隱形的世界：托爾金《魔戒》之神學與文學議題探討

Invisible World: A study of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings's Theological and Literary Issues

崔家怡(Chia-yi Tsui)

指導教授 ： 周曉青

國立暨南國際大學/人文學院/外國語文學系/碩士(2010年)

摘要

托爾金的《魔戒》廣泛被歸類為奇幻文學，本文欲由神學角度切入，並綜合討論其出版背景之影響，探討其所呈現出的深層神學意義；另一方面，也可以對於現今過分重視文學理論提供一個反思的空間。《魔戒》所存在之神學價值在於當時作者與其他牛津大學的教授組成一「吉光片羽社」，分享神學與文學觀念，這本書的價值是無法用文學理論規範的，必須用神學的眼光才能深刻理解。主要談論的是「隱形的世界」的觀念，即除了所存的物質世界，人類還感知到另一個世界，該世界雖無法被認同、被證實、被看見，這是因為物質的世界被人類的語言與時間限制住，但是《魔戒》跳脫了這個框架，能不著痕跡地將這個世界展現出來，因為人類「超越」的特質，可以有一種力量驅使人類與天父做一個溝通，並且得到天父的指示。最後，人類也可以跳脫物質時間的限制，看出這世界的奧秘─無須受到有限的時間轄制，最重要的是將來的，沒有時間的世界。

關鍵字

《魔戒》 ； 托爾金 ； 吉光片羽社 ； 隱形的世界 ； 人的本質

並列摘要

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is generally assumed as fantasy literature. This thesis aims to discover its theological value by using the theological perspective and discussing the effect of the historical background of its publication time; on the other hand, it also offers a way to contemplate the phenomenon of over-regarded of the literary theories these days. The theological value of The Lord of the Rings can be traced back to the club, the Inklings, which Tolkien held with other Oxford dons. The members share their theological and literary opinions and give advices to each other’s literary works. Thus, being one of the productions of this club, the value of The Lord of the Rings cannot easily be defined through the cannon of literary theory. The thesis focuses on the issue of invisible world, that is, another world which is different from the material world human beings are familiar with. It is a world can be sensed, but cannot be proved, be seen and even be identified. The everyday world is limited by human language and human time, but in The Lord of the Rings, the invisible world is shown without limitation. Due to the transcendence of human nature, a wretch power enables human being to communicate with God and sense the calling from God. In the process of responding to call, human beings can leave behind the material limits and enter the invisible world.

並列關鍵字

The Lord of the Rings ； J. R. R. Tolkien ； Inklings ； invisible world ； human nature

參考文獻

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