REPRESENTATION OF IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN THE J. R. R. TOLKIEN’S
TRILOGY THE LORD OF THE RINGS NOVEL (1937 – 1949)
PUBLICATION ARTICLE
Compiled and Submit t ed as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirem ent s For Get ting M ast er Degree of Educat ion in English Language St udies
BY:
ANA WIYASA NUGRAHAWATI S. 200 120 013
M ASTER OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES PROGRAM POST GRADUATE SCHOOL
M UHAM M ADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA
1 REPRESENTATION OF IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN THE J. R. R. TOLKIEN’S
TRILOGY THE LORD OF THE RINGS NOVEL (1937 -1949) Ana Wiyasa Nugrahaw ati S 200 120 013
M agist er Pengkajian Bahasa Sekolah Pascasarjana Universitas M uham madiyah Surakart a
Jl. Ahm ad Yani Trom ol Pos 1 Pabelan Surakart a 57162 Em ail address: annviesa@rocket m ail.com
ABSTRACT
There are a lot of ideologies in the J. R. R. Tolkiens Trilogy The Lord of The Rings novel. From those ideologies t here are shared ideology and conflict ideology. The main object ive of t his research are t o analyze t he ideological conflict reflect ed in The Lord Of The Rings novel (1937 – 1949). The quest ion t o be discussed are how is t he ideological conflict are reflect ed in t he the J. R. R. Tolkiens Trilogy The Lord of The Rings novel (1937 – 1949) The research is used is the qualit ative r esearch. The object of t his research is t he The Lord Of The Rings novel. This novel is w rit t en by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien at 1937 – 1949. The subject of t his st udy is t he represent at ion of ideological conflict. The procedure in the collect ing dat a is t aking not e from prim ary sources (The Lord of The Rings) and t he secondary sources (journal, books and art icle). The procedures of analysis are reading t he novel, elaborat es t he el em ent s of ideologies, and elaborat es t he ideological conflict. The t riangulation is chosen t o check t he dat a validation. The general finding is t he beliefs from t he ideology and the form of dom inat ion by t he governm ent in the societ y are influencing t he ideological conflict .
Key Words: Represent at ion, Ideology, Conflict
A. INTRODUCTION
2 are compiled by som e previous researcher. There are a lot of t he st udy
before t he recent st udy, t he previous st udy are: Simonson, M artin & Raúl M ont ero Gilet e. 2008 “The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of The Rings: similarit ies and differences bet w een t w o children of t he Great War” E
Fabulat ions, Vit oria: Universidad del Pais Press, Winegar, Ast rid. 2005. “ Aspect s of Orient alism in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings” , The Grey Book, volume 1 page 1-10, W est , John. 2001. “ The Lord of The Rings as a
Defense of West ern Civilizat ion” , Inquiry, Volume X. No. IV. Seat t le: Discovery Instit ut e, Arvidsson, St efan. 2010 “ Greed and the Nat ure of Evil: Tolkien versus Wagner” Journal of Religion and Popular Cult ure, Volum e 22(2) Sw eden:l Linnæus Universit y Press, Fimi, Dim it ra. 2007 “ Tolkien and Old Norse Ant iquit y: Real and Rom antic Links in M at erial Cult ure” , Old
Norse M ade New Essay On Post M edieval Recept ion of Old Norse Lit erat ure
and Cult ure, Page 83-100, London: Universit y College London, M adil, Leanna. 2008. “ Gendered Ident ifies Explored: The Lord of The Rings as a
Text of Alt ernative Ways of Being.” The Alan Review . Wint er 2008 Edition. Victoria: Universit y of Vict oria, Lee, St uart D. & Elizabet h Solopova. 2005.
3 of M ale Int im acy in The Lord Of The Rings.” ProQuest Research Library.: 50,
4 pg. 949.
