DOCSLIB.ORG

The Inklings, Jrr Tolkien, and Cs Lewis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Inklings, Jrr Tolkien, and Cs Lewis THE INKLINGS, J.R.R. TOLKIEN, AND C.S. LEWIS: COLLECTIVELY PROVIDING SCAFFOLDS OF SUPPORT ____________ A Thesis presented to the faculty of California State University Dominguez Hills ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Humanities ____________ by Christopher Herzberg Spring 2016 I dedicate the work in this thesis to my aunt, Dr. Paulette Harris, and to the loving memories of my uncle, Dr. Audie Holmes, my personal friend Melissa Petrey Kern, and the love of my life, Nadine. My aunt and uncle’s words of encouragement and push for continued hard work towards furthering my education made all of this possible. Both of you have been my best supporters starting from my Associates degree all the way to this Master’s degree. Mel, you were instrumental in connecting me with others who were equally passionate about the works of Tolkien. These introductions paved the way for many great sources of inspiration in my life. Nadine, you never gave up on me through the struggles of writing this thesis. I love you with all my heart. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 2. THE IMPACT OF WAR ON C.S. LEWIS AND J.R.R. TOLKIEN ............................... 5 Tolkien’s Life before the War Years .......................................................................... 6 The Battle of the Somme becomes Middle Earth ...................................................... 8 C.S. Lewis’ Life before the War Years .................................................................... 14 The Battle of the Arras and Lewis’ Innocence Lost ................................................ 17 3. THE FORMATION OF THE COALBITERS AND INKLINGS GROUPS ................ 22 The Seed of Creativity ............................................................................................... 24 The Inklings Arise ..................................................................................................... 28 Tolkien’s Impact on Lewis........................................................................................ 29 Lewis’ Impact on Tolkien ......................................................................................... 33 WORKS CITED ..................................................................................................................... 38 iii ABSTRACT In the early 1930s, a group of writers met each week and discussed their literary works in progress. The types of support varied from confidence builder to constructive criticism from fellow writers. Many times, Tolkien and Lewis’s discourse resulted in the final drafts of pieces of literature. This study uses primary and secondary sources that pertain to the Inklings, specifically C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien’s collective provision of literary support to one another. This thesis addresses the following topics: (1) how war service impacted the fantastical ideologies of Lewis and Tolkien who both had served in various roles during World War I, (2) how the Inklings improved the selected writings of the authors Tolkien and Lewis, (3) how Tolkien’s support and Lewis’s views on theology impacted their writing and spiritual beliefs, and (4) how the camaraderie formed in the Inklings defined authors Tolkien and Lewis. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Beginning in the late 1930s and lasting nearly two decades, the literary group of scholars called the Inklings met twice each month on Thursday evenings at an Oxford, England pub where they read their writings in small group settings. The Inklings were not an official, formal, literary club. Yet, the group met regularly and discussed unfinished works that each member was writing. These members included prominent writers such as C.S. Lewis, who had been a member of an earlier writing support group known as “the Coalbiters,” J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others (Duriez 81). The writers participated in a beneficial, supporting exchange of ideas. At least six of the founding members had served in World War I, the war having ended over a decade before the Inklings were formed. Meetings of The Inklings provided a myriad of opportunities for prominent and lesser known literary scholars not only to perfect each other’s writing styles but to discuss and negotiate their many different genre writing preferences and background experiences, especially related to World War I. Writing that sparked the imagination was rising among faculty at Oxford. The world around them was drastically changing due to the growing industry brought on by war. Tolkien’s obsession with language and service as a communications officer in the war allowed him to transfer his passion for language into his writings. 2 In this thesis, I will address the impact that World War I had on the literary works of the group known as the Inklings, and I will take an in-depth look at the friendships and associations that occurred between Tolkien and Lewis, who had both been in battle. This thesis will identify the reasons for keeping such writing groups today. The Inklings of Oxford were both talented and challenged. The individual successes of the Inklings’ authors directly related to the support they provided each other. These writers truly were not only exceptionally gifted, but were faced with challenges from the war years. Society was ripe for escapism from the constant barrage of grim news regarding the war. These writers witnessed their country shrivel from a beautiful countryside to a dark industrial center pumping out weapons of death and destruction. The membership of the Inklings provided Tolkien and Lewis with coping strategies and the assistance each needed to become a more successful writer. The Inklings served as resources for the collective literary, social and emotional development of Tolkien and Lewis. According to Gareth Knight, that