A novelized epic: An analysis of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien in terms of the Bakhtinian distinction of the epic hero and the novelistic hero

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2018

Öğrenci: SİNEM ORUÇ

Danışman: ELİF ÖZTABAK AVCI

Özet:

This study aims to explore in what ways the heroes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy embody the traits of the epic hero and in what ways they embody the traits of the novelistic hero. For such an analysis, the Bakhtinian distinction of “the epic hero” and “the novelistic hero” will be followed, and his essays in Dialogic Imagination and Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics will be taken as the basis of the theoretical framework. In light of the Bakhtinian distinction between these two figures, the heroes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy will be studied in terms of heroic traits and in terms of the hero’s representation through language, time, and space. It is claimed that, when seen through a Bakhtinian lens, the heroes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy bear predominantly novelistic hero traits while at times certain heroes of the trilogy display epic hero characteristics.