The previous st udies have several similarit ies and differences, such as: t he similarit y is t he basic of t hinking’ s Tolkien. Tolkien uses t he
myt hology of Old Norse and Viking Cult ure and the post -World W ar is the fact or that influencing t he w rit ing of The Lord of The Rings. The differences are t he first st udy is t alking about the hist orical background. It is t aken
place from t he World War Hist ory. The second st udy is t alking about the aspect of orient alist or racist that found in t he The Lord of The Rings novel by using the Old Norse M yt hology. The t hird study is t he analysis of The Lord of The Rings has several t hem es t hat defense of w est ern civilizat ion. The fourth st udy is t he bat tle of greed and evil pow er in The Lord of The
Rings in t he perspect ive t he Old Norse m yt hology of t he Vikings. The fift h previous st udy is t he st udy of the rom anticism of t he Old Norse myt hology in the Tolkien w orks. The sixt h previous st udy is t he st udy of Rom ance and
myst ique of The Lord of The Rings and the aspect s of m arginalizat ion of women gender in t he novel. The sevent h previous study is the st udy of
connect ion of t he m edieval lit erat ure such as old English, M iddle English, Anglo Saxon, Poet ic Eda and Old Norse. The eighth previous st udy is t he study of t he fem ale and the pow er. The ninth previous st udy is the st udy on the male int im acy relat ionship in the The Lord of The Rings novel. Aft er
4 or researcher t ries t o propose t he analysis represent at ion of ideological
conflict in the J. R. R. Tolkien Trilogy The Lord of The Rings. Because t here i s no previous researcher t aken t his case as t heir researchers.
The researcher has object ives of st udy. The m ain object ive in t his
t hesis paper is t o elaborat e t he ideological conflict s reflect ed in t he J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings Novel. This object ive is break dow n int o six purposes. The part icular object ives of st udy are t o invest igat e t he
elem ent s of ideology are reflect ed in the J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings novel, t hen to describe t he ideologies are represent ed in the J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings novel, then to describe t he ideologies are conflict ed in t he J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings novel, aft er t hat t o explain t he ideological conflict represent ed in the J. R. R. Tolkien’s The
Lord of The Rings novel
B. LITERARY REVIEW
In this sect ion, theoret ical application is the applicat ion of the
t heory in the analyzing the dat a. The w rit er merges t he cont ext orient ed approach and represent at ion from the Roland Bart hes. So in the analysis
of st udy t he w rit er w ill examine t he dat a into the schools of the cont ext orient ed approach, such as sociological lit erary crit icism, ideology, and conflict s.
Represent at ion is an essent ial part of the process by which meaning is
5 t he use of language, of signs and images w hich st and for or represent
t hings and surly it is not a simple or st raight forw ard process (Hall: 1997). In Element s of Semiology, Bart hes subst itut es t he more familiar t erm s ‘denot ation’ (primary significat ion) and ‘connot at ion’ (secondary
signification): ‘the first syst em [denot at ion] becomes t he plane of expression or signifier of t he second syst em [connot ation]. . . . The signifiers of connot ation . . . are made up of signs (signifiers and
signifieds unit ed) of the denot ed syst em ’(St orey: 2009).
The elem ent s of ideology is found in t his art icle by t he t heory of ideology such as belief and value by Eaglet on and Selliger is choose by t he w rit er t o invest igat es t he belief and value that appear in t he societ y of
The Lord of The Rings. The definition of ideology from Terry Eaglet on is a set doct rines rat her it signifies t he w ay m en [sic] live out t he it roles in class societ y, t he values, ideas, and images w hich t ie them by their social functions and so prevent t hem from a t rue know ledge of societ y as a
w hole ( Eagleton, 1976)
Seliger added som e t erm in t he definit ion of ideology. Seliger (in
Thompson 1984) st at ed:
6 are t o ensure concert ed act ion for t he preservat ion, dest ruct ion or reconst ruct ion of a given order
The w rit er t ries t o represent t he belief and value in the World War
Era. The sim ple t heory t hat proposed by the w rit er is t he ideology is a set of belief or doct rine in order t o const ruct of societ y by som e social order from t he governm ent such as roles in class societ y. In support ing t he
analysis of ideology t he w rit er use Gramsci’ Ideology for domination and M arx’s for consciousness aspect . The notion of hegem ony is root ed in Gram sci (1992) dist inct ion bet w een coercion and consent as alt ernat ive
mechanism s of social power. Coercion refers t o t he st at e capacit y for violence, which it can use against t hose w ho refuse t o participate in capit alist relat ion of production. M arx, engel, & lenin (1972) ideology is a process accomplished by t he so – called t hinker consciously, it is t rue, but with a false consciousness. False consciousness is a consensus can
also be achieved w hen a m inorit y group accept s an ideology t hat is not in
it s self int erest .
