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A Study on Frodo’s Quest within the Framework of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth

Year 2019, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 401 - 416, 30.06.2019

Abstract

There is a privileged and multifaceted relationship between literature and myth, and this relationship is beyond analyzing literary works in terms of mythical elements they incorporate because what is mythic and what is literary are not so dissimilar. Holding this view, monomyth theory argues that there is actually a single story retold or rewritten in different ways over and over again throughout human history, and in this single story the hero always goes through same stages. Simply put, in any story the hero receives the call to adventure, steps into an unknown realm and returns after accomplishing his task. The Lord of the Rings is the product of J. R. R. Tolkien’s efforts to create a mythology for England. Therefore, he skillfully merges characteristics of epics, legends, quest stories and myths into a single pot while creating Middle-earth and the characters. From this standpoint, The Lord of the Rings requires a mythic reading and analysis. To this end, this study aims to analyze the trilogy in terms of monomyth theory focusing on Frodo’s quest. While doing so, how the monomythic pattern appears in The Lord of the Rings is taken into consideration rather than validating monomyth theory. Consequently, this study reveals that the pattern of Frodo’s quest follows all the stages of monomyth in the same order delineated by Joseph Campbell.

References

  • Alıç F. & Alıç S. (2014). “Campbell’in Monomit Kuramı Bağlamında Gezi’nin Kırmızılı Kadın’ı: Siyasi Bir Simgenin Sonsuz Yolculuğu”. Turkish Studies 9/5 (2014) 185-210.
  • Burns M. (2005). Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Toronto 2005.
  • Burrows D. J., Lapides F. R. & Shawcross J. T. (1973). Myths and Motifs in Literature. USA 1973.
  • Campbell J. & Cousineau P. (2003). The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell). Canada 2003.
  • Campbell J. (2004). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New Jersey 2004.
  • Carpenter H. & Tolkien C. (2012). The letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. USA 2012.
  • Carter L. (1969). A Look Behind the Lord of the Rings. New York 1969.
  • Chance J. (2001). Tolkien’s Art: A Mythology for England. Kentucky 2001.
  • Coomaraswamy A. K. (1941). “Akimcanna: Self-Naughting”. New Indian Antiquary 3/1 (1941) 1-16.
  • Çopur G. (2012). “Ruh Adam Romanında Kahramanın Sonsuz Yolculuğu: Yasak Aşk’ın Döngüsü”. Turkish Studies 7/2 (2012) 837-844.
  • Coupe L. (2009). Myth. New York 2009.
  • Cura N. (2018). Campbell’in Monomyth Çerçevesinden Bilbo’nun Kahramanin Yolculuğu. Unpublished MA Thesis. Tekirdağ University, Tekirdağ 2018.
  • Dayı E. (2007). A Stylistic Analysis of J R. R. Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings. Unpublished M. A. Thesis. Selçuk University, Konya 2007.
  • Foster R. (2001). Tolkien’s World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. New York 2001.
  • Göze F. E. (2013). “Kahramanın Yolculuğu: Beyazperdede Çocukların Kahraman Olma Macerası”. Turkish Studies 8/8 (2013) 1793-1804.
  • Harvey G. (2003). The Origins of Middle-Earth for dummies. New Jersey 2003.
  • Indick W. (2012). Ancient Symbology in Fantasy Literature: A Psychological Study. North Carolina 2012.
  • Kesti T. (2007). Heroes of Middle-Earth: J. Campbell’s Monomyth in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the
  • Ring. Unpublished Pro-Graduate Thesis. University of Jyväskylä, Finland 2007.
  • Kırer O. (2010). The Archetypal Criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings. Unpublished M. A. Thesis. Erciyes University, Kayseri 2010.
  • Klarer M. (2011). An Introduction to Literary Studies. Oxford 2011.
  • Leeming D. A. (1998). Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. Oxford 2002.
  • March J. (2002). Cassell’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology. London 2002.
  • Pearce J. (1998). Tolkien: Men and Myth. London 1998.
  • Petty A. C. (1979). One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien’s Mythology. Alabama 1979.
  • Phillips S. R. (1975). “Monomyth and literary criticism”. College Literature 2/1 (1975) 1-16.
  • Segal R. (2013). “Freudian and Jungian Approaches to Myth: The Similarities”. Eds. L. Burnett, S. Bahun & R. Main, Myth, Literature and the Unconscious (2013) 101-119. London.
  • Segal R. A. (1997). Joseph Campbell: An Introduction. New York 1997.
  • Segal R. A. (2004). Myth: A very short introduction. Oxford 2004.
  • Segal R. A. (2009). “Myth”. Ed. R. A. Segal, The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009) 337-357. Malden.
  • Short K. G., Lynch-Brown C. & Tomlinson C. M. (2014). Essentials of Children’s Literature. Massachusetts 2014.
  • Tolkien J. R. R. (1980). Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. London 1980.
  • Tolkien J. R. R. (2005). The Lord of the Rings. London 2005.
  • Worstell R. C. (2017). The Art of Wonk. Midwest 2017.
  • Zorba M. G. (2013). “The Influences of Different Mythologies in Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings”. The 7th IDEA Conference (17-19 April 2013), Denizli/Turkey

