Perceiving the Perceiver [Conference Presentation]
Reading Sauron Through the Gestalt Theory of Perception
This paper has been presented at:
April 6th, 2023 | PCA National Conference
April 13th, 2024 | Tolkien at UVM
Abstract
This paper uses gestalt theory, the gestalt laws of perception, and the reception theory of Wolfgang Iser to elucidate the character “Sauron” as he appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power, and Tolkien’s wider Legendarium. It argues that Sauron’s high degree of indeterminacy and ambiguity suggests he can be read as a gestalt entity, one the reader creates by mentally constructing a whole from (seemingly) disparate parts—parts which are privileged differently by different readers depending on what texts they consider “canon.”
Publication
Forthcoming!
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