Re-Reading Harry Potter

ISBN-13: 9780230219571 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 278 str.

Suman Sen Gupta

Opis

This is the first extended text-based analysis of the social and political implications of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Arguments are primarily based on close readings of the first four Harry Potter books and the first two films - in other words, a 'text-to-world' method is followed. This study does not assume that the phenomenon concerns children alone, or should be lightly dismissed as a matter of pure entertainment. The amount of money, media coverage, and ideological unease involved indicates otherwise. The first part provides a survey of responses (both of general readers and critics) to the Harry Potter books. Some of the methodological decisions underlying this study itself are also explained here. The second part examines the presentation of certain themes, including gender, race and desire, in the Harry Potter books, with a view to understanding how these may impinge on social and political concerns of our world.

Recenzje

'Suman Gupta's revised and expanded edition of Re-Reading Harry Potter includes responses to his critics and an exploration of the impact that the series has had in non-English speaking countries. Once again, he breaks new ground in his analysis of the Harry Potter novels by trying to understand them as fluid texts, and he challenges the superficial celebration of the these novels as liberating texts. If students and educated readers want to take the Harry Potter phenomenon seriously, Gupta's work is the best place to start.' - Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota, USA

Spis treści

Acknowledgements Introduction to the Second Edition PART I: THE TEXT-TO-WORLD APPROACH Book Covers Children and Adults The Seriousness of Social and Political Effects Text-to-World Assumptions (Some General Definitions) A Thought about Open and Closed Texts The Irrelevance of J.K. Rowling Children's Literature Fantasy Literature Religious Perspectives Locations and Limitations PART II: READING THE HARRY POTTER NOVELS Three Worlds Repetition and Progression Evasive Allusions Blood Servants and Slaves The Question of Class Desire The Magic System of Advertising Movie Magic The Beginning PART III: THE HARRY POTTER FAN FICTION TEXT Harry Potter in China; with assistance from C.Xian The Bulgarian Connection in Harry Potter ; M.Katsarska Notes Bibliography Index

O autorze

SUMAN GUPTA is Professor of Literature and Cultural History at the Open University, UK. He is also at present Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Roehampton University, and is currently coordinating an international collaborative project on English Studies in Non-Anglophone Contexts. He is the author of nine books, including recently Social Constructionist Identity Politics and Literary Studies (2006) and Literature and Globalization (2008), and editor of six books, recently The Cultural Discourses of Economic Migration (with Tope Omoniyi, 2007).