Customer Reviews

Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter (Pedagogy and Popular Culture)

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I joined the Harry Potter phenomenon late in the game. Book four had already been in circulation for over two years and at 25, I considered myself well above the normal reader age. However, once I picked up the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I was (no pun intended), spellbound. I spent the rest of that long summer weekend reading the remaining books. Since then, I have read each book in the series at least 20 times apiece. Somewhere in the middle of all the reading, I began to jot down notes, questions and observations I made- little items that I wanted to ponder afterwards. Questions such as: Why did Professor Dumbledore so prize the individual merits of courage and "sheer nerve"? Did Hermione and other female students ever experience gender discrimination at Hogwarts? What defined the social structure of the wizard world (surely one exists as is evident by the influence of the well-to-do Malfoy family)? What is it about the Harry Potter books that have such universal appeal? And most importantly, what lessons can be learned?

Shortly after Pottermania began, several books appeared on the market dedicated to analyzing the phenomenon. Some addressed broad themes, while others disseminated every detail of the book, trying to decipher each and every meaning of every word of J.K. Rowling's works. Among these is Harry Potter's World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives, a collection of essays written by professors and graduate students.

Harry Potter's World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives is by far the most comprehensive book of this genre. Edited by Michigan State University professor Elizabeth Heilman, the book is comprised of numerous essays separated into four perspectives: Cultural Studies Perspectives, Reader Response and Interpretive Perspectives, Literary Perspectives: The Hero, Myth and Genre and Critical and Sociological Perspectives.

As a graduate student pursuing a MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction, this book has been a wonderful guide for me and enriched my understanding of the many facets of curriculum study. Not only does it provide unique interpretations of the series, but it also stimulates critical reflection and offers deep analyses of the boy wizard the world has grown to love.

While it is appropriate for college and graduate-level classes, anyone interested in exploring the cultural phenomenon of Harry Potter should read and will benefit from this. You will never look at Harry Potter the same way again.

That was often the comment I received when I wrote my senior thesis last fall about the Harry Potter series. Specifically, I wrote a feminist criticism of the series exploring the ways in which Hermione resists and reaffirms gender stereotypes--"Miss Smarty Pants," "The Damsel in Distress," etc. Although I am a huge fan of this series (even my dog's name is Muggle), I couldn't believe that I was the only adult concerned about issues of gender, class, and so forth in the books. So imagine my delight upon finding this book...until I realized it wouldn't be published until January 2003, and I was presenting my thesis on December 13, 2002. Not only is this a well-presented and organized collection of essays from a variety of perspectives, but it is also edited by the outstanding & very generous Dr. Heilman. I wrote personally to her about my paper (and dilemma), and she provided to me the working & yet unpublished copy of her essay dealing with gender issues. Luckily, the book was released ahead of schedule so I was able to cite from her published version. My own experience with this book aside, I highly recommend it to Harry fans who would enjoy thoughtful academic discourse on the series.

While this book is much better than some Harry Potter books out there, because the articles are scholarly and well-informed, I didn't like it. Most of the articles are written from a sociological or "cultural studies" perspective. If you like that kind of thing, then you will like this volume. If you like psychological, allegorical or symbolic readings, then its not the right book for you. Most of the essays are on broad issues and don't go into the books in great detail. I found the academic scholarship to be very repetitive and predictable at times, with many people expounding the same ideas of what "postmodern" is. But some essays in it are great (Peter Appelbaum's for instance) and its worth getting, if you know what to expect.

All of the reviews listed here are for the 1st edition of this book! The second edition has totally different articles and is even better than the first one. I would highly recommend it for the academic and for anyone interested in exploring Harry Potter as a work of literature and cultural phenom. Probably the best of it's kind out there.

NOTE: This is a review of the 2nd edition (published 2009).
Having read a number of books on the Harry Potter phenomenon, I know all too well that any given volume may turn out to be less characterized by rigor and insight, and more characterized by generic, unspecific and uncritical praise. Fandom about any creative work has its place, but when I want to wrestle with the ideas generated by a pop-culture phenomenon such as the HP books, I want to do it in the company of writers who've given that phenomenon a good hard look--appreciating what's good while not shying away from what might provoke debate.

This book provides exactly that. Unique among the twenty or more books on HP I've read so far, its content is consistently smart, grounded in solid knowledge of literature, and well-argued. The writing by all authors included is clear and lively. Kudos to the editor for gathering so fascinating a group of essays!

"This book is a must-read for everyone interested not only in 'Harry Potter' the phenomenon, but culture as the pedagogical force par excellence of the new millennium."
Henry Giroux.

"Harry Potter's World is a fascinating attempt not only to take on the kaleidoscopic intellectual ramifications of the Harry Potter books, but to make them accessible to a wide audience." Peter Hunt, Editor, Routledge International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature

"These analyses are well grounded, articulate, and conceptually wide-ranging. This book gives all of us Seekers a chance to catch Snitches of insight into our own world as well as Harry Potter's."
Betsy Hearne, author of Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide

"Reading Harry Potter's World is like having a triple-shot latté-a pleasant eye-opener. There is imagination here, intellectual engagement, surprising insights, and fresh angles of regard. All of it provides an antidote to the iconic Harry, the authoritative Harry, the stable, properly policed, and clichéd Harry." Bill Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago