Quick Recommendations!
Rev. Tom Emanuel’s post, “Recovering Race in Middle-earth,” covers more racist/fascist backlash against contemporary diverse adaptations relating to Tolkien’s work (in this case, a Magic the Gathering image) and presents a number of counter-arguments to the “Middle-earth is White” assumption that is far too common. Beautifully written, excellent links, and the MtG art is fantastic!
And speaking of fascist backlash: the Tolkien Society announces its most recent publication, the proceedings from the Tolkien and Diversity Seminar, 2021, was released this month and is available to order. It is the 22nd in the Peter Roe series, but is an historic first:
Tolkien and Diversity also marks a new direction for the Seminar proceedings. Authors are now invited to publish their paper in English and their first language.
Contents
Introduction
Will Sherwood
Desire of the ring: an Indian academic’s adventures in her quest for the perilous realm
Sonali Arvind Chunodkar
Translation as a means of representation and diversity in Tolkien’s scholarship and fandom
Martha Celis-Mendoza
(Original Spanish) La traducción como medio de representación y diversidad en los estudios sobre Tolkien entre la academia y los fans
Martha Celis-Mendoza
How Queer Atheists, Agnostics, and Animists Engage with Tolkien’s Legendarium
Robin Anne Reid
Stars Less Strange: An Analysis of Fanfiction and Representation within the Tolkien Fan Community
Dawn Walls-Thumma
Hidden Visions: Iconographies of Alterity in Soviet Bloc Illustrations for The Lord of the Rings
Joel Merriner
“Something Mighty Queer”: Destabilizing Cishetero Amatonormativity in the Works of Tolkien
Danna Petersen-Deeprose
The Invisible Other: Tolkien’s Dwarf-Women and the ‘Feminine Lack’
Sara Brown
The Lossoth: Indigeneity, Representation, and Antiracism
Nicholas Birns
“The Burnt Hand Teaches Most About Fire”: Applying Trauma Exposure and Ecological Frameworks to Narratives of Displacement and Resettlement Across Elven Cultures in Tolkien’s Middle-earth
V. Elizabeth King
The Problem of Pain: Portraying Physical Disability in the Fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien
Clare Moore