Harry Potter and Brittish Culture

Harry potter and British Culture

Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone (titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer 's Stone in the United States) in 1997, the books have gained an immense popularity and commercial success worldwide. They have collectively sold more than 300 million copies and have been translated into more than 63 languages. Harry has succeeded to seduced children and teenagers as well as adults. In 2001, the first book has been adapted on screen, making a benefit of 976 million dollars. Joanne Rowling, who has become the richest writer in literary history, insisted that the entire cast must be British or Irish, to keep the cultural integrity of the novels. Apart commercial success, Harry has created a huge cultural movement. Harry Potter is studied at school and incites children to read. Fan websites, forums, books and ‘Harry Potter societies’ are everywhere. Harry has a huge impact on its readers, and it is not uncommon to find testimonies on the web relating how Harry Potter has changed one’s life.

Harry potter is a seemingly ordinary English little boy. Orphan, he is raised by her aunt in an English suburb in Surrey. At the age of eleven he is told he is a wizard and that he has survived an attempted murder by the evil sorcerer Lord Voldermort. From this time, Harry is going To the Witchcraft and Wizardry School of Hogwarts, a medieval castle hidden from the non magical world, supposedly located in a mountainous and secluded region in Scotland. There, Harry and his friends will get through different adventures and will try to defeat Lord Voldemort.

English author J. K. Rowling has set her story in Great Britain, and behind the very well written story of a little boy looking for his identity and fighting evil, it is a whole culture that is being dissected. The books, as well as the movies, are completely impregnated in British culture. Food, family, institutions, globalisation, politics, architecture, internationalism, English values, gender, clichés, history and many other aspects are pictured and criticised.

Analysing the different aspects of British culture in the books, only considering the text itself would be a mistake. In ‘Harry Potter and British Culture’ I consider ‘Harry Potter’ as a story with a rich literary background, as a schoolboy, as an English and worldwide phenomenon, as the friend of millions of people, as a commercial success, and an educational model. There is as much cultural aspects in the books and films than outside them. Studying the effect of Harry on people, either fans or religious detractors can teach us a lot about English culture and its disparities.

My study will take into account Harry Potter’s British literary heritage: children literature, boarding school story, fantasy, mythology, fairy tale, Rowling’s work has a very rich literary background. I will as well provide an analysis of Rowling’s use of the books to picture and criticise British society. In addition to this, I will study the reception of the books in the Anglophone world.

Bibliography:

Primary texts:
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone (London: Bloomsbury, 1997)
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (London: Bloomsbury, 1998)
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (London: Bloomsbury, 1999)
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (London: Bloomsbury, 2000)
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (London: Bloomsbury, 2003)
Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (London: Bloomsbury, 2005)
Rowling, Joanne K., Fantastic beasts and where to find them (London: Bloomsbury, 2001)

Films:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, dir. Chris Columbus (Warner Brothers, 2001)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, dir. Chris Columbus (Warner Brothers, 2002)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban, dir. Alfonso Cuaron (Warner Brothers, 2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, dir. Mike Newell (Warner Brother, 2005)

Secondary Sources:
Abanes, Richard, Harry Potter and the Bible: the menace beyond the magic (Camp Hill, Pa: Horizon Books, 2001)
Analysis of the religious aspects in the books and of the controversy around them.
Abrams, Philip, Work, urbanism and inequality: UK society today, ed. P Abrams (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978)
Study of modern British society: social classes and inequalities.
Anatol, Giselle Liza (Ed), Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays (Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2003)
Gathering of critical essays about the Harry Potter books. Analysis of different literary and cultural aspects.
Blake, Andrew, The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter (London: Verso, 2002)
Study of the Harry Potter phenomenon in Britain and the world, as well as cultural aspects within the book.
Butts, Dennis, Stories and Society : Children’s Literature in its Social Context (Basingstoke : Macmillan, 1992) Study of the influence of the society on children’s literature.
Gupta Suman, Re-reading Harry Potter (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.)
Explanation of the Potter phenomenon. Text-based analysis of its social and political implications.

