J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Appropriation

This thesis rejects conventional critical work on appropriation, using The Lord of the Rings to illustrate a theory of appropriation as being an integral part of the creative process. Current researchers, exemplified by Sanders, argue that appropriation is characterised by a political agenda, and intention. The thesis argues that appropriation can be both deliberate and unconscious and demonstrates the difficulty of distinguishing between these states. Chapter one connects modem fantasy to imperial ideology by identifying the links between Tolkien and empire adventure writers. Tolkien's appropriations of northern European myths and medieval literatures have been extensively investigated; the few studies of his appropriation of more contemporary texts focus on The Hobbit.