understanding of each other’s social and emotional climate was critical to their individual writing successes. The Inklings especially came to the writing group at critical points in their writing careers and their lives, especially Tolkien and Lewis (Knight 243-244). The Inklings recognized and nurtured the writing capabilities of their fellow Inklings. Collectively, they helped each other achieve their writing potential by serving as resources for each other not only in terms of their writing achievements, but in supporting their physical, social, and emotional frailties, which otherwise could have resulted in their writings suffering. According to Knight, such variables as mental health issues, post-war 3 syndromes, neurological disorders, physical handicaps, and overall social and emotional problems could have impeded their writing efforts and achievement (Knight 4-5). J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis recognized “the writing gift” that each possessed. The group would intervene at the right moment when Tolkien or Lewis would require a boost because their creativity was suppressed by physical, social, or emotional problems. Often such impediments were masked to outsiders; however, their fellow Inklings were quick to recognize the situations under those bravely worn masks. The Inklings did not address just simple, homogenous issues that had the potential to gently impede their writing success. According to Colin Duriez, they were a heterogeneous group of writers who experienced a variety of serious physical, social, and emotional crises oftentimes directly related to the times of their lives (Duriez 87-88). The Inklings’ camaraderie addressed such barriers. This lens allowed Inkling members to work through weaknesses while building each of their writing strengths. The most notable Inklings were C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, and J.R.R Tolkien. This group of writers came to the Inklings unable to fully recognize what great writing potential lay inside them. The company the fellow Inklings kept brought out this hidden talent. The Inklings fit the following butterfly analogy: “A chrysalis is understandably nervous about its prospect as a butterfly. Not that, in the end, it has much choice in the matter; we are all part of some ordered process, whether we see it as the direct hand of a God or through the agency of various intermediaries of the company we keep” (Knight 245). The Inklings acted as the catalyst that each member needed in order to grow. These creative minds were 4 transformed from the early stage of a caterpillar, to cocoon, chrysalis, and finally into a beautiful butterfly through their company with fellow Inklings. An in-depth study of the research related to the Inklings, namely Tolkien and Lewis, will require the study of sources primary and secondary, in order to gain a better understanding of the Inklings and their influence on each other. For example, during the prime years of the Inklings, Tolkien and Lewis played off the literary genius of one another. It will be necessary to understand the authors’ works and the authors themselves in order to grasp the full impact that the Inklings’ camaraderie had on each other’s literary prowess during the war
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Roots of Middle-Earth: William Morris's Influence Upon J. R. R. Tolkien
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2007 The Roots of Middle-Earth: William Morris's Influence upon J. R. R. Tolkien Kelvin Lee Massey University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Massey, Kelvin Lee, "The Roots of Middle-Earth: William Morris's Influence upon J. R. R. olkien.T " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2007. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/238 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kelvin Lee Massey entitled "The Roots of Middle-Earth: William Morris's Influence upon J. R. R. olkien.T " I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. David F. Goslee, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Thomas Heffernan, Michael Lofaro, Robert Bast Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kelvin Lee Massey entitled “The Roots of Middle-earth: William Morris’s Influence upon J.
    [Show full text]
  • Study Guides
    Study Guides for Inklings of Glory These guides integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us appreciate how Tolkien, Lewis, and Sayers’s stories can transform our vision to glimpse God’s glory-reflected dignity in human beings Christian Reflection and profoundly sacrificial moral demands. Use them individually or A Series in Faith and Ethics in a series. You may reproduce them for personal or group use. The Baptized Imagination 2 How do stories transform moral vision? The stories of Tolkien, Lewis, and Sayers enable us to see “the enduring goodness at the heart of all things and our fundamental connection with all creation.” They nourish our deep hunger for transcendence, significance, and community. Irrigating Deserts with Moral Imagination 4 (C. S. Lewis) Without imagination, moral education is a wasteland of abstract reflections on principles that we might never put into practice. With imagination, we connect principles to everyday life and relate to the injustices others face when we picture what they experience. Stories develop our moral imagination and nurture the judgments of our heart. Permanent Things (C. S. Lewis) 6 In his fiction Lewis displays “the permanent things”— those features of the moral order to the cosmos that in turn hold all cultures and eras accountable. Can this natural order, because it commends itself to reason and lies beyond current political fashions, be a bridge between Christian and non-Christian morality? Frodo’s Forgiveness (J. R. R. Tolkien) 8 Tolkien captures the transcendent quality of love, utterly unknown either to warrior cultures of the ancient world or to our equally merciless culture of consumption.
