How did The Lord of the Rings become a secret weapon in Italy’s culture wars? | Jamie Mackay

www.theguardian.com

7 comments

There are definite themes of 'old' or 'ancient bloodlines' making better or stronger men and elves, as arda generally declines in many ways. Look at Númenor and its genetic legacy. It's a short leap for fascists and racists towards blood and racial purity nonsense, and the decline of, or assault on, so called 'Western civilisation' from the 'hordes' of eaterlings and haradrim. It's a narrow minded and surface level view of the literature, but morons aren't exactly known for their media literacy.
I know that the rules in the sidebar says No Politics, but this is specifically relevant.
Does anyone have the Italian version they reference with the tone-setting forward? I'd be interested in seeing it.
- I think the article’s connection to some of the aspects of the source material is relevant as well. As long as the conversation stays civil, I don’t see a problem with its inclusion in this community.
  
  Absolutely, it's worth talking about since it's not a new phenomena with Tolkien's work. We should be mindful of these kinds of interpretations and be clear about how we, as a community, respond.
- In Italy there are mainly two translations of LotR, one is the "historical" one to which many old school fans are religiously attached like the Bible even if it contains some mistakes (translation by Alliata, 1967), the newer one is more faithful to the original but has some unfortunate choices (especially for some names of places, rivers, even characters) and is considered "heretic" (translation by Fatica, 2019).
  Italian fans are usually split into lovers or haters of the new (Fatica) translation.
  I personally love the first translation I read when I was a kid, which is Bompiani's revision of 2009 of the Alliata version, even if it contains mistakes.
Ol Sharkey is out to scour Italy now. Blow your horn, Merry!
Italy has a shameful fascist past and present that can abuse Tolkien's work like many other fascists do. Italy's shambolic, incoherent and ridiculous fascism melds well with Tolkien's own multifaceted views in some respects. He did (as a Catholic not a fascist) support Franco, though in later life turn towards the traditional left wing libertarianism/anarchism. And his letter to the Nazis condemning their bigotry is well-known.

7 comments