J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit": Realizing History Through Fantasy: A Critical Companion (Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon)

This book is a critical introduction to J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit, but it also advances an argument about the novel in the context of Tolkiens larger literary and philosophical project. Notwithstanding its canonical place in the fantasy genre, The Hobbit is ultimately a historical novel. It does not refer directly to any "real" historical events, but it both enacts and conceptualizes history in a way that makes it real. Drawing on Marxist literary criticism and narrative theory, this book examines the form and content of Tolkiens work, demonstrating how the heroic romance is simultaneously employed and subverted by Tolkien in his tale of an unlikely hero, "quite a little fellow in a wide world," who nonetheless makes history. First-time readers of Tolkien, as well as established scholars and fans, will enjoy this engaging and accessible study of The Hobbit. Robert T. Tally Jr. is a Professor of English at Texas State University, USA. His books include For a Ruthless Critique of All That Exists: Literature in an Age of Capitalist Realism (2022), Topophrenia: Place, Narrative, and the Spatial Imagination (2019), and Fredric Jameson: The Project of Dialectical Criticism (2014) Series Preface Preface and Acknowledgements A Note on the Texts Praise for J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit Contents 1 Introduction: In a Hole in the Ground ... There and Back Again A Hobbit in All but Size The Fish Out of Water 2 The Way to Talk to Dragons: Interpellation, Style, and Narrative Form A Silliness of Manner “Praps we sits here and chats” From a Mythic to a Historical Mode 3 Nasty Disturbing Uncomfortable Things: The Intrusions of History A Waverley of the Shire The Vanishing Mediator; or, the Uses of Anachronism The Seamless Web of Story Bringing It All Back Home 4 Show Me Now Your Map: Toward a Literary Cartography of Middle-earth Thrór’s Map: The Hidden Entrance to Middle-earth The Edge of the Wild Roads Go Ever Ever On Plus Ultra: Gandalf’s Peregrinations 5 More Dangerous and Less Wise: Race, Class, and the Geopolitical Order What Is a Race? Good People and Decent Enough People Cruel, Wicked, and Bad-Hearted Dragon Sickness 6 Conclusion: Quite a Little Fellow in a Wide World Bibliography Index