Make-Belief Translation: Fictive Truths and World-Building from The Lord of the Rings to Theological Institutions

Abstract

This article explores the relationship of truth and fiction through three case studies of imagined translation used to construct worlds. The first is The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, who presents the work as a translation of an ancient text. The second and third are both theological metaphors: imagining teaching as translation, and offering translation as a model for inter-religious dialogue. Comparing these cases extends the theory of world-building—most commonly associated with fantasy and science fiction—into a tool for reflecting on institutions and their structures. The case studies offer insights on negotiating relationships across difference, and on the fabrication of difference itself.