The conflict theory t hat proposed by Farley, a sociologist t o elaborat es and invest igat es t he cause of ideological conflict Farley (2000:73) st at ed that t he general underlying assum ption associat ed with conflict theory is t hat societ y is m ade up of groups w it h compet ing
7 Before analyzing t he dat a by t he set of t heory above, t he w rit er
invest igat es t he hist orical background in The Lord of The Rings such as World War descript ion and the sociological background, such as the sociology of Brit ain, t he sociology of J. R. R. Tolkien, the process of
w rit ing The Lord of The Rings and biography of J. R. R. Tolkien. It is useful for the analysis of t he represent at ion of ideological conflict.
C. RESEARCH M ETHOD
The t ype of st udy is qualit ative research. Qualit ative research is an inquiry process of underst anding based on dist inct met hodological t raditions of inquiry t hat explore a social or human problem . The researcher builds a complex, holist ic picture, analyzes words, report s det ailed view s of informant s, and conduct s the st udy in nat ural set t ing
(Cresw ell, 1998).
The subject of t he st udy is t he ideological conflict . The ideological conflict discussed in this research. From t he elem ent s of ideology, the t ype
of ideology and t he form of conflict or shared ideology are invest igat ed in t he analyzing the ideological conflict .
The object of t he st udy is J.R.R. Tolkien’s t rilogy The Lord of t he Rings novel in 1937-1949. The Lord of t he Rings is an epic high fant asy novel writ t en by English philologist and Universit y of Oxford p rofessor J. R. R. Tolkien. This novel is t rilogy. The t rilogy consist s of t hree books. Every book
8 novel and t he dist ribut ion of chapt er in t he t rilogy t he lord of t he rings
novel
No Book Volume Publishing and
Publication Date 1 Ret urn of t he
Shadow The Fellow ship of t he Rings (volum e I)
George Allen & Unw in 29 July 1954 2 The Fellow ship
of the Rings 3 The Treason of
Isengard The Tw o Tow ers (volum e II)
George Allen & Unw in 11 Novem ber 1954
4 The Journey t o M ordor
5 The W ar of the
Ring The Ret urn of t he King (volum e III)
George Allen & Unw in 20 October 1955
6 The Ret urn of t he King
Type of dat a is t ext . In t his research t he sources of dat a are t aken
from: Primary dat a sources are t he m ain dat a consist ing dialogue, action and descript ion about t he represent at ion of ideological conflict from t he novel and secondary Dat a Sources are som e m at erials
relat ed t o the data require, such as w rit er's biography, the data t aken from official websit e, and other relat ed sources
There are st eps of collect ion the dat a: reading the novel, t aking
9 The dat a collect ed by t he researcher m ust be validat ed. The dat a
validit y is checked by t riangulat ion t echnique. Triangulat ion is t he t echnique of checking the validit y of dat a by using t hings t o dat a as com paring things t o the dat a (M oleong, 2007:331). The w rit er w ill
check t he dat a with the relevant theory.
The procedures or st eps which are t aken in t he analysis are as follow: reading t he novel, analyze t he hist orical and sociological
background from t he novel, analyze the ideological conflict reflect ed in the novel, and elaborat e t he represent at ion of ideological conflict reflect ed in the novel
D. FINDING AND DISCUSSION 1. The Element of Ideology.
The element of Ideology t hat found in the research is belief. The beliefs t hat appear in the novel The Lord of The Rings is found with the ideology form . Liberalism beliefs are individualism , freedom, equalit y,
rat ionalism , progress. The government of liberalism is not t o dom inat e t he societ y. Socialism beliefs are collect ivism , cent ral economic planning
and econom ic equalit y. The governm ent of socialism only plans the societ y act ivit ies. Fascism beliefs are act ion, milit arism, futurist ic, one part y, violence, racism , and slavery. The governm ent of fascism is absolut e domination in societ y. A t ot alit arian belief is t he governm ent
10 governm ent t ake all of decision for the society and preservat ion of order
t hrough an evolved authorit y. The dem ocracy belief is governm ent by t he people usually through elect ed represent at ive
2. The Ideological Conflict
In this sub – chapt er, t he writ er t ries t o conclude t he shared of ideology and t he conflict of ideology in The Lord of The Ring novel. By using the shared of ideology, it can det ermine t he ideologies t hat can be
shared. It is t aken from t he elem ent of ideologies such as t he belief and t he dominat ion in t he previous sub – chapt er.
