Overview
- The module, titled 'Decolonising Tolkien et al' and led by historian Dr Onyeka Nubia, is taught within the university's history program.
- Its core text argues that 'The Lord of the Rings' casts eastern and darker‑skinned peoples as wicked while fairer‑skinned western peoples are portrayed as virtuous.
- The materials cite portrayals of orcs, Easterlings, Southrons and men of Harad as examples of 'ethnic chauvinism' within a tradition described as 'anti‑African antipathy'.
- The syllabus also analyzes race in C.S. Lewis's Narnia, highlighting orientalist depictions of the fictional country of Calormen and its inhabitants' described traits.
- Course readings further contend that medieval England was diverse and say Shakespeare helped construct a 'fictional, mono‑ethnic English past', as Daily Mail and GB News report while noting prior curriculum changes and stating they asked the university for comment.