Reading Harry Potter
Subtitle: critical essays
By: edited by Giselle Liza Anatol.
Contributors: Anatol, Giselle Liza, 1970-
Series: Contributions to the study of popular culture ; no. 78
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Westport, CT
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 217
ISBN-13: 9780313320675
Subjects: Rowling, J. K. -- Criticism and interpretation.; Rowling, J. K. -- Characters -- Harry Potter.; Children -- Books and reading -- English-speaking countries.; Children's stories, English -- History and criticism.; Fantasy fiction, English -- History and criticism.; Potter, Harry (Fictitious character); Wizards in literature.; Magic in literature.
Description: J.K. Rowling achieved astounding commercial success with her series of novels about Harry Potter, the boy-wizard who finds out about his magical powers on the morning of his eleventh birthday. The books' incredible popularity, and the subsequent likelihood that they are among this generation's most formative narratives, call for critical exploration and study to interpret the works' inherent tropes and themes. The essays in this collection assume that Rowling's works should not be relegated to the categories of pulp fiction or children's trends, which would deny their certain influence on the intellectual, emotional, and psychosocial development of today's children. The variety of contributions allows for a range of approaches and interpretive methods in exploring the novels, and reveals the deeper meanings and attitudes towards justice, education, race, foreign cultures, socioeconomic class, and gender. Following an introductory discussion of the Harry Potter phenomenon are essays considering the psychological and social-developmental experiences of children as mirrored in Rowling's novels. Next, the works' literary and historical contexts are examined, including the European fairy tale tradition, the British abolitionist movement, and the public-school story genre. A third section focuses on the social values underlying the Potter series and on issues such as morality, the rule of law, and constructions of bravery.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction / by Giselle Liza Anatol; title: Part one : Reading Harry Potter through theories of child development.; title: 1. Archetypes and the unconscious in Harry Potter and Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock and Dogsbody / Alice Mills; title: 2. Harry Potter and the magical looking glass : reading the secret life of the preadolescent / Lisa Damour; title: 3. Harry Potter and the acquisition of knowledge / Lisa Hopkins; title: 4. Safe as houses : sorting and school houses at Hogwarts / Chantel Lavoie; title: 5. Harry and hierarchy : book banning as a reaction to the subversion of authority / Rebecca Stephens; title: Part two : Literary influences and historical contexts.; title: 6. Harry Potter's schooldays : J.K. Rowling and the British boarding school novel / Karen Manners Smith; title: 7. Accepting mudbloods : the ambivalent social vision of J.K. Rowling's fairy tales / Elaine Ostry; title: 8. Hermione and the house-elves : the literary and historical contexts of J.K. Rowling's antislavery campaign / Brycchan Carey; title: 9. Flying cars, floo powder, and flaming torches : the hi-tech, low-tech world of of wizardry / Margaret J. Oakes; title: Part three : Morality and social values : issues of power.; title: 10. Cruel heroes and treacherous texts : educating the reader in moral complexity and critical reading in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books / Veronica L. Schanoes; title: 11. Harry Potter and the rule of law : the central weakness of legal concepts in the wizard world / Susan Hall; title: 12. Fallen empire : exploring ethnic otherness in the world of Harry Potter / Giselle Liza Anatol; title: 13. Class and socioeconomic identity in Harry Potter's England / Julia Park; title: 14. Cinderfella : J.K. Rowling's wily web of gender / Ximena Gallardo-C. and C. Jason Smith; title: Selected bibliography; title: Index; title: About the contributors