Middle-earth Meets New Zealand: Authenticity and Location in the Making of "The Lord of the Rings"

In focusing on the making of a specific cultural project, "The Lord of the Rings" ("LOTR") film trilogy, this paper draws out the tensions between two sometimes divergent strands of authenticity: creative authenticity and national authenticity. This study is located in New Zealand, a small post-colonial country which was the location for "LOTR" and home to its key film-makers. The case is based on a discourse analysis of published texts on "LOTR" and New Zealand's film and tourism industries, exploring the paradoxical concept of 'fabricating authenticity' (Peterson, 1997) and its importance to cultural industries. In reviewing the media discourse of the "LOTR" project we ask: how are creative and national authenticity constructed? "Creative authenticity" refers to the claims of artistic integrity and merit that are made for the film. "National authenticity" is predicated on the idea of a national identity. In terms of "LOTR", national authenticity is based on claiming the trilogy as a local 'New Zealand' product. We highlight the theme of 'location' by linking "LOTR" with a national tourism campaign which has been developed side-by-side with the film project, forging connections between the Middle-earth of the "LOTR" trilogy, and the New Zealand of the present. We argue that "LOTR" has both shaped, and been shaped by, ideas of national identity, and that the success of "LOTR" as a flagship of the 'new' creative industries is central to emerging visions of nationhood. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005.