Co-Sponsored by Thematic Option (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences), USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study (USC Libraries), Charm (collaborations in history, art, Religion, Music), Department of ENglish, Department of Classics, the School of Religion (USC Dornsife), and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies
Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation:
An Introduction to Tolkien’s Literary Theory and Practice on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of His Death
J.R.R. Tolkien created a fictional universe of unprecedented complexity in modern English literature. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and related works like The Hobbit and The Silmarillion have been treasured by readers all over the world and experienced by millions in recent cinematic adaptations. But Tolkien was also a professor of ancient languages at Oxford University and a literary theorist of the highest order. How do Tolkien’s literary works express his theory of what literature is and can be? What is the relation between his religious commitments and his literary theory?
Giuseppe Pezzini is Professor of Latin Language and Literature at the Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford. He has previously studied and taught at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, the University of Oxford, the University of St. Andrews, and the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. While his research is focused on early Latin (3rd-1st century B.C.), he has also written on the ancient philosophy of language, the theory of Classical scholarship, the ancient theory of comedy, and modern English literature. Professor Pezzini is the author of a forthcoming monograph on Tolkien to be published by Cambridge University Press in early 2024, the first scholarly study of his literary theory.
SchEDULE
All events will be held at the Harman Academy (Doheny Memorial Library, DML 241). Each talk includes a lecture, handouts, discussion, and exclusive film screenings about Tolkien’s life.
Tuesday, October 24, 5:30-7:00pm with reception
The Cats of Queen Berúthiel: Linguistic Aesthetic and the Gratuitousness of Creativity
Wednesday, October 25, 5:30-7:00pm with reception
The Authors of the Red Book: Meta-textual Frames and Writing as Discovery
Thursday, October 26, 5:30-7:00pm with reception
The Lords of the West: A Poetics of Cloaking and Freedom
Friday, October 27, 10:00am-11:30am with lunch
Beren and Frodo: Intra-textual Parallels, Internal Figuration, and the Universality of the Particular
Friday, October 27, 2:00-3:30pm with coffee
Gandalf’s Fall and Return: Sub-creative Submission and the Arising of Prophecy
Friday, October 27, 5:00-6:30pm with reception
The Last Stage: the Death of the Author and the Effoliation of Creation