The Shadow of the Past. The Lord of the Rings and the Gothic Novel

• Authors: Katarzyna Ferdynus
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The present paper is devoted to the question of the past in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in reference to the Gothic Novel and the way it approaches this subject. As an introduction I provide some background as to the definition and origins of both gothic and fantasy genres. I want to prove that they share many similarities and point out the connections between them. In the main part of my paper I present the creation of the past in the Gothic Novel and in The Lord of the Rings, showing that the past plays a very important role on both extratextual – as an inspiration for a writer – and intratextual levels – as a source of nostalgia, fascination and fear. This article was based on my bachelor’s thesis Elements of the Gothic convention in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Keywords

EN

Tolkien, Walpole, Gothic novel, fantasy, past, nostalgia

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
• Journal: New Horizons in English Studies
• Year: 2016
• Issue: 1

Dates

published

2016

online

2017-03-07

Contributors

author

Katarzyna Ferdynus

• Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin

editor

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

editor

Adam Głaz

editor

Lidia Kniaź-Hunek

editor

Anna Bendrat

editor

Ewelina Prażmo

editor

Przemysław Terejko

editor

Piotr Szczypa

editor

Grzegorz Czemiel

editor

Ewa Antoszek

editor

Justyna Galant

editor

Marta Komsta

editor

Edyta Frelik

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

editor

Anna Oleszczuk

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

other

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.17951/nh.2016.1.32