ARBOREAL THRESHOLDS – THE LIMINAL FUNCTION OF TREES IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY FANTASY NARRATIVES by MARY-ANNE POTTER submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject English at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF. DEIRDRE BYRNE September 2018 DECLARATION Name: Mary-Anne Potter Student number: 3251-495-6 Degree: Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (D Litt et Phil) Exact wording of the title of the thesis or thesis as appearing on the copies submitted for examination: Arboreal Thresholds: The Liminal Function of Trees in Twentieth-Century Fantasy Narratives I declare that the above thesis is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ________________________ 2018-09-26 SIGNATURE DATE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Deirdre Byrne of the University of South Africa, whose guidance both challenged and encouraged me in this endeavour, and whose patience and care throughout the process of writing and revising is truly appreciated as it enabled me to complete this work. Your mentorship, not only in developing this thesis, but in all the years that you have served as my ‘Yoda’, have inspired me. ‘May the force be with you, always’. I must also acknowledge the contribution made by Professor Ivan Rabinowitz and Professor David Levey in offering further guidance and encouragement as mentors on this doctoral journey. Your pointing me in the right theoretical direction has been invaluable in adding quality to my understanding of the arboreal symbol. In addition, I would like to thank Claire Grimbeek for her development of the graphic representations of arboreal liminality. They have complemented the critical analyses of the core works and are a wonderful testament to her talent as an illustrator. Lastly, I would also like to express my love and gratitude to friends, work colleagues and family for their constant support and contribution to this work. I would specifically like to thank three people: my mother, Elizabeth Mary Anne Potter (nee Channing) for her undying love and support, and gifting me with a sense of curiosity and die-hard determination that has served me well throughout my life, and has fed into my approach to this thesis; my brother, Gary Potter, who gifted me with a journey into Middle- earth, where I was privileged enough to stand under the Party Tree and look up at Bilbo Baggins’ Hobbit hole; and Mrs Cynthia Bantich, my high school English teacher, who first encouraged me to follow this literary path. This has been a long academic journey, and they have remained the most inspiring cheerleaders throughout my studies. This work is dedicated to all the trees I have cherished, both real and imaginary. It’s also dedicated to the women with whom I most associate trees: my Ouma and Granny. ii SUMMARY Trees, as threshold beings, effectively blur the line between the real world and fantastical alternate worlds, and destabilise traditional binary classification systems that distinguish humanity, and Culture, from Nature. Though the presence of trees is often peripheral to the main narrative action, their representation is necessary within the fantasy trope. Their consistent inclusion within fantasy texts of the twentieth century demonstrates an enduring arboreal legacy that cannot be disregarded in its contemporary relevance, whether they are represented individually or in collective forests. The purpose of my dissertation is to conduct a study of various prominent fantasy texts of the twentieth century, including the fantasy works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert Holdstock, Diana Wynne Jones, Natalie Babbitt, and J.K. Rowling. In scrutinising these texts, and drawing on insights offered by liminal, ecocritical, ecofeminist, mythological and psychological theorists, I identify the primary function of trees within fantasy narratives as liminal: what Victor Turner identifies as a ‘betwixt and between’ state (1991:95) where binaries are suspended in favour of embracing potentiality. This liminality is constituted by three central dimensions: the ecological, the mythological, and the psychological. Each dimension informs the relationship between the arboreal as grounded in reality, and represented in fantasy. Trees, as literary and cinematic arboreal totems are positioned within fantasy narratives in such a way as to emphasise an underlying call to bio-conservatorship, to enable a connection to a larger scope of cultural expectation, and to act as a means through which human self-awareness is developed. iii KEY TERMS: Liminality Fantasy literature Arboreal Trees Forests J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia Robert Holdstock Ryhope Wood Diana Wynne Jones Hexwood