1. Shared of Ideology
From t he elem ent s of ideologies in t he previous sect ion, the ideology t hat shared is liberalism , socialism and democracy. Because
t hose ideologies have t he t endency of alm ost sam e belief such as achieve t he freedom t o do everyt hing, people can t hink rat ionally and progressively, and the people is equalit y in the w ealth and pow er. The
domination from t hose ideologies is not t oo dominat ed because t he people can give t he crit ic or suggest ion t o government . The ot her
ideologies such as tot alit arian, fascism and authorit arian is shared t oo 2. Conflict of Ideology
Beliefs are anchored t o shared concept s of desired ends and the m eans t o reach t hem . A scal e of beliefs is adopted t o define a range
11 t hat const itut e the basis for mutual expect at ions. These norms guide
individuals in an unfam iliar t errit ory of social life, serving as ‘ signpost ’ (Brown, 1988). Belief differences reveal a variance in preference for, or principles at t ached t o, m ajor cleavage in ideology or a w ay of life.
Difference in perceived values is perhaps the m ost basic elem ent s in t he m ot ivation behind social conflict . It is im plied in the difference in t he perceiving of values and belief it can be a conflict ideologically.
The dominat ion of t he governm ent is also cont ributing t he ideological conflict . Farley (2000:73) cont ends t hat conflict theory arose prim arily from t he work of M arx and w as cont inued in the w ork of C W right M ills and Ralf Dahrandorf. The general underlying assumpt ion associat ed w ith conflict theory is t hat societ y is m ade up
of groups w ith compet ing self-int erest s. Oft en t he com pet ing groups have unequal pow er. Generally, the resources t hat are in short supply involve w ealt h and pow er. There are several group that were
m ade up with t he compet ing self int erest s in The Lord of The Rings and have t he inequalit y of pow er. It show s in t he making t he group
based on t he ideology from each group that appear in the novel. In pow er t here is no equalit y. It can be shown in the poem in t he m aking of the rings
12 And the darkness bind them
It is only tw o lines of verse long known in Elven – lore: Three rings for the elven kings under t he sky,
Seven for t he dw arven lords in their halls of st one Nine for m ort al m en doom ed t o die
One for the dark lord on his dark t hrone In the land of mordor w here t he shadow lie One ring t o rule them all,
One ring t o find t hem all, One ring t o bring them all, And the darkness bind them
In the land of M ordor where t he shadow lie (LOTR, 53)
From t his poem can be seen t hat t he inequalit y of t he power and w ealt h. The pow er of t he One Rings in t he hand of Dark Lord Sauron is t he biggest pow er t han t he others. In t he ot her w ords, t he
domination of the Dark Lord Sauron is t he biggest dominat ion in the M iddle Eart h so t hat he w ant s t o make hegem ony by using t he fascism ideology and he reject s all ideologies outside of fascism . The others w ant t o an equalit y of t he power in t he societ y. Every people
have t he freedom to choose t he ideologies. So t hat, the people of M iddle Eart h w ant s to the equalit y of pow er.
E. CONCLUSION AND SIGGESTION
The w rit er can m ake conclude that t he belief and domination from one societ y and ot her have specific relat ionship. The ideology conflict in the The Lord of The Rings novel. Difference in perceived values is perhaps t he
13 t he difference in t he perceiving of values and belief it can be a conflict
ideologically. The domination of the governm ent is also cont ributing the ideological conflict . The general underlying assumpt ion associat ed w ith conflict theory is that societ y is made up of gro ups w it h compet ing self
-int erest s. Oft en the compet ing groups have unequal pow er
In t his sect ion, the w rit er suggest som e suggest ion to som e sides such as t he com mon reader and the other researcher
1. The common reader
For com mon reader, t he w rit er hope the research can increase t he knowledge of t he com mon reader in t he conflict of ideology from t he sit uation of the world wars
2. The other researcher
For t he other researcher, t he w rit er hope it can be improved in the fut ure research and the can be one of the resource in t he fut ure research.
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