How We Became Middle-Earth
A research project on The Lord of the Rings has been launched at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. The project, taking a Cultural Studies approach, examines a series of cultural issues triggered both by J.R.R. Tolkien's novel and Peter Jackson's films. It targets academic audience as well as popular readers with intellectual insight.
The outcome of the project includes a book, provisionally entitled "How We Became Middle-Earth", to be published by a university/academic press. The book will be a collection of scholarly essays focusing on issues within Cultural and Literary Studies disciplines.
Contributions
Anyone interested in making a contribution is welcomed to contact either Adam Lam or Nataliya Oryshchuk for further information. In your correspondence, please briefly describe your academic background, institutional affiliations and publications.
Contributors
We have already begun to receive abstracts from a diverse range of people interested in contributing. Of special note are contributions we have received from established Tolkien scholars like Dr. Patrick Curry.
Other contributors include:
- Christine Anketell
- Christopher Garbowski
- John Howe
- Lynette R. Porter
- Robin Anne Reid
Additionally, this project will be completed with as much feedback from the Tolkien community as possible. Well known experts on Tolkien, such as Professor Tom Shippey, have agreed to make themselves available for us to consult occasionally.
Project Editors
- Adam Lam
Programme Coordinator of Cultural Studies at the University of Canterbury, specialising in Cultural, Literary and Film Studies (esp. national cinema). - Nataliya Oryshchuk
Tutor and PhD candidate in Russian at the University of Canterbury, specialising in Literary and Theatre Studies (esp. fantastic literature and cinema).
About the image
In December 2002, Air New Zealand developed a two year joint venture with movie makers New Line Cinema to link movie publicity to New Zealand tourism. Air New Zealand painted one Boeing 747 and one Boeing 767 in their international fleet with the key characters from Peter Jackson's film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings . On these aircraft it reads "Airline to Middle-earth". When Adam Lam was about to board the painted 767 at Auckland International Airport flying to Hong Kong on 30 May 2004, the painted 747 passing by on the runway behind caught his eyes. Quickly he pulled out his digital camera and took a photo of this fantastic moment. (All rights reserved, (c) Adam Lam 2004)