08-01-2023, 16:53
Lu, via Academia, dans un article de Thomas Honegger paru assez récemment (le mois dernier) dans un supplément à un numéro anniversaire de Lembas, publication fanique tolkienienne d'Unquendor (la “Tolkien Society” des Pays-Bas), ce passage concernant “those voices in Tolkien studies from Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, etc. who tend to get marginalized in a setting clearly dominated by Anglo-American scholarship” (je souligne ce qui concerne “The French”) :
[citation=Thomas Honegger, “There and Not Back Again – A Short History and Assessment of Tolkien Criticism and Scholarship”, Lembas Katern, suppl. au Lembas Jubileumnummer n°200, déc. 2022, p. 369-376 (p. 374).]The role of international Tolkien scholarship alongside and within the dominant Anglo-American tradition would necessitate a study of its own, as would the discussion of the various Tolkien societies around the world. Having already exceeded the word-limit of this essay, I can no further elaborate the important role of the British Tolkien Society and the American Mythopoeic Society, and merely mention some points concerning the non-English-speaking countries. First, translation studies and the quality of the translations of Tolkien’s works is often a hotly debated topic in the non-English speaking countries – something largely absent within the Anglo-American discourse. Second, the role, history, and structure of the various European Tolkien societies is as colourful and diverse as Europe itself. The pride of place in this category must go to the Dutch who have not only a very lively Tolkien society but whose Lembas and Lembas Extra constituted early spearheads of European scholarship. Geographically adjacent yet socio-culturally quite far away are the French, who have one of the most independent scholarly traditions on Tolkien. Having no official Tolkien society, their academic impact is mainly due to the effort of individual scholars like Vincent Ferré, Michaël Devaux, Leo Carruthers and others. Poland, on the other side, has an established structure with the annual Medieval Fantasy Symposium, organized by Łukasz Neubauer. The same is true for Germany, where the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft has been hosting academic conferences since 2004 and whose annual yearbook Hither Shore (2014-present) comprises contributions in English and German. Italy, under the leadership of the AIST (Associazione Italiana Studi Tolkieniani), has become a hub of concerted activities and has contributed significantly to the development of European Tolkien studies. I could go on with the Spanish and Portuguese, the Hungarians etc. and I would like to invite the reader to explore these Tolkien societies and scholarly traditions on their own.[/citation]
Il y aurait beaucoup de choses à dire sur la visibilité relative de la recherche tolkienienne française (et plus largement francophone) à l'étranger, sur les inévitables travers des non-francophones quant à leur perception de ladite recherche, etc., mais sur ce sujet comme sur d'autres, il faut bien reconnaître que... nihil novi sub sole. Ceci dit, Honegger a bien raison de souligner nos particularités : nous avons notre spécificité socio-culturelle ainsi que notre approche indépendante quant à l'étude de Tolkien et de son œuvre, toutes choses qu'ils nous faut continuer à cultiver, à mon humble avis.
Peace and Love,
B.
[citation=Thomas Honegger, “There and Not Back Again – A Short History and Assessment of Tolkien Criticism and Scholarship”, Lembas Katern, suppl. au Lembas Jubileumnummer n°200, déc. 2022, p. 369-376 (p. 374).]The role of international Tolkien scholarship alongside and within the dominant Anglo-American tradition would necessitate a study of its own, as would the discussion of the various Tolkien societies around the world. Having already exceeded the word-limit of this essay, I can no further elaborate the important role of the British Tolkien Society and the American Mythopoeic Society, and merely mention some points concerning the non-English-speaking countries. First, translation studies and the quality of the translations of Tolkien’s works is often a hotly debated topic in the non-English speaking countries – something largely absent within the Anglo-American discourse. Second, the role, history, and structure of the various European Tolkien societies is as colourful and diverse as Europe itself. The pride of place in this category must go to the Dutch who have not only a very lively Tolkien society but whose Lembas and Lembas Extra constituted early spearheads of European scholarship. Geographically adjacent yet socio-culturally quite far away are the French, who have one of the most independent scholarly traditions on Tolkien. Having no official Tolkien society, their academic impact is mainly due to the effort of individual scholars like Vincent Ferré, Michaël Devaux, Leo Carruthers and others. Poland, on the other side, has an established structure with the annual Medieval Fantasy Symposium, organized by Łukasz Neubauer. The same is true for Germany, where the Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft has been hosting academic conferences since 2004 and whose annual yearbook Hither Shore (2014-present) comprises contributions in English and German. Italy, under the leadership of the AIST (Associazione Italiana Studi Tolkieniani), has become a hub of concerted activities and has contributed significantly to the development of European Tolkien studies. I could go on with the Spanish and Portuguese, the Hungarians etc. and I would like to invite the reader to explore these Tolkien societies and scholarly traditions on their own.[/citation]
Il y aurait beaucoup de choses à dire sur la visibilité relative de la recherche tolkienienne française (et plus largement francophone) à l'étranger, sur les inévitables travers des non-francophones quant à leur perception de ladite recherche, etc., mais sur ce sujet comme sur d'autres, il faut bien reconnaître que... nihil novi sub sole. Ceci dit, Honegger a bien raison de souligner nos particularités : nous avons notre spécificité socio-culturelle ainsi que notre approche indépendante quant à l'étude de Tolkien et de son œuvre, toutes choses qu'ils nous faut continuer à cultiver, à mon humble avis.
Peace and Love,
B.