Heilman, Elizabeth E. (Ed), Critical perspectives on Harry Potter (New York: Routledge Falmer, 2003)
Cultural, sociological and literary perspectives of Harry Potter and its phenomenon.
Houghton, John, A closer look at Harry Potter: Bending and Shaping the Minds of Our Children (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 2001)
Analysis of the influence the books have on children in terms of education and socialisation.
Hunt, Peter, An introduction to Children Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)
Critical book on the basics of children’s literature genre.
Hunt, Peter and Millicent Lenz, Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction (The Tower Building, 2001)
Study of three fantastic authors whom works, Harry Potter is often compared with.
Lana A. Whited (Ed.), Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002)
Sociological and literary analysis of the books
Lawson Lucas, Ann (Ed.), Presence of the Past in Children Literature (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003)
Study of the importance of the education about History and past in children’s literature
Manlove, C. N., From Alice to Harry Potter: Children’s Fantasy in England (Christchurch, N.Z.: Cybereditions, 2003) Study of the fantasy genre in children’s literature
Marwick, Arthur, ‘British society since 1945’ (London: Penguin, 1990) ------
Neal, C. W., The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World’s Most Famous Seeker (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002) Study of the moral values conveyed in Harry Potter books.
Nicolajeva, Maria, From Mythic to Linear: Time in Children Literature (Lanham, Md.: Children’s literature association; Scarecrow Press, 2000)
Potter, Harry, Hanging and Heresy / Harry Potter (Canterbury: Centre for the Study of Religion & Society, University of Kent, 1993)
Study of the religious controversial aspects of the story
Reynolds, Kimberly (Ed.) Modern Children Literature, An Introduction (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
Critical book about the influence of society changes on children’s literature.
Smith, Sean, J.K. Rowling, A Biography: the Genius Behind Harry Potter (London: Mickael O’Mara Books Ltd, 2001)
Biography of Rowling and interviews about her social and literary influences.
Zipes, Jack, Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children’s Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter (London: Routledge, 2002)
Analysis of children literature and more particularly its homogenization aspect. Debate on the real existence of such a literature.

Internet Sources and Websites:
Official websites:
J.K. Rowling’s official website: www.jkrowling.com Warnerbros site: harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk The publisher’s site: www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter Harry Potter’s official website: www.harrypotter.com Fan and information sites containing news, forums, editorials, etc.: http://www.mugglenet.com http://www.harrypotterguide.co.uk http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org http://www.thesnitch.co.uk http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/ Archive of J.K. Rowling interviews on the web: http://www.accio-quote.org/ Articles on Internet:
Daily Mail, 'Ban Harry Potter or face more school shootings ' (2006). Available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=408490&in_page_id=1811 [accessed 11 November 2006].
Religious arguments about the dangerous influence of Harry Potter on children.
Peter McCarty and Doug Harris, ‘Harry Potter and Christians’ (2007). Available at http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/occult/hpotter.htm [accessed 13 January 2007].
Exposition of the controversy about Harry Potter.
Jenny Bristow, ‘Harry Potter and The Meaning of Life’ (2003). Available at http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006DE0C.htm [accessed 11 Novemeber 2006].
The obsession with the boy wizard reveals the dark side of cultural infantilism.
‘The arts column: will the spell be broken?’ (2003). Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2003%2F06%2F11%2Fbohp11.xml [accessed 19 December 2006]. Article dealing with the why of the potter mania.
Emma Saunders, ‘Why grown-ups go potty over Harry’ (2003). Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2975466.stm [accessed 19 December 2006]. Presentation of the reasons why Potter has as much success with adults as with kids.

Richard Adams ‘Quidditch quaintness’ (2003). Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,979606,00.html [accessed 19 December 2006].
Article stating that the values that triumph in the Harry Potter books are those of a nostalgic, conservative Little Britain
‘Harry Potter 's Britain’. Available at http://www.visitbritain.com/VB3-es-MX/experiences/booksandmovies/harry_potter.aspx [accessed 19 December 2006].
Tourism site encouraging people to visit places where the movies were shot.
The Seattle Times Company, ‘Harry Potter: a man for all times’ (2001). Available at http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=harryed16&date=20011116 http://jewishworldreview.com/1099/harry.potter.asp [accessed 11 November 2006].
Article about the success of Harry Potter’s phenomenon
A.S Byatt, ‘Harry Potter and the Childish Adult’ (2003). Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/07/10/npott110.xml [accessed 11 November 2006].
Article on the success of Harry among adults.
Barrs Jerram, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter (2004). Available at http://www.bethinking.org/resource.php?ID=84 [accessed 10 January 2007]
Cultures and values in Harry Potter.

Guardian Unlimited ‘Catholic church stands up for Harry Potter’ (2003). Available at http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,888638,00.html [Accessed 19 December 2006].
Story of a Vatican spokesman who has defended the Harry Potter books and films, saying they are consistent with Christian morals.
‘Harry Potter : A new twist to Witchcraft’. Available at http://www.exposingsatanism.org/harrypotter.htm [Accessed 19 December 2006].
Religious site dissecting society to identify the different sources of Satan. Harry Potter, would be one of them. They explain their views.
Berit Kjos, ‘Harry Potter Lures Kids to Witchcraft’. Available at http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/Harry&Witchcraft.htm [Accessed 19 December 2006].
Christian theory about the wrong moral values of the books.
‘Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels’ (2005). Available at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html [Accessed 19 December 2006].
Jamie Gelfman, ‘Cultural Responses to Harry Potter’ (2006). http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/Harry&Witchcraft.html [accessed 19 December 2006]
Study of the religious controversy around Harry Potter.
Lelia Green and Carmen Guinery, ‘Harry Potter and the Fan Fiction Phenomenon’ (2004). Available at http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0411/14-green.php [accessed 10 January 2006].
Study of the Potter phenomenon.

