NEOROMANTIC ELEMENTS IN J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S WRITING

Neoromanticism or the Neo romantic movement may be easier to define, than it is to frame within a strict time framework. Some see it as a 20th-century resurgence of romantic ideas which began around 1928 and lasted up to the mid-1950s, while others locate it within a larger framework going back to the 1880s (being a reaction against naturalism) and lasting up to today. Depending on which timeline one adopts, it is sometimes synonymous with post-romanticism and late romanticism. However, regardless of its timeline, the movement has had profound effects lasting well into the end of the 20th century, becoming a reaction against modernism and postmodernism, and spreading into areas such as painting, music, literature, cinema, as well as architecture. As a movement, neoromanticism seeks to revive both romanticism and medievalism (the influence and appearance of ‘the medieval’ in the society and culture of later ages) by promoting the power of imagination, the exotic, the unfamiliar, further characterized by the expression of strong emotions (such as terror, awe, horror and love) as well as the promotion of supernatural experiences, the use and interest in Jungian archetypes and the semi-mystical conjuring of home. Furthermore, neoromanticism feels strongly against industrialization and the disconnectedness from nature in the modern world, rejecting the dichotomy between society and nature. It also embodies a wish or desire for a Utopian connection to nature uncoupled from social expectations and tradition, and going back to nature that has not been victimized by human civilization and industry. Most of these ideas may be found embodied in both the life and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, who famously declared to his son that he was, in fact, a Hobbit. His writings abound in creatures who not only live in harmony with nature (the Elves, the Hobbits), but embody it as well (the Ents) because romanticism (and subsequently neoromanticism) is, in essence, all about nature. In contrast, the evil of the main antagonists in his mythology (Melkor/Morgoth, Sauron, Saruman) is seen through their destruction of nature. Tolkien actually reverses the romantic line of vision with the creation of the Shire, which is seen as a ‘post-medieval’ society that has developed out of the Middle Ages, making Tolkien a medievalist dreaming of an organic and harmonious continuation of transformed and ‘purified’ Middle Ages as found in the Shire. This essay will present several of these characteristics mentioned and how the creatures of Tolkien’s mythology present a reaction against the industrialization of his time and neighboring county, while showing how these are ideas are still (perhaps even more so) relevant in the 21st century as well.