Whilst hunting for journals on globalization in the e-resources at Bangor University library, I discovered an article by Abigail Ruane and Patrick James entitled “The International Relations of Middle-earth: Learning from The Lord of the Rings”. The article uses characters and storylines from J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy trilogy Lord of the Rings to explain the three Great Debates and the three feminist waves which influenced international relations theory. For example, Galadrial the Elf is used to symbolise postmodern feminism, and the forest dwelling Ents represent critical theorists.
The article is in a journal called International Studies Perspectives, 2008, Vol 9, Issue 4, pp. 377-394. You can access it one of two ways:
1. Go to the library catalogue (advanced search page), type in international and perspectives into the search boxes, and select journal in material type lower down the page. Click on the journal International Studies Perspectives on the results list, then click on Blackwell Full Collection. The link takes you straight to the electronic journal in the Blackwell Synergy database. Once in the journal, click on 2008 issues, then on Vol 9, Issue 4, and the article is the second listed in the table of contents.
2. Go to the library’s list of social science databases, and click on the Blackwell Synergy full text e-journal database, near the top of the list. Type some keywords into the search box, I used “ruane lord rings”, and the article should come straight up in the list of results. Click on PDF or html to read the article.
If you are not a member of the University of Bangor and cannot access our resources, there is a copy of the article online here, but it is quite hard to read.
