Right-Wing Politicians Seek the Hobbit Vote
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Right-wing nutcases now want to co-opt and recuperate J.R.R.
Tolkien's work to promote their fascism and nationalism.
Fortunately we have Tolkien's own words to clear up the
misconceptions they are promoting about his work. In his
letters, Tolkien many times reveals his affinity to
anarchism / libertarian socialism. For example: "My
political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy
(philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control
not whiskered men with bombs) -- or to 'unconstitutional'
Monarchy. I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in
any sense other than the inanimate realm of England and its
inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights nor
mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if
they remained obstinate! If we could get back to personal
names, it would do a lot of good. Government is an abstract
noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should
be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer
to people. If people were in the habit of referring to 'King
George's council, Winston and his gang', it would go a long
way to clearing thought, and reducing the frightful
landslide into Theyocracy. Anyway the proper study of Man is
anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even
saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it
on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for
it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity."
Concerning LoTR and its application to the real world, he is
equally explicit: "we are attempting to conquer Sauron with
the Ring. And we shall (it seems) succeed. But the penalty
is, as you will know, to breed new Saurons, and slowly turn
Men and Elves into Orcs. Not that in real life things are as
clear cut as in a story, and we started out with a great
many Orcs on our side. . . . ." [Tolkien's ellipsis] And
again: "You can't fight the Enemy with his own Ring without
turning into an Enemy; but unfortunately Gandalf's wisdom
seems long ago to have passed with him into the True West. .
. ." [Tolkien's ellipsis again]
Tolkien disclaimed any Utopian intention in his portrayal of
Middle Earth, but it is clear that the ideals he outlines
above influenced the work. Most of the societies of which he
approves are clearly what he calls "'unconstitutional'
Monarchies", but those of the Hobbits and Ents are another
matter. These are explicitly based on what Kropotkin
referred to as the "folk-mote form of self-government", and
the equivalent form "moot" can be seen in the terms
"Shiremoot" and "Entmoot" for these general meetings for
consensus-based decision-making.
In this Tolkien follows William Morris, whose work exerted
an enormous influence upon his own. Morris invented the
fantasy novel in such works as _The Glittering Plain_, _The
Wood Beyond the World_, _Child Christopher and Goldilind the
Fair_, and (his masterpiece) _The Well at the World's End_.
These remain among the very greatest achievements in the
genre, and should be read with care by anyone interested in
that form. Most other fantasy writers have not done so well
portraying this sort of society, leaving common forms of
pre-industrial organization such as the folk-mote (see
Kropotkin's work _Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution_ for
innumerable examples) entirely out of the picture in favor
of feudalism and monarchy. It is however worth mentioning, I
suppose, that Michael Moorcock is an avowed anarchist, and
that Ursula LeGuin is at the least highly sympathetic to
anarchism.
-- Dan Clore
Monday January 21 8:27 AM ET
Right-Wing Politicians Seek the Hobbit Vote
By Massimiliano Di Giorgio
ROME (Reuters) - The rest of the world may see box office
smash "The Lord of the Rings" as a mythical tale of hobbits
and goblins but some young members of Italy's far right hope
to use the film to promote their political ideals.
"We want to use the event as an incredible volcano to help
people understand our view of the world," said Basilio
Catanoso, youth wing leader of the far-right National
Alliance party.
Right-wing thinkers and publishers, who introduced the
Italian public to the fantasy classic in the 1970s, see the
1,000-page tome by Britain's J.R.R. Tolkien as a celebration
of their own values of physical strength, leadership and
integrity.
The National Alliance youth wing is looking back to the
1970s when Italian rightists spun its own interpretation of
Tolkien's mythical world to bolster their image, already
imbued with Celtic legends, knights and a cult of personal
strength.
"There is a deep significance to this work. 'The Lord of the
Rings' is the battle between community and individuality,"
Catanoso said.
But the tale can be seen supporting either end of the
political spectrum. "The destruction of the ring of power,
the multiracial aspect -- hobbits, elves, men and dwarfs
united against evil are all leftist ideals," said Francesco
Alo', editor of Italian film Web site http://www.caltanet.it
.
Tolkien always denied any political intent in the book.
The story follows the struggle of a young hobbit named Frodo
Baggins, played by Elijah Wood in the film, to destroy a
ring of power which holds the key to the future of
civilization.
The cult book evokes a fantasy world peopled by goblins,
hobbits and elves.
"Only in Italy is "The Lord of the Rings" seen as right
wing, no other country in the world has a similar reading of
Tolkien," said Valerio Evangelisti, an Italian fantasy
writer.
In the 1970s, neo-fascist summer training centers nicknamed
"Hobbit Camps" were set up by the National Alliance's
predecessor, the neo-Fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI).
The National Alliance split from the MSI in the mid-1990s.
Its current leader, Gianfranco Fini, who is also deputy
prime minister, has tried to give the party a new image.
The National Alliance has five ministers in the center-right
government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But tradition still echoes in the party's ranks.
National Alliance's youth wing plans a campaign to boost
membership, inviting students to "enter the fellowship," an
allusion to "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first book of
the Tolkien trilogy.
The film opened on Friday in 700 cinemas in Italy. So far it
has grossed more than $500 million worldwide.
[We may as well take the occasion to repeat this older story
as well. -- DC]
Police get tough with the hobbit-lovers of Kazakhstan
By Patrick Cockburn in Moscow
29 July 2001
People who dress up as hobbits have become the latest
victims of a police crackdown on unconventional lifestyles
in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan.
J R R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is very popular in the
countries of the former Soviet Union, where thousands of
fans dress up and re-enact scenes from the book. But this
innocent if dotty pursuit is seen as subversive by the
notoriously brutal police in Almaty, the former capital of
Kazakhstan. It is part of a wider drive against those whom
the police suspect of enjoying "bohemian" lifestyles.
"We are perfectly legal," said Vitaly, a so-called
"Tolkienist". "In fact we spend most of our time in the
mountains. We only hold conventions in the city twice a
year. It's our lifestyle. The police don't like it, but we
aren't going to stop. It's our entire life."
The London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting
(IWPR) says that, besides Tolkienists, people detained
include buskers, "alternative artists", gays and lesbians,
anarchists, hippies, punks and members of dissident
religious sects, many of whom complain that they have been
systematically tortured.
Alexander, the leader of a punk-rock band in Almaty, said he
was held for two days in a so-called "water tank". This is a
method commonly used by the police to extract confessions.
"They put the person arrested in a narrow cell about 4ft 6in
high, and half fill it with cold water. You cannot stand up
straight because the ceiling is too low, and you are unable
to sit down because you will be under water so you have to
crouch all the time."
Tolkien's writings have been widely read in the former
Soviet Union ever since he was first translated in about
1988 during perestroika. They reached a peak of popularity
in the mid-Nineties.
Several hundred Tolkienists gather in Moscow on Thursday
evenings in summer in Neskuchny Park overlooking the Moskva
river. One enthusiast, Askar Tuganbaev, a computer salesman,
said: "In Yekaterinburg [in the Urals] they even built a
fortress and fought a battle a couple of years ago with
everybody dressed up."
Mr Tuganbaev says the police in Russia are tolerant of the
Tolkienists and it is only in Kazakhstan that they are
accused of "being Satanists and conducting dark rituals".
--
Dan Clore
mailto:cl...@columbia-center.org
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*anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
-- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
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