What on Middle-Earth is Tolkienism?
A “Nerd’s” Guide To “Nerdy” Stuff
Everyone in the world partakes in a least one kind of Discourse. This may seem like a sweeping statement, but it is the absolute truth. Discourses, as defined by Professor James Paul Gee,
“…are ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes” (Gee 6).
What exactly does it mean to be a member of a Discourse? I am going to use the information in Gee’s article, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction”, as well as Darcy A. Fiano’s, “Primary Discourse and Expressive Oral Language in a Kindergarten Student”, to break down one of the Discourses that I am in, and what membership in a Discourse is all about. The Discourse that I am a member of is Tolkienism.
Tolkienism is a fandom for people who love and/or study the works of British author J.R.R. Tolkien.
Tolkien created the basic concepts of a fictional universe called Ea when he was young man and for the rest of his life he continued to add details to it, including different peoples, cultures, histories, myths and legends.
More On Discourse
Tolkienism is classified as a secondary and non-dominant Discourse. According to Gee, secondary Discourses are,
“learned when people are required to socially interact in places other than at home”(Gee 8).
Tolkienism is a secondary Discourse because it’s not the first Discourse that people learn when they’re young. One does not simply become a Tolkienist, there needs to be a period of studying Tolkien’s works. A non-dominant Discourse is a Discourse where members don’t receive a higher social status or any goods for being in that particular Discourse (Gee 8). Tolkienism is clearly non-dominant because people outside of the Discourse do not view members with any special regard. However, members of the Discourse have a mutual respect for one another and the more knowledge of Tolkien that one possesses, the more clout and respect they gain from other members.
For example, talk show host Stephen Colbert is a well respected Tolkienist, and he has garnished praise from the director of the The Lord of the Rings films, and fellow Tolkienist, Sir Peter Jackson. Jackson said that he had never met a bigger Tolkien geek in his life than Colbert, and that he admired him for his encyclopedic-like knowledge of Tolkien’s works, calling it “spectacular” (http://lotr.wikia.com/).
Introducing The Building Blocks of Tolkienism: Practices
In her paper, Fiano mentions seven building tasks that are the components of Discourse situations. The ones present in Tolkienism are significance, practices, identities, relationships, connections and sign systems and knowledge (Fiano 66). By analyzing these components you can see what exactly makes a member of a discourse belong there. Of all the components, practices are the most significant and recognizable. They are defined as activities that are, “relevant in a certain context and how they are being enacted” (Fiano 67). This is seen in how Tolkienists enjoy connecting through websites and blogs to discuss what they have learned with others. Tolkienists also create profiles on these websites so that they can comment on posted articles and write their own articles as well. The profiles usually have an avatar of a fictional race that exists within Tolkien’s universe. For example, my profile on www.tolkiensociety.org shows that my name is Timli the dwarf. Reading the works of Tolkien’s, which include, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Children of Hurin is also a practice.
Relationships: Finally Another Fan!
Practices segues into relationships, which are, “relevant in a context and how they are being enacted, recruited, and used” (Fiano 67). Knowledge of Tolkien, that you develop through practices, can generate hours of conversation on the blogs.
Tolkienists are quick to seek out other fans, and they are often quite vocal about their love of Tolkien.
On the blogs people often end up establishing personal connections because of the manners in which they were introduced to Tolkien. An example that has applied to many, including Stephen Colbert, is a deprived childhood and the longing to escape reality (http://lotr.wikia.com/). These same connections can be made offline as well.
Knowledge: Think You Know About Tolkien Huh?
The second result of practices, is knowledge, “(ways of knowing) that are relevant in a context and how they are used and privileged or disprivileged” (Fiano 67).The more that someone reads about Tolkien and his books, the more knowledge they have about his universe. Tolkienists know what events occur in which books and what the chronological order of these events is. Most Tolkienists even learn some of the root words in one of Tolkien’s languages like Sindarin or Quenyan. Knowledge goes hand in hand with fellow component, significance, “how the speaker writer or writer is trying to give significance to things (Fiano 67). One example would be one of the top commenters in the forums of http://tolkiengateway.net, a user who goes by the name Woolly Mammoth. Woolly Mammoth has a lore-3 badge which shows he has advanced knowledge of Tolkien. The profile also shows that he has made over two-thousand edits on the blog site, which in turn demonstrates that Woolly Mammoth is a trustworthy source and that he should be respected by other Tolkienists on the blog.
Identity: No Ringers, You Aren’t Tolkienists
This brings us to identities, which are defined as, “the identity or identities relevant in a context” (Fiano 67). I have mentioned that Tolkienists are avid fans of Tolkien and his works, but they should not be confused with their sub-Discourse, Ringers.
Tolkienists appreciate Tolkien’s’ works as a whole, but Ringers are exclusively fans of The Hobbit and its sequels, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This means that there is a lot of content that Ringers are unaware of, and that they cannot be Tolkien’s “biggest fans,” or claim to know everything about him. There is some overlap between the two, however, because one can become a Tolkienist after being a Ringer first.
Connections: Being Able To Put The Puzzle Together
Connections is about, “the relevant connections and disconnections between things and people in a context and how these connections or disconnections are being made or implied” (Fiano 67). Tolkienists are able to make various levels of connections in Tolkienism. One of these connections is the ability to recognize the parallels that The Lord of the Rings shares with Christianity. The evil One Ring that was created by the Dark Lord Sauron in order to rule world, represents sin and the Devil. Frodo, the main character, represents Christ, who destroys sin and defeats Satan. In the books Frodo destroys the ring and vanquishes Sauron.
Another connection that Tolkienists are able to make is one between the books themselves. Tolkienists realize their is a sequential order of some of Tolkien’s novels. The events of the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings could not have happened with The Silmarillion. Finally, Tolkienists can recognize if you are a Tolkienist based on whether or not you can connect the dots. Do you know the hidden meanings in the books? Are you able to point out the significance, identities and the other components?.
If somebody is a Ringer trying to pass as a Tolkienist, and they can’t speak about importance of The Silmarillion, then they will be quickly ousted from the group.
Tolkienism is a way of being in the world. It has its own words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities. Tolkienism is a Discourse. As I dissected Tolkienism by analyzing the building components and showing exactly what it meant to be a Tolkienist, I also showed how to break down any and every Discourse. Now in addition to being able to point out those pesky Ringers, who incorrectly believe that they are Tolkienists, you can evaluate what Discourses you belong in. You can see the fibers of that make a Discourse what it is, and can now evaluate others to see where they do and do not belong.
