John Ronald Ruel Tolkien (Tolkien), the creator of the first books in the genre of epic “high” fantasy, told the people of the planet about fantastic worlds so vivid and reliably detailed that many not only wanted to become part of them at least in staged games and their own dreams, but accepted the fact of the existence of alternative reality. Tolkienists are people who, to varying degrees, are passionate about the work of a talented writer and express themselves with his help.
Creator of the worlds that gave rise to the subculture
John Ronald Ruel Tolkien is a British writer and poet, professor who taught at the colleges of Oxford University, a linguist and philologist, who became famous thanks to his main literary works: The Hobbit or There and Back, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Born in January of the nineteenth century in the English colony, John Tolkien from childhood accumulated impressions, which later reflected in his works. For example, the images of frightening poisonous spiders are often associated with the bite of a tarantula that he experienced in early childhood.
How D.R. Tolkien captured the minds of millions
The true celebrity and numerous fans brought the author the work “The Lord of the Rings”. The book was favorably received by critics, but the Tolkien cult began after the release of its "pirate" hundred thousandth edition of 1965 in the United States. The format that was accessible to teenagers due to its low price was successfully chosen. Despite the author’s attempts to stop the distribution of the illegal publication, the book still came out, and after a few months the official million circulation literally scattered from the shelves of bookstores.
The mood of the 60s contributed to the consolidation of Tolkien's ideas in the minds of youth. The hippie culture, which proclaimed peace, love and freedom as the main values, easily accepted the author as a like-minded person, seeing in his books parallels with the real opposition of society to the state system (although the writer himself never stated this).
In the USSR, Tolkien’s enthusiasm can be calculated from the first edition of the book “The Hobbit” in Russian, released in 1976, and the epic “The Lord of the Rings” in 1982. Already in 1983, Leningrad became the haven of the first Soviet Tolkienists. This movement began to pick up momentum during the perestroika years and turned into a real boom in the 90s of the last century, when the weakening of censorship brought a craze for Western culture and the genre of fantasy.
The next wave of Tolkienism captured the Russians at the beginning of the 21st century, when the release of films by director Peter Jackson again drew attention to the works of a talented writer, and this time with a new force and scale.
Fandom as a public phenomenon
Fandom, or fandom (from the English. Fandom, letters. "Community of fans"), a subculture consisting of fans (fans), is characterized by a sense of empathy and partnership with other people who share a common interest.
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The mentioned term was formed initially in the English-language culture. Initially associated with the union of people passionate about science fiction. Over time, the boundaries of the concept ceased to be so clear.
Humanity owes its first thematic subcultures to the fantastic works of the 80-90s of the previous century. The most famous and vibrant fan communities even have their own names. Currently, the largest number of followers are fandoms based on the works of Tolkien (his representatives are Tolkienists), Joan Rowling (the Potteromanians, they are also the Potterians), Stephen King (the worlds “The Chronicles of Narnia”, “Star Wars”, “Doctor Who” (huvians are popular)), "Sherlock" (sherlokomaniya), the Marvel universe, the television series "Supernatural" (super-hit) and many others.
Not all fans of a particular work can be attributed to representatives of the fandom. The main difference between the representatives of the subculture is the interaction with other fans. In the world of modern technology, it is increasingly happening through the Internet, but classic options still exist. These are clubs, fanzines (non-professional periodicals) and, of course, conventions (regular congresses of various levels and scales - from regional to international).
"Role-play" and "Tolkienists" - please do not confuse the concept!
All Tolkienists are role-players, but role-players are not necessarily Tolkienists.
Role-playing game - a game of educational or recreational purpose, a type of dramatic action, the participants of which act within the framework of their chosen roles, being guided by the nature of their role and the internal logic of the action environment; together they create or follow an already created plot. The actions of the game participants are considered successful or not in accordance with the accepted rules. Players can freely improvise within the framework of the chosen rules, determining the direction and outcome of the game.
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Thus, representatives of the subculture participating in various role-playing games can be considered role-players. The leading place among them is played by live action games, where practical activity is more important for the embodiment of the chosen role than words.
