The Irresistible Rise of Harry PotterVerso, 2002 M12 17 - 118 pages As the British state begins to unravel, and as journalists compete to pronounce on the death of Britain, a schoolboy from suburban Surrey who lives for most of the year in a semi-parallel universe becomes the most popular figure in contemporary world literature. Now read on – everyone else does... Harry Potter is English, a home-counties suburban child. An orphan, oppressed and abused by the adults around him, he retreats into a fantasy world where his problems are more elemental; everyday rituals, magic spells and supercharged broomsticks with only the occasional homicidal wizard to worry about. Ironically, as Andrew Blake makes clear, J. K. Rowling rescues her character through the reinvention of that apex of class privilege, the English public school, a literary conceit that problematises Harry Potter’s status as a role model and raises important social questions about the state of education in Tony Blair’s Britain. Andrew Blake’s examination of the Harry Potter phenomenon also raises serious questions about the condition of the publishing industry, the state of bookselling and filmmaking, and the ways in which the Potter consumer campaign has changed our ideas about literature and reading. Blake reflects on how these connections, while drawn up in Britain, act as a template for Harry Potter’s international success. |
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Contents
Harry Potter and the Reinvention of the Past | 5 |
Harry Potter and the Temples of Gloom | 27 |
Harry Potter and the Cultural Turn | 46 |
Harry Potter and the Old Reader | 66 |
The Boy Who Lived and the Death of God | 94 |
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Adam Pritchard adulthood adults American arts become Bloomsbury Blyton boys Britain British broomstick Buffy Chamber of Secrets characters children's book Christian Clarke Carlisle consumer contemporary creativity Dementors despite Dudley Dursley Dumbledore encouraged English evil fantasy fiction film friends global Goblet of Fire Gryffindor Hagrid Harry Potter Harry Potter books Harry Potter phenomenon Harry Potter stories Harry's heritage culture Hermione Hermione's hero Hogwarts house-elves imagination important J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling Joanne Rowling's Labour literary literature magic Malfoy Meanwhile Middle England million mudblood Muggles novel parents Parvati Patil past Philosopher's Stone political popular present Prisoner of Azkaban prize public school story publishing pupils Quidditch reader reading rebranded retrolutionary Scholastic Sirius Black Slytherin social Sorting Hat sport suburban teenage television titles Triwizard Triwizard Tournament tweens Vampire Victorian Voldemort websites Witchcraft witches wizarding world young