Joseph Campbell’ın Monomiti Çerçevesinde Frodo’nun Arayışı Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Year 2019, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 401 - 416, 30.06.2019

Abstract

Edebiyat ve mit arasında ayrıcalıklı ve çok boyutlu bir ilişki vardır ve bu ilişki edebi eserleri içerdikleri mitsel unsurlar açısından incelemenin ötesindedir, çünkü mitsel olan ve edebi olan aslında birbirlerinden çok da farklı değildir. Bu görüş çerçevesinde monomit kuramı insanlık tarihi boyunca sözlü ve yazılı olarak değişik yollarla tekrar tekrar yinelenen tek bir hikâye olduğunu ve bu tek hikâyede kahra- manın her zaman aynı aşamalardan geçtiğini ileri sürer. Basitçe açıklamak gerekirse, kahraman maceraya bir çağrı alır, bilinmeyen bir dünyaya adım atar ve o dünyanın içerisinde görevini tamamladıktan sonra geri döner. Yüzüklerin Efendisi üçlemesi J. R. R. Tolkien’in İngiltere için bir mitoloji yaratma çabalarının bir sonucudur. Dolayısıyla hem Orta Dünya’yı hem karakterlerini yaratırken destanların, efsanelerin, arayış hikâyelerinin ve mitlerin özelliklerini oldukça becerikli bir şekilde tek bir potada birleştirmiştir. Bu açıdan, Yüzüklerin Efendisi üçlemesi mitsel bir okuma ve analiz gerektirmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı üçlemeyi Frodo’nun arayışına odaklanarak monomit açısından incelemektir. Bu inceleme sırasında monomit teorisinin geçerliliğinden ziyade monomitsel desenin Yüzüklerin Efendisi’nde nasıl bulunduğu dikkate alınmış ve çalışmanın sonucu olarak Frodo’nun arayışında desenin monomitin bütün aşamalarını Joseph Campbell’ın çizdiği aynı sırayla izlediği tespit edilmiştir.

