Inklings (literature)
The Inklings (literally: "Ahnungen", "Heutungen"; word play with ink "Ink", therefore freely translated: "Ink blots") were a literary discussion group of several intellectuals, who in the 1930s at the University of Oxford around the lecturer and Writer CS Lewis educated. Although there was never a formal membership list, Lewis, JRR Tolkien , Charles Williams and Owen Barfield could be considered part of the core of the circle. Dorothy L. Sayers , John Heath-Stubbs and John Wain were also part of the wider circle .
background
The discussion rounds in the circle of the “Inklings” revolved on the one hand on contemporary literature, on the other hand, their own works or drafts were read out in the evenings and discussed. It came about because the members were of the unanimous opinion that there was too little of what one really loved to read. So it was decided to take remedial action and write stories yourself.
The Inklings' meetings mostly took place on a Thursday evening in the college rooms of Lewis in Magdalen College . Many members also met (often on Tuesdays) in a local pub called The Eagle and Child , known internally as The Bird and the Baby . Unfinished works by members were often presented in Lewis' rooms and then subjected to criticism, such as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings , Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet or Williams' All Hallows 'Eve .
Originally, Tolkien and Lewis had planned a small competition in which they would draw the main themes for their stories. Tolkien said:
“Lewis said to me one day,“ Tollers [Tolkien's nickname within the Inklings], stories the way we really like them, are too few. I'm afraid we'll have to try it ourselves and write a few. ”We agreed that he should try“ space travel ”and I should try“ time travel ”. Its result is well known. After a few promising chapters my attempt came to nothing: it was a long detour to what I really wanted to write, a new version of the Atlantis saga. The final scene is preserved as " The Downfall of Númenor ". "
The circle dissolved at the beginning of the 1950s, partly due to the death of Williams in 1945.
Known members
- Owen Barfield (1898–1997) British philosopher, linguist, lawyer and writer.
- Jack Arthur Walter Bennett (1911–1981) British literary scholar, philologist and English professor.
- Lord David Cecil (1902–1986) British university professor and writer.
- Nevill Coghill (1899–1980) Irish-British literary scholar, writer and director.
- HVD "Hugo" Dyson (1896–1975) British literary scholar and professor.
- Adam Fox (1883–1977) British dean and professor.
- Colin Hardie (1906–1998) British classical philologist and professor.
- Robert E. Havard (1901–1985) British physician and medical scientist.
- CS Lewis (1898–1963) Irish writer, literary scholar and professor.
- WH Lewis (1895–1973) Irish historian, older brother of CS Lewis.
- Gervase Mathew (1905–1976) British Dominican, illustrator and writer.
- Ronald Buchanan McCallum (1898–1973) British historian and professor.
- Courtenay Edward Stevens (1905–1976) British ancient historian.
- Christopher Tolkien (1924–2020) British medievalist and lecturer, son of JRR Tolkien.
- JRR Tolkien (1892–1973) British writer and philologist.
- Charles Williams (1886–1945) British writer and mystic.
- Charles Leslie Wrenn (1895–1969) British professor.
Literary processing
The Inklings Society for Literature and Aesthetics was founded in Aachen in 1982 and primarily deals with the literary legacy of the Inklings. The founding chairman was the Aachen author and literary scholar Gisbert Kranz , the president is Maria Fleischhack. The society organizes specialist conferences and has regularly published a yearbook of the same name since 1983 , which has been published by the Erlangen Tolkien specialist Dieter Petzold since 1993 : Inklings - Yearbook for Literature and Aesthetics ; the logo, which is also on the cover picture, contains an inkwell with a pen and two ink blots.
literature
- RJ Reilly: Romantic Religion. A Study of Owen Barfield, CS Lewis, Charles Williams and JRR Tolkien. University of Georgia Press, Athens 1971; New edition: Lindisfarne, Great Barrington 2006, ISBN 1-58420-047-2 .
- Humphrey Carpenter : The Inklings. CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends. Allen & Unwin, London 1978; New edition: Harper Collins, London 2006, ISBN 0-00-774869-8 .
- Paul G. Blount, James D. Wilson (Eds.): The Inklings. In: Studies in the Literary Imagination. Vol. XIV, No. 2. Georgia State University, Atlanta 1981.
Web links
- Website of the German Inklings Society at inklings-gesellschaft.de
- Journal of Inklings Studies. - academic journal on the Inklings, published in Oxford
- About The Inklings. Further information with a detailed bibliography
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut W. Pesch: The Inklings - CS Lewis, Charles Williams and JRR Tolkien ( Memento from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 189 kB) on helmutwpesch.de