The recent presentations about Tolkien's influences have had me thinking about how Westernized fantasy is as a genre. As we saw in class, all of Tolkien's major influences came from Western Europe and the Mediterranean. Likewise, it seems that most fantasy writers draw exclusively from Western sources when developing their own legendarium. Since Tolkien is often considered the father of modern fantasy, it's likely that he set the precedent for this trend, but I still had to wonder.
Are there any examples of Tolkien (or other fantasy writers for that matter) who drew inspiration from the vast legendarium of the East? What specifically about Tolkien's mythology do you think could possibly be attributed to a culture outside of the Western world? And perhaps most importantly: why do you think Eastern cultures and ideas are so poorly represented in the fantasy genre as a whole?
-Varda*
1 comment:
I think that Eastern cultures and ideas aren’t necessarily poorly portrayed in fantasy, rather they are just more often found in a different type of fantasy. Tolkien’s medieval fantasy is based off Western mythology, but not exclusively. It’s worth noting that the Southrons of Near Harad have Persian influences, and maybe North African influences with their scimitars and Mûmakil, also called Oliphaunts (Elephants) that they ride into battle. There also are Easterlings, but we are told very little about their culture and the two wizards that went there as far as I know. Tolkien probably focused on Western Middle-earth because Western fantasy was what he knew and was interested in, but there are still other less developed regions with different inspirations.
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