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Space and Time in [JRR] Tolkien’s Work (Iéna / en ligne)

Space and Time in [JRR] Tolkien’s Work (Iéna / en ligne)

Publié le par Vincent Ferré (Source : Thomas Honegger)

Space and Time in Tolkien’s Work

Call for Papers
18th Tolkien Seminar (28th – 30th October 2022)
Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft e.V. (DTG)

As can be seen from many of the texts recently published in the volume The Nature of Middle-earth (2021; edited by Carl Hostetter), Tolkien extensively studied the different aspects of the space- and time-continuum. He did so often in order to give his subcreated world a cohesive and coherent temporal and spatial framework. Therefore, aspects belonging primarily to the field of ‘worldbuilding’ will be one aspect to be explored. However, we also want to encourage participants to investigate the narrative effects of space and time.

The seminar aims at bringing together researchers from various disciplines in order to explore the theoretical foundations and the literary mise-en-scène of the time-space continuum in Tolkien’s work.

Possible topics for presentations are:

    What are the functions of the historical and mythological periods of Arda and of the radical reorganization of space (flat earth to round earth; ‘Straight Road’; the Drowning of Númenor, etc.)?
    What are the origins and effects of a culturally and morally charged geographical space (the North first functions as the place where evil resides; this shifts later to the East)?
    What are the theoretical and concrete (on the narrative level) effects of the differing ways of aging for Elves, ‘normal’ Men, and Númenóreans?
    What are the implications for the theory of subcreation, as developed by Tolkien in his On Fairy-stories?

Seminar and entry informations

The 18th Tolkien Seminar of the German Tolkien Society (Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft) is supported by Walking Tree Publishers and takes place in a hybrid format (mainly in person but with online options) at the Department of English (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik) at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena from 28th to 30th October 2022.

If you would like to present a paper, please send a short abstract (no longer than one page) and a short biography, as well as the preferred way of participating (online or in person) by 30th May 2022, to Thomas Fornet-Ponse: hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de


DTG Conference Scholarship

This year the DTG will also award a conference scholarship for junior researchers in the field of Tolkien studies.

The following specifications apply:

    Applicants must be students, PhD candidates, or PostDoc researchers with (at the time of application) no more than one academic publication in the field of Tolkien studies, and be no older than 35 years.
    Applications, consisting of a brief CV and a short presentation of any Tolkien-related research or other activities, can be submitted together with the abstract for the conference presentation.
    The Board of Editors of Hither Shore, in consultation with the Board of the DTG, awards the scholarship. The Board of Editors of Hither Shore decides about the acceptance of submissions for the conference independently, so that applicants who did not succeed in securing a scholarship may still be invited to present their paper at the conference.
    The scholarship is meant to cover all travel- and accommodation expenses connected to the conference, as well as the conference dinner costs, up to but not exceeding 500 Euro. The scholarship holders are reimbursed after the seminar and once the receipts have been submitted. Each scholarship holder receives a certificate of achievement.
    The scholarship holders are to submit their papers for publication in Hither Shore. They undergo the same peer-review process like all other submissions.