References

  • Alıç F. & Alıç S. (2014). “Campbell’in Monomit Kuramı Bağlamında Gezi’nin Kırmızılı Kadın’ı: Siyasi Bir Simgenin Sonsuz Yolculuğu”. Turkish Studies 9/5 (2014) 185-210.
  • Burns M. (2005). Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Toronto 2005.
  • Burrows D. J., Lapides F. R. & Shawcross J. T. (1973). Myths and Motifs in Literature. USA 1973.
  • Campbell J. & Cousineau P. (2003). The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell). Canada 2003.
  • Campbell J. (2004). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New Jersey 2004.
  • Carpenter H. & Tolkien C. (2012). The letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. USA 2012.
  • Carter L. (1969). A Look Behind the Lord of the Rings. New York 1969.
  • Chance J. (2001). Tolkien’s Art: A Mythology for England. Kentucky 2001.
  • Coomaraswamy A. K. (1941). “Akimcanna: Self-Naughting”. New Indian Antiquary 3/1 (1941) 1-16.
  • Çopur G. (2012). “Ruh Adam Romanında Kahramanın Sonsuz Yolculuğu: Yasak Aşk’ın Döngüsü”. Turkish Studies 7/2 (2012) 837-844.
  • Coupe L. (2009). Myth. New York 2009.
  • Cura N. (2018). Campbell’in Monomyth Çerçevesinden Bilbo’nun Kahramanin Yolculuğu. Unpublished MA Thesis. Tekirdağ University, Tekirdağ 2018.
  • Dayı E. (2007). A Stylistic Analysis of J R. R. Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings. Unpublished M. A. Thesis. Selçuk University, Konya 2007.
  • Foster R. (2001). Tolkien’s World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. New York 2001.
  • Göze F. E. (2013). “Kahramanın Yolculuğu: Beyazperdede Çocukların Kahraman Olma Macerası”. Turkish Studies 8/8 (2013) 1793-1804.
  • Harvey G. (2003). The Origins of Middle-Earth for dummies. New Jersey 2003.
  • Indick W. (2012). Ancient Symbology in Fantasy Literature: A Psychological Study. North Carolina 2012.
  • Kesti T. (2007). Heroes of Middle-Earth: J. Campbell’s Monomyth in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the
  • Ring. Unpublished Pro-Graduate Thesis. University of Jyväskylä, Finland 2007.
  • Kırer O. (2010). The Archetypal Criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings. Unpublished M. A. Thesis. Erciyes University, Kayseri 2010.
  • Klarer M. (2011). An Introduction to Literary Studies. Oxford 2011.
  • Leeming D. A. (1998). Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. Oxford 2002.
  • March J. (2002). Cassell’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology. London 2002.
  • Pearce J. (1998). Tolkien: Men and Myth. London 1998.
  • Petty A. C. (1979). One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien’s Mythology. Alabama 1979.
  • Phillips S. R. (1975). “Monomyth and literary criticism”. College Literature 2/1 (1975) 1-16.
  • Segal R. (2013). “Freudian and Jungian Approaches to Myth: The Similarities”. Eds. L. Burnett, S. Bahun & R. Main, Myth, Literature and the Unconscious (2013) 101-119. London.
  • Segal R. A. (1997). Joseph Campbell: An Introduction. New York 1997.
  • Segal R. A. (2004). Myth: A very short introduction. Oxford 2004.
  • Segal R. A. (2009). “Myth”. Ed. R. A. Segal, The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009) 337-357. Malden.
  • Short K. G., Lynch-Brown C. & Tomlinson C. M. (2014). Essentials of Children’s Literature. Massachusetts 2014.
  • Tolkien J. R. R. (1980). Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. London 1980.
  • Tolkien J. R. R. (2005). The Lord of the Rings. London 2005.
  • Worstell R. C. (2017). The Art of Wonk. Midwest 2017.
  • Zorba M. G. (2013). “The Influences of Different Mythologies in Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings”. The 7th IDEA Conference (17-19 April 2013), Denizli/Turkey
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Comparative Language Studies, World Languages, Literature and Culture (Other)
Journal Section Araştırma Makaleleri
Authors

Mehmet Galip Zorba

Publication Date June 30, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 9 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Zorba, M. G. (2019). A Study on Frodo’s Quest within the Framework of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth. Akdeniz İnsani Bilimler Dergisi, 9(1), 401-416.
Adres:
Akdeniz İnsani Bilimler Dergisi
Akdeniz Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi
07058 Kampüs, Antalya / TÜRKİYE
E-Posta:
mjh@akdeniz.edu.tr