evangelism, Monique Stam

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Randy Newman, Mere Evangelism, (Charlotte, NC: The Good Book Company, 2021). 160 pages. $16.99. ISBN 9781784986445.

Review Of The Case For Aslan: Evidence For Jesus In The Land Of Narnia, Brian C. Roden

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of David Marshall, The Case for Aslan: Evidence for Jesus in the Land of Narnia (Tampa, FL: DeWard Publishing Company, 2022). 219 pages. $14.99. ISBN 9781947929210.

Review Of Inkling, Historian, Soldier, And Brother: A Life Of Warren Hamilton Lewis, Crystal Hurd

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Don King, Inkling, Historian, Soldier, and Brother: A Life of Warren Hamilton Lewis (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2023). 193 pages, including Epilogue, Notes, Bibliography, and Index. $45.00. ISBN 9781606354506.

Review Of The Abolition Of Man: The Deluxe Edition, John Stanifer

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Carson Grubaugh, Midjourney AI, Sean Michael Robinson, and Luciano Floridi, The Abolition of Man: The Deluxe Edition (St. Paul, Minnesota: Living the Line, 2023). 228 pages, including an Afterword to each issue and essays. $35.00. ISBN 9781736860571.

Review Of The Major And The Missionary: The Letters Of Warren Hamilton Lewis And Blanche Biggs, Crystal Hurd

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Diana Glyer, ed., The Major and the Missionary: The Letters of Warren Hamilton Lewis and Blanche Biggs (Nashville: Rabbit Room Press, 2023). 277 pages, including “Afterword” and Index. $18.00. ISBN 9781951872205.

Review Of The Chronicles Of Transformation: A Spiritual Journey With C.S. Lewis, Josiah Peterson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Leonard J. DeLorenzo, ed. The Chronicles of Transformation: A Spiritual Journey with C.S. Lewis (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2022). 251 pages. $17.95. ISBN 9781621645351.

Surprised By Similarity: C.S. Lewis And Thomas Merton On The Self, John M. Gillespie

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Although they never corresponded, and they never met, the Anglican professor C.S. Lewis and the Trappist monk Thomas Merton nevertheless wrote in strikingly similar terms of the “true self,” or a person redeemed by Christ, and a “false self,” the rebellious person one believes themselves to be, but is not. There is very little academic work on the confluence of Lewis and Merton, and none thus far that specifically addresses their shared concept of the self. The aim of this paper is to address this gap in scholarship and, through an intertextual investigation of each man’s major works, fill it. …