    [Show full text]
  • 13 Reflections on Tolkien's Use of Beowulf
    13 Reflections on Tolkien’s Use of Beowulf Arne Zettersten University of Copenhagen Beowulf, the famous Anglo-Saxon heroic poem, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Author of the Century”, 1 have been thor- oughly analysed and compared by a variety of scholars.2 It seems most appropriate to discuss similar aspects of The Lord of the Rings in a Festschrift presented to Nils-Lennart Johannesson with a view to his own commentaries on the language of Tolkien’s fiction. The immediate pur- pose of this article is not to present a problem-solving essay but instead to explain how close I was to Tolkien’s own research and his activities in Oxford during the last thirteen years of his life. As the article unfolds, we realise more and more that Beowulf meant a great deal to Tolkien, cul- minating in Christopher Tolkien’s unexpected edition of the translation of Beowulf, completed by J.R.R. Tolkien as early as 1926. Beowulf has always been respected in its position as the oldest Germanic heroic poem.3 I myself accept the conclusion that the poem came into existence around 720–730 A.D. in spite of the fact that there is still considerable debate over the dating. The only preserved copy (British Library MS. Cotton Vitellius A.15) was most probably com- pleted at the beginning of the eleventh century. 1 See Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, 2000. 2 See Shippey, T.A., The Road to Middle-earth, 1982, Pearce, Joseph, Tolkien.
    [Show full text]
  • Tolkien's Lost Knights
    Volume 39 Number 1 Article 9 Fall 10-15-2020 Tolkien's Lost Knights Ben Reinhard Christendom College Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Reinhard, Ben (2020) "Tolkien's Lost Knights," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 9. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol39/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol39/iss1/9 OLKIEN ’S L OST KNIGHTS BEN REINHARD OLKIEN IS OFTEN CONSIDERED A STOLIDLY TRADITIONAL and even reactionary T author, and for good reason. Tolkien himself seemed almost to welcome the labels, and his debt to traditional models is obvious to all.
    [Show full text]
  • The Christian Mythology of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien
    Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects 2010 Roads to the Great Eucatastrophie: The hrC istian Mythology of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien Laura Anne Hess Western Kentucky University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Hess, Laura Anne, "Roads to the Great Eucatastrophie: The hrC istian Mythology of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien" (2010). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 237. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/237 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by Laura Ann Hess 2010 ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien created mythology that is fundamentally Christian but in vastly different ways. This task will be accomplished by examining the childhood and early adult life of both Lewis and Tolkien, as well as the effect their close friendship had on their writing, and by performing a detailed literary analysis of some of their mythological works. After an introduction, the second and third chapters will scrutinize the elements of their childhood and adolescence that shaped their later mythology. The next chapter will look at the importance of their Christian faith in their writing process, with special attention to Tolkien’s writing philosophy as explained in “On Fairy-Stories.” The fifth chapter analyzes the effect that Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship had on their writing, in conjunction with the effect of their literary club, the Inklings.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inklings and King Arthur (2017)
    Journal of Tolkien Research Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 5 2018 The nkI lings and King Arthur (2017), edited by Sørina Higgins Gabriel Schenk [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch Part of the Medieval Studies Commons, and the Modern Languages Commons Recommended Citation Schenk, Gabriel (2018) "The nkI lings and King Arthur (2017), edited by Sørina Higgins," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol6/iss1/5 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Services at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Tolkien Research by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Schenk: The Inklings and King Arthur (2017) The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain, ed. by Sørina Higgins. Berkeley, Apocryphile Press, 2017. x, 555 pp. $49.99 (trade paperback) ISBN 9781944769895. [Also available in ebook formats, including Kindle $9.99 eISBN 9781947826588.] The publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s incomplete narrative poem The Fall of Arthur in 2013 was exciting for Arthurian scholars: here was a newly-available Arthurian text from the mid-twentieth century, composed by one of the world’s most popular English-language authors, in a form and style not previously used in any other Arthurian work. But the publication of The Fall of Arthur, first written in the 1930s, was even more exciting for Inklings scholars, who had previously only been able to read an outline and access a few lines in the Bodleian: here, at last, were all 954 lines of the fragment, and another Arthurian text to add to the collection produced by the Inklings, written by one of the group’s most influential and prolific members.
