| Abstrakt: |
John Keats famously writes in a 27 October 1818 letter to Richard Woodhouse of the "camelion Poet," who "lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, rich or poor, mean or elevated." Keats takes the word "gusto" from the writings of William Hazlitt and adapts the concept to his own ends. Tied up within this idea is the identity of the poet, the "man of genius," and Keats's own fascination with a "Life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts!" This is nowhere more embodied than in his Romantic fascination with eating and drinking, which is demonstrated in his letters to be intimately connected to the psychology of identity, as he writes to Woodhouse in September 1819, "Perhaps I eat to persuade myself I am somebody.". To date, the relationship between these aspects of Romantic gusto and the centrality of eating and drinking to the life and cultural identities of the inhabitants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth remains unexplored. In this essay, we examine The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings alongside Tolkien's own letters, in order to illustrate the ways Keats's Romantic gusto is embodied in the relationships between food and drink and identity in Tolkien's life and work. This is displayed in the mingling of cultures and individuals across Bilbo's table, especially in the way these interactions shape the relationship between himself and the dwarves. Looking to Tolkien's own life, we see a creative identity shaped by gusto in his literary friendships with the Inklings, who regularly gathered to eat, drink, and share their writing. Our essay crosses the disciplines of literary studies and psychology in order to best demonstrate how Tolkien's work and creative process intersect with Romantic literature and the psychology of identity and culture found in Romantic gusto and dietetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
