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İngiliz Romantizminde Kötülük Algısı: J. R. R. Tolkien ve Yüzük "Süregiden Bir Kararsızlık"

Year 2023, Volume: 20 Issue: 1, 105 - 126, 30.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.17131/milel.1268272

Abstract

J. R. R. Tolkien modern fantastik edebiyatın babası olarak kabul edilir. Onun hakkında genellikle göz ardı edilen şey ise en azından çok iyi olduğu bir alanda, yani edebiyatta, zamanının sorunlarına bir cevap bulmayı uman büyük bir entelektüel olduğudur. Tolkien'in Kötülüğe karşı tutumu Yüzük açısından iki kısımdan oluşur. İlki geleneksel Augustinusçu, daha sonraları Boethian olarak gelişen görüştür. Bu görüşe göre kötülük kendi başına bir hiçtir. İyinin yokluğudur. Yani derunidir. İnsanın günahı ve zayıflığı kötülüğün başlıca nedenidir. Yüzük açısından, İnsanların Güç arzusu kötülüğe yol açar. Önemli olan şehvet ve hırstır. İkinci muğlak ve hatta çelişkili kötülük tasavvuru ise Maniheist görüştür. Bu bakış açısına göre kötülük iyiliğe eşittir. İyiyle eşit güçte olan bir dış güçtür. Kötülüğün de kendi iradesi vardır.

References

  • Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press, 1963.
  • Augustine. City of God. Translated by Henry Bettenson. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
  • _______. Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  • Blackham, Robert S. Tolkien and the Peril of War. Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2011.
  • Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by Joel C. Relihan. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2001.
  • Boyce, Mary. “On the Zoroastrian Temple Cult of Fire.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 95, no. 3, (Jul. - Sep. 1975): 454-465.
  • Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
  • Chadwick, Henry. Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Cicero. De Natura Deorum. Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967.
  • Curry, Patrick. “Tolkien and his Critics: A Critique.” In Root and Branch: Approaches Towards Understanding Tolkien, edited by Thomas Honegger, 81-150. Zurich/Berne: Walking Tree, 1999.
  • _______. Defending the Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1998.
  • Freeman, Austin M. Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology in Middle-Earth. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.
  • Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: the Threshold of Middle-earth. London: HarperCollins, 2003.
  • Giddings, Robert. J. R. R. Tolkien: This Far Land. London: Vision Press, 1983.
  • Kerry, Paul. The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011.
  • Lord Acton. “Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887.” In Historical Essays and Studies, edited by J. N. Figgis and R. V. Laurence: 503-507. London: Macmillan, 1907.
  • Milbank, Alison. Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians: The Fantasy of the Real. London: T&T Clark, 2009.
  • Orwell, George. “Lion and the Unicorn.” In Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents, edited by Dennis Walder, 180-189. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
  • Pinsent, Pat. "Religion: An Implicit Catholicism." In A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Stuart D. Lee, 446-460. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2014
  • Runciman, Steven. The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947.
  • Rutledge, Fleming. The Battle for Middle-Earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in "The Lord of the Rings." Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.
  • Shippey, Tom. A. J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000.
  • _______. A. Road to Middle-Earth. London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
  • Sturch, Richard. Four Christian Fantasists A Study of the Fantastic Writings of George MacDonald, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Zurich and Berne: Walking Tree Publishers, 2001.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. “Akallabêth.” In The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 265-292. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • _______. “Mythopoeia.” In J. R. R. Tolkien, Tree and Leaf, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 83-90. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  • _______. “Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor.” In The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 59-64. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • _______. “On Fairy-Stories.” In The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 109-161. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983.
  • _______. “The Fellowship of the Ring.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 21-411. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. “The Return of the King.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 747-1032 London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. “The Two Towers.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 413-745. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. Morgoth's Ring, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
  • _______. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.
  • _______. The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • Wood, Ralph C. The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.