    [Show full text]
  • A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, Ed. Stuart D. Lee, Reviewed by Andrew Higgins Andrew Higgins [email protected]
    Journal of Tolkien Research Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 2 2015 A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Stuart D. Lee, reviewed by Andrew Higgins Andrew Higgins [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Higgins, Andrew (2015) "A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Stuart D. Lee, reviewed by Andrew Higgins," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 2. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol2/iss1/2 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Services at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Tolkien Research by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Higgins: A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Stuart D. Lee, reviewed by Andrew Higgins A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Stuart D. Lee. Chichester, West Sussex, and Malden, Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014. xxxiv, 568 pp. $199.95 ISBN 9780470659823. As this is a review for the Journal of Tolkien Research, a volume with the title A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien will undoubtedly be of interest to Tolkien students and scholars. Reviewing such a lengthy scholarly work is indeed both a daunting and equally challenging task. The reason for this is twofold: 1) the academic profile of the volume and 2) the eminent line-up of Tolkien scholars who have contributed their specific knowledge to each of the thirty-six papers in this volume.
    [Show full text]
  • List of Articles
    list of articles Abercrombie, Lascelles Barrie, James Matthew Ace Books controversy Barrowclough, Sidney Acocks Green (Warwickshire) The Battle of Maldon Acta Senatus The Battle of the Eastern Field Adaptations The Battles of the Fords of Isen The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (poem) Baynes, Pauline Diana The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Bedford (Bedfordshire) and Other Verses from the Red Book ‘Of the Beginning of Days’ Ae Adar Nín ‘Of Beleriand and Its Realms’ Ainulindalë Belgium Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor Bennett, Henry Stanley Alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun Bennett, Jack Arthur Walter Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife Beowulf Aldershot (Hampshire) Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Allegory Together with The Sellic Spell The ‘Alphabet of Dairon’ Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics Aman ‘Of Beren and Lúthien’ Ambarkanta: The Shape of the World Beren and Lúthien (book) ‘The Ambidexters Sentence’ Berkshire Ancrene Riwle Bibliographies Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad The Bidding of the Minstrel, from the Annals of Beleriand Lay of Eärendel Annals of Valinor Bilbo’s Last Song (at the Grey Havens) Appearance Biographies An Application for the Rawlinson and Birmingham and environs Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon Birmingham Oratory . Oxford Blackwell, Basil Henry Art Bliss, Alan Joseph The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien ‘The Bodleian Declensions’ The Art of The Lord of the Rings by Bombadil Goes Boating J.R.R. Tolkien The Book of Lost Tales Arthur and the Matter of Britain The Book of Lost Tales, Part One Athrabeth Finrod
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of Modernism in the Works of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and Charles
    Hiley, Margaret Barbara (2006) Aspects of modernism in the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1814/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Aspects of Modernism in the Works of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams Ph.D. Thesis in the Department of English Literature University of Glasgow Submitted by Margaret Barbara Hiley in September 2006 © Margaret Hiley, 2006 Abstract In recent years, the works of the Oxford Inklings C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams have increasingly found academic acknowledgement. However, while claims have been made on account of their popularity that they should be regarded as "author[s] of the century" (cf. Tom Shippey, J. I. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London: HarperCollins, 2000), no real attempt has yet been made to evaluate their writings in the terms of the literature of the twentieth century. This is a surprising omission, as one of the main points of criticism directed against the Inklings by their detractors is that they supposedly cut themselves off from the innovative literary movements of their times, subscribing to a reactionary aesthetic.