Paul Shlichta, ‘The magic of Harry Potter’ (2005). Available at http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/07/the_magic_of_harry_potter.html [accessed 1O January 2007].
Essay about why the magic of the books has seduced Americans.
LaVaque-MantycMika, ‘J. K. Rowling 's modern world’ (2005). Available at http://left2right.typepad.com/main/2005/07/j_k_rowlings_mo.html [accessed 10 January 2007].
Article about the secularism of Harry Potter books.
Greydanus Steven D., ‘Harry Potter vs. Gandalf : An in-depth analysis of the literary use of magic in the works of J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis’ (2001). Available at http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/articles/2567 [accessed 10 January 2007].
Comparison of the fantasy of the three books and of their moral values.

Bibliography: Primary texts: Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone (London: Bloomsbury, 1997) Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (London: Bloomsbury, 1998) Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (London: Bloomsbury, 1999) Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (London: Bloomsbury, 2000) Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (London: Bloomsbury, 2003) Rowling, Joanne K., Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (London: Bloomsbury, 2005) Rowling, Joanne K., Fantastic beasts and where to find them (London: Bloomsbury, 2001) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, dir. Chris Columbus (Warner Brothers, 2002) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban, dir Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, dir. Mike Newell (Warner Brother, 2005) Secondary Sources: Abanes, Richard, Harry Potter and the Bible: the menace beyond the magic (Camp Hill, Pa: Horizon Books, 2001) Analysis of the religious aspects in the books and of the controversy around them Abrams, Philip, Work, urbanism and inequality: UK society today, ed. P Abrams (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978) Study of modern British society: social classes and inequalities. Anatol, Giselle Liza (Ed), Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays (Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2003) Gathering of critical essays about the Harry Potter books Blake, Andrew, The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter (London: Verso, 2002) Study of the Harry Potter phenomenon in Britain and the world, as well as cultural aspects within the book Butts, Dennis, Stories and Society : Children’s Literature in its Social Context (Basingstoke : Macmillan, 1992) Study of the influence of the society on children’s literature. Gupta Suman, Re-reading Harry Potter (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.) Explanation of the Potter phenomenon Heilman, Elizabeth E. (Ed), Critical perspectives on Harry Potter (New York: Routledge Falmer, 2003) Cultural, sociological and literary perspectives of Harry Potter and its phenomenon Houghton, John, A closer look at Harry Potter: Bending and Shaping the Minds of Our Children (Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 2001) Analysis of the influence the books have on children in terms of education and socialisation Hunt, Peter, An introduction to Children Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) Critical book on the basics of children’s literature genre. Hunt, Peter and Millicent Lenz, Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction (The Tower Building, 2001) Study of three fantastic authors whom works, Harry Potter is often compared with Lana A. Whited (Ed.), Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002) Sociological and literary analysis of the books Lawson Lucas, Ann (Ed.), Presence of the Past in Children Literature (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003) Study of the importance of the education about History and past in children’s literature Manlove, C. N., From Alice to Harry Potter: Children’s Fantasy in England (Christchurch, N.Z.: Cybereditions, 2003) Study of the fantasy genre in children’s literature Marwick, Arthur, ‘British society since 1945’ (London: Penguin, 1990) ------ Neal, C. W., The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World’s Most Famous Seeker (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002) Study of the moral values conveyed in Harry Potter books. Study of the religious controversial aspects of the story Reynolds, Kimberly (Ed.) Modern Children Literature, An Introduction (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) Smith, Sean, J.K. Rowling, A Biography: the Genius Behind Harry Potter (London: Mickael O’Mara Books Ltd, 2001) Biography of Rowling and interviews about her social and literary influences. Zipes, Jack, Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children’s Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter (London: Routledge, 2002) Analysis of children literature and more particularly its homogenization aspect Articles on Internet: Daily Mail, 'Ban Harry Potter or face more school shootings ' (2006) Peter McCarty and Doug Harris, ‘Harry Potter and Christians’ (2007). Available at http://www.reachouttrust.org/articles/occult/hpotter.htm [accessed 13 January 2007]. Jenny Bristow, ‘Harry Potter and The Meaning of Life’ (2003). Available at http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006DE0C.htm [accessed 11 Novemeber 2006] The obsession with the boy wizard reveals the dark side of cultural infantilism. ‘The arts column: will the spell be broken?’ (2003)