The Understanding of Evil in British Romanticism: J. R. R. Tolkien and the Ring “a Running Ambivalence”

Year 2023, Volume: 20 Issue: 1, 105 - 126, 30.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.17131/milel.1268272

Abstract

J. R. R. Tolkien, like many people, is a figure that is difficult to explain in terms of the mono-disciplinary attitude of modern academia. The significance of this article lies in the attempt to understand Tolkien's work by taking it beyond the boundaries of traditional literary scholarship. Through an interdisciplinary reading method, it is argued that there is a depth in Tolkien's works, lost between the praise of his supporters and the criticism of his opponents, which exceeds what either group claims to have found. Tolkien’s attitude to Evil consists of two parts, in terms of the Ring. The first is the traditional Augustinian, later Boethian view. According to this view, evil is itself nothing. It is an absence of good. So, it is internal. The sin and weakness of men are the major cause of evil. In terms of the Ring, the desire of Men for Power leads to evil. The important things are these lust and ambition. The second ambiguous and even contradictory vision of evil is the Manichean. From this perspective, evil is the equal of good. It is an external force that is equally powerful to that of good. Evil also has its own will.

References

  • Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press, 1963.
  • Augustine. City of God. Translated by Henry Bettenson. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
  • _______. Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  • Blackham, Robert S. Tolkien and the Peril of War. Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2011.
  • Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by Joel C. Relihan. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2001.
  • Boyce, Mary. “On the Zoroastrian Temple Cult of Fire.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 95, no. 3, (Jul. - Sep. 1975): 454-465.
  • Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
  • Chadwick, Henry. Boethius: The Consolations of Music, Logic, Theology and Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Cicero. De Natura Deorum. Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967.
  • Curry, Patrick. “Tolkien and his Critics: A Critique.” In Root and Branch: Approaches Towards Understanding Tolkien, edited by Thomas Honegger, 81-150. Zurich/Berne: Walking Tree, 1999.
  • _______. Defending the Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1998.
  • Freeman, Austin M. Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology in Middle-Earth. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.
  • Garth, John. Tolkien and the Great War: the Threshold of Middle-earth. London: HarperCollins, 2003.
  • Giddings, Robert. J. R. R. Tolkien: This Far Land. London: Vision Press, 1983.
  • Kerry, Paul. The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011.
  • Lord Acton. “Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887.” In Historical Essays and Studies, edited by J. N. Figgis and R. V. Laurence: 503-507. London: Macmillan, 1907.
  • Milbank, Alison. Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians: The Fantasy of the Real. London: T&T Clark, 2009.
  • Orwell, George. “Lion and the Unicorn.” In Literature in the Modern World: Critical Essays and Documents, edited by Dennis Walder, 180-189. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
  • Pinsent, Pat. "Religion: An Implicit Catholicism." In A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Stuart D. Lee, 446-460. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2014
  • Runciman, Steven. The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947.
  • Rutledge, Fleming. The Battle for Middle-Earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in "The Lord of the Rings." Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.
  • Shippey, Tom. A. J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000.
  • _______. A. Road to Middle-Earth. London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
  • Sturch, Richard. Four Christian Fantasists A Study of the Fantastic Writings of George MacDonald, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Zurich and Berne: Walking Tree Publishers, 2001.
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. “Akallabêth.” In The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 265-292. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • _______. “Mythopoeia.” In J. R. R. Tolkien, Tree and Leaf, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 83-90. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  • _______. “Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor.” In The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 59-64. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • _______. “On Fairy-Stories.” In The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 109-161. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983.
  • _______. “The Fellowship of the Ring.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 21-411. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. “The Return of the King.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 747-1032 London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. “The Two Towers.” In The Lord of the Rings: The One Volume Edition, 413-745. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
  • _______. Morgoth's Ring, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
  • _______. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.
  • _______. The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
  • Wood, Ralph C. The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Religious Studies
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Omer Faruk Kalinturk 0000-0002-9767-8971

Early Pub Date June 30, 2023
Publication Date June 30, 2023
Submission Date March 20, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 20 Issue: 1

Cite

ISNAD Kalinturk, Omer Faruk. “The Understanding of Evil in British Romanticism: J. R. R. Tolkien and the Ring ‘a Running Ambivalence’”. Milel ve Nihal 20/1 (June 2023), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.17131/milel.1268272.