J.K. Rowling Harry Potter Natalie Babbitt Tuck Everlasting James Cameron Gilles Deleuze Félix Guattari Ursula K. Le Guin Julia Kristeva Ecocriticism Ecofeminism Other Mythology Tree of life Eco-cinema iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Summary and Key Terms iii Table of Contents v List of Figures vi Introduction: On Fantasy and Arboreal 1 Representation Chapter 1: Defining Arboreal Liminality 23 Chapter 2: The Dimensions of Arboreal Liminality 45 Chapter 3: Tolkien, the Two Trees, and the Green 101 Men Chapter 4: Lewis, the Wood between the Worlds, 139 and what the Wardrobe Contained Chapter 5: Robert Holdstock and Diana Wynne 172 Jones: Reconfiguring the Arboreal Archetype and ‘The Creative Impulse’ of the Boundless Wood Chapter 6: Natalie Babbitt and J.K. Rowling: How 199 Winnie and Harry Become in the Woods Conclusion: Of Trees and Silence 226 References 235 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Friedman, S.S. 1996. Kristeva’s Horizontal and 13 Vertical Coordinates. In K. Mezel, ed. Ambiguous Discourse: Feminist Narratology and British Women Writers. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press: 112. Copyright 1996 by The University of North Carolina Press. Figure 1.2 Adapted from Friedman, S.S. 1996. Kristeva’s 38 Horizontal and Vertical Coordinates. In K. Mezel, ed. Ambiguous Discourse: Feminist Narratology and British Women Writers. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press: 112. Copyright 1996 by The University of North Carolina Press. Figure 2.1 Darwin, C. 1857. Darwin’s Tree of Life Sketch from 51 his “B” notebook on the Transmutation of Species, p.36. [Online] Available at: https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/file/ms-dar-00121- 000-p36-tree-lifejpg [Accessed 10 January 2017]. In the public domain. Figure 2.2 Harris, R. 2010. Green man roof boss in south aisle, 58 All Saints Church, Evesham, Worcestershire. [Online] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheepdog_rex/48565 07153/ [Accessed 5 October 2017]. Copyright 2010 by Rex Harris. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Figure 2.3 Kirscher, A. 1928. Hieroglyphical Representation of 69 Jupiter or Pan [engraving]. In Hall, Manly, P. The Secret Teachings of All Ages. San Francisco: H.S. Crocker Company, Inc. vi Figure 2.4 Ramón y Cajal, S. 1899. Drawing of Purkinje cells 87 (A) and granule cells (B) from pigeon cerebellum. Madrid: Instituto Cajal [Online] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PurkinjeC ell.jpg. [Accessed 23 September 2018]. In the public domain. Figure 2.5 General Model of Arboreal Liminality in Twentieth- 100 Century Fantasy Literature. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). Figure 3.1 Model of Tolkien’s Representation of Arboreal 104 Liminality. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). Figure 3.2 Howe, J. 2007. Green Face. In J. Howe. John Howe 105 Fantasy Art Workshop. Cincinnati: David & Charles Ltd. p. 5. Copyright 2007 by John Howe. Used with permission. Figure 3.3 Potter, M. 2012. The Ephesian Medusa. Temple of 117 Hadrian, Ephesus. Figure 4.1 Model of Lewis’s Representation of Arboreal 144 Liminality. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). Figure 4.2 Seymour, R. 1888. Old Christmas. In T.K. Hervey. 162 The Book of Christmas. Boston: Roberts Brothers: 285. In the public domain. Figure 5.1 Model of Holdstock and Wynne Jones’s 197 Representation of Arboreal Liminality. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). Figure 6.1 Model of Babbitt’s Representation of Arboreal 212 Liminality. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). Figure 6.2 Model of Rowling’s Representation of Arboreal 215 Liminality. (illustrated by C. Grimbeek). vii Figure 7.1 Engstrom, S. Hometree Cross-section. 10/31/10 - 232 11/7/10. 2017. Seth Engstrom: 10/31/10 - 11/7/10. [online] Available at: http://sethengstrom.blogspot.co.za/2010_10_31_ar chive.html. [Accessed 30 December 2017]. Used with permission. viii INTRODUCTION: ON FANTASY AND ARBOREAL REPRESENTATION For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. (Hesse, 1980:178) Trees, as towering beings within fantasy narratives, are imbued with a particular symbolic value. They garner literary admiration collectively, individually or in part, and, while trees are very much anchored in the natural world, their presence has been incorporated into myth and lore, and manifests itself in the literary canon across multiple periods and genres. They root themselves in a pre-industrial and pre-technological past, where myth inspired a nostalgic devotion to an ancient past, and reach towards a real-world applicability as the ancient knowledge they carry finds relevance side-by-side with more contemporary attitudes.