Fans of the games that recreate the world of John Tolkien and his characters are only part of the numerous representatives of various thematic currents of role-players.
In addition to designating Tolkienists as participants in staged games, this term is used in relation to researchers and translators of Tolkien's works. In this case, the creation of the word “Tolkienists” is an analogy with the formation of another similar noun - “Pushkinists”.
Self-identification and “mythological thinking”
Recreating the events described by the Professor (as fans of John Tolkien are often called), fans choose the most existing character that appeals to them or invent their own, guided by the laws of a fantasy world. Following the rules of word formation of mythic languages, a new name can be invented.
Like representatives of other thematic youth subcultures, Tolkienists express their alter ego through roles. The characters chosen for embodiment are recreated by both behavior and appearance. You can meet dressed in detail, very high quality and realistic make-up tolkienists. A photo is not always able to convey the level of immersion in an alternative person.
A nationwide census of the Russian Federation in 2002 revealed the most unexpected nations among citizens of the country - on Russian soil there is a place for elves, dwarves, and hobbits. The largest number of "ethnic elves" distinguished the city of Perm.
Many adherents of Tolkienism are convinced that the writer’s world was not invented by him, but once existed in reality, some even consider their human personality to be only a secondary embodiment. However, in most cases, thinking about the reality of the worlds does not deprive the Tolkienists of a true awareness of who they really are. This phenomenon is called "mythological thinking."
Games that adults play
The Tolkienists most actively and vividly manifest themselves during lively collective action - conventions, games, trips - "field voles."
The first all-union gathering based on the work “The Lord of the Rings” happened in the summer of 1990 near Krasnoyarsk.
In the 90s, HIshkas, once a year Hobbit Games, were very popular. Now the most famous and visited are the following Tolkienist conventions:
- Zilatkon, organized in November in the capital of Tatarstan;
- “SibCon” - the February gathering, held on the territory of Tomsk or Novosibirsk (has a quarter-century history);
- St. Petersburg "BlinKom" - in December;
- March Moscow "KomKon".
This is not a complete list. The number of regional-level games annually reaches about ten.
Usually a trip to nature, to the forest. The group gathers large and colorful - the participants are reincarnated and equipped with appropriate weapons, there are a variety of household attributes. The usual components of games held by Tolkienists are fights, economic relations, life, and magic. Duration may vary from a few hours to several days.
Within communities, cases of the emergence and development of romantic relationships are not uncommon. Unlike Tolkien's realities, where similar ties between representatives of different nations were condemned, fans look at this question without prejudice. The union of the gnome with the elf does not surprise anyone.
Tolkien studies is an integral part of the subculture
Tolkienists predominantly not only realize mythical images, but are also engaged in a detailed study of the worlds and their peoples represented in the literary works of John R. R. Tolkien.
The languages of elves, orcs, gnomes, people, ents, ancient, universal are studied and developed. Each of them has its own name - Sindarini and Quenya, the black dialect, Khuzdul, Adunaik, etc.
Many translate the writer's work into languages that were not previously published. For example, Tolkien Texts Translation is a Russian-language literary community that translates officially unreleased works.
Literary amateur spin-offs
Often the Tolkienists themselves become fiatters - authors of literary works based on the ideas and work of the beloved writer, creating the so-called fanfiction.
Fanfiction is jargon, meaning an amateur essay based on popular original literary works, works of cinema (movies, television shows, anime, etc.), comics (including manga), as well as computer games, etc.
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Typically, such an activity does not have commercial goals, although some works are so good that they attract the attention of professional publishers, bringing success, fame and revenue to their authors.
Creativity can be aimed at developing the ideas of J.R. R. Tolkien, be a playful parody, or open a different, even opposite, view of his world.
Since these compositions, to varying degrees, correspond to the canon of the original works, all fanfics are apocryphal.
Apocrypha is a literary work created on the basis of another. Unlike the sequel, it represents a new view of the world described in the original work.
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