    [Show full text]
  • King Arthur Was an Elf! an Imaginary, Composite, Inklings Arthuriad
    Mythmoot II: Back Again Proceedings of the 2nd Mythgard Institute Mythmoot Conference Center at the Maritime Institute, Linthicum, Maryland December 13-15, 2013 King Arthur Was an Elf! An Imaginary, Composite, Inklings Arthuriad Sørina Higgins The recent publication of The Fall of Arthur, an unfinished poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, revealed a startling, previously-unknown aspect of Tolkien’s legendarium. The key is found in notes Tolkien left about how he intended the fragmentary Fall of Arthur to continue. Christopher Tolkien includes the following details in his editorial matter about how the story could have connected up to the larger Legendarium. First, Gawain's ship was perhaps going to be named Wingelot (The Fall of Arthur 129, 158); Wingelot or Vingilot is the name of Earendel's ship in The Silmarillion (304). Second, in the final confrontation, Mordred would fatally wound Arthur, Arthur would kill Mordred, and Arthur would be carried away to the West for healing. Lancelot, arriving too late, would set sail into the West, searching for his king, never to return. Tolkien left notes saying: “Lancelot gets a boat and sails west and never returns. Eärendel passage” (Fall of Arthur 136) and “Lancelot parts from Guinevere and sets sail for Benwick but turns west and follows after Arthur. And never returns from the sea. Whether he found him in Avalon and will return no one knows” (Fall of Arthur 137). In other words, Lancelot functions somewhat like Higgins—“King Arthur Was an Elf!” Eärendel—the half-elven mariner who used the silmaril to sail into the Uttermost West and reach the Undying Lands.
    [Show full text]
  • Charles Williams and Kenneth Burke by Grace
    What the Spirit Knows: Charles Williams and Kenneth Burke by Grace Veach A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Susan Boerckel, Ph.D. Elizabeth Metzger, Ph.D. Rickey Cotton, Ed.D. Date of Approval: April 4, 2007 Keywords: arthurian poetry, christian poetry, pentad, identification, substance © Copyright 2007, Grace Veach Table of Contents Abstract ii Introduction 1 Literature Review 4 Burke and Williams: Form, Symbol 11 Burke and Williams: Substance, Scapegoat 19 Williams and the Pentad 30 Identification 39 Williams, Burke, and the Dialectic 48 Works Cited 52 Bibliography 55 i What the Spirit Knows: Charles Williams and Kenneth Burke Grace Veach ABSTRACT What The Spirit Knows: Charles Williams And Kenneth Burke examines the Arthurian poetry of Charles Williams using a methodology derived from Kenneth Burke. This is an experiment in literary criticism of a Christian poet using a methodology that is not specifically Christian. Key critical ideas found in Burke are utilized in reading poems from Taliessin Through Logres and Region of the Summer Stars. Burke’s work on form and symbol (primarily from Counter-Statement ) is addressed first. Form in an individual poem (using “Taliessin’s Song of the Unicorn) and in an entire cycle is examined. Burke lists several uses for symbol in Counter-Statement, and an example of each of these from Williams’ poetry is described. Burke relates the ideas of substance and scapegoat (with the latter being a special case of the former).
    [Show full text]
  • Religion and Literature: C. S. Lewis and Tolkien Syllabus
    1 Religion 4600/6600: Religion and Literature: C. S. Lewis and Tolkien Carolyn Jones Medine, Professor of Religion and in the Institute for African American Studies Office: 19 Peabody Hall Telephone: 706-542-5356 (messages) E-Mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:30-2:30 and by appointment Graduate Teaching Assistants: Noah Pollock, Jessica Couch, Eduardo Mendez I Course Description Religion and Literature’s goal is to examine the problematic of religion in the modern world and to explore basic human questions, such as those of identity, community, ethical action, and spirituality and how those have been expressed in literature. The language of such an exploration is sometimes specifically Christian; sometimes it interprets Christian language in new way, but often, the religious meanings are hybrid, using a number of traditions in syncretic ways. The first work in the field was on specifically Christian writers. We will, this semester, revisit that landscape. This course will examine the works of two of the group of writers who called themselves The Inklings: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Each was a Christian who expressed his faith through his art. We want to ask: Why do Christian writers—not just the Inklings, but also, for example, Walker Percy, Flannery O’Connor, Madeline L’Engle, and others—turn to fiction—in particular, to what Lewis and Tolkien called “the fairy story”—as a medium of expression of their ideas? What is gained or lost by such a choice? What is the relationship between art, imagination and belief? II Course Goals: In this course we will learn and come to: 1.
    [Show full text]