ABSTRACT
Bicheno is invoking Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy in this quote. He raises one key thing to be reflexive about: unconsciously evoking something that is in a genre one admires, or subconsciously telling an old story without critical distance. Bicheno is clear that Tolkein was invoking anti-Islamic ‘crusader’ stories in Lord of the Rings whether he meant to or not. Ethnographic writing needs to be done reflexively, so that unconscious and subconscious elements do not intrude.
