Abstract
A good deal has been written in the last 30 years on the extent to which Tolkien's work can be aligned or associated with literary modernism. Arguments have been made both for and against, though in spite of the range of perspectives that have been considered, what has been missed is the question of difficulty. A central characteristic of modernism is its difficulty, its inaccessibility to a non-specialized reader. The Lord of the Rings is not difficult, nor inaccessible - indeed it can readily be characterised as mass art by virtue of its accessibility.
Recommended Citation
Thompson-Handell, Matthew
(2026)
"Tolkien, Modernism, and Mass Art,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 24:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol24/iss2/3
Included in
Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons