"Beyond Romanticism: J. R. R. Tolkien's Practical
Agrarian Romance"
Matthew Dickerson, Middlebury College
Thursday, October 23, 2008
4-5:30 p.m.
Prucha Archives Reading Room
John P. Raynor, S.J., Library (3rd floor)
Matthew Dickerson is the author of several
books on the works of J.R.R.Tolkien, including Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory
in The Lord of the Rings (Brazos Press, 2004); From Homer to Harry Potter: a Handbook on Myth and
Fantasy (Brazos Press, 2006), which despite its title, focuses on the ideas of J.R.R.Tolkien
and C.S.Lewis; and most recently, Ents, Elves, and Eriador: the Environmental Vision
of J.R.R.Tolkien (University Press of Kentucky, 2006).
Professor Dickerson will explore one element of Tolkien's comprehensive ecological vision expressed
in his Middle-earth legendarium: the agrarianism of the Shire, and its contrast in the industrialized
agriculture of Sauron and Saruman. While Tolkien's works might be dismissed as mere
romanticism--idyllic fantasy with no implications to our world--the talk will defend a claim that the
underlying ecology in these works is fundamentally practical (at many levels).
Dickerson is a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he is affiliated with the
Environmental Studies Program, the Department of Computer Science, and the Writing Program, and is
also the director of the New England Young Writers' Conference at Breadloaf. In addition to
writing books about literature and ecology, he is also an avid angler and magazine and newspaper
writer about fly fishing and the outdoors.
The event is free and open to all. A Marquette ID card is required to enter Raynor Library;
members of the general public are welcome, but must pre-register at least 24 hours in advance of
the program. Phone (414-288-5901) or e-mail Matt
Blessing with questions concerning the event.
Mr. Dickerson's appearance is sponsored by Raynor Memorial Libraries' Tolkien
Archives Fund. |
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