Assisting the Effoliation of Creation: J. R. R. Tolkien's Sub-Creation Theory and C. S. Lewis's Imagination

This dissertation examines the impacts of J. R. R. Tolkien's sub-creation theory upon C. S. Lewis's development as a fiction writer and as a literary critic and theorist. It examines the dynamics of Tolkien's theory and parallel ideas in Lewis's writings about imagination and the processes of writing fantasy and mythopoeic tales. These effects become demonstrable through analyzing Lewis's expositions on imagination and creative writing and also through examining his fiction and its shift from his earlier allegorical work to his later mythopoeic tales.;Most Lewis and Tolkien studies have focused on interpretation of their works, biographical and psychoanalytical examinations of their lives, their Christian faith, and influences upon their work. This dissertation emphasizes examination of the processes, methods, and ideas these authors used in sub-creating their imaginary worlds and fictions. It aspires to contribute to Tolkien and Lewis studies by its comparative research of their creative processes and to provide illumination of the processes of imagination and literary creation these authors undertook to produce their classic fantasies.;The primary lenses of several literary theories focused herein are the emergent Christian literary theory, as espoused by Luke Ferretter in Toward a Christian Literary Theory, and, in counterbalance, several secular contemporary literary and cultural theories, as analyzed and critiqued by Terry Eagleton in After Theory..;This work's nine chapters present, in turn, the introduction, including research question and methods; a literature review, surveying pertinent primary and secondary sources relating to this study; then analyses of: Tolkien's sub-creation theory and its possible roots; Lewis's views on literary creation and imagination; the authors' composition methods; the moral compasses of their tales and of their "everyman" heroes; the "eucatastrophic" denouement of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings; and of Lewis's Ransom Trilogy; and the conclusion, assessing the parallels in their thoughts and implications for further study.