Ted Hamilton, in “Harry Potter and the End of Literacy,” becomes another apocalyptic voice, citing Harry Potter (and Twilight) as markers of the end of the true art of literature:
It’s not even that books have been abandoned altogether. In fact, there have been some astonishing literary phenomena in recent years that probably represent the largest shared experiences of reading in history. The obvious example is the Harry Potter series, which has sold over 400 million copies in 67 languages. More recently, the Twilight books have gotten a boost from the related movie and are now seen in every teenage girl’s hands. And the seemingly unending hubbub over faux-memoirs and the accountability of authors would seem to suggest that people still care deeply about literature.
But the literature under consideration is of a deeply impoverished sort. Harry Potter and Twilight are good for a quick thrill and an occasional, broad-stroked lesson, but there’s no comparison to true art. At the risk of sounding too high-brow (and my hesitation indicates the extent to which cultural elitism has been discredited), the majority of what people read today is schlock. There’s something to be said for the pleasure of reading Tom Clancy or Dan Brown, I suppose, but their prevalence pushes aside the great authors.
I think Mr. Hamilton is in need of a few reading assignments, perhaps most importantly James W. Thomas’s introduction to Repottting Harry Potter, or his essay by the same name in my forthcoming volume, Hog’s Head Conversations. For a book-length and equally important read, I’d assign him John Granger’s forthcoming book, Harry Potter’s Bookshelf.
The only thing that will contribute to Harry Potter’s being “the end of literacy” is if all the critics like Mr. Hamilton fail to see that rather than detracting from the classics, Ms. Rowling’s novels embrace them, point to them, and make their ideas accessible to postmodern readers.
We’ve all heard of and discussed the “Harry Haters” out of the fundamentalist Christian camps who think the boy wizard is indoctrinating impressionable young minds into witchcraft. Another type of Harry Hater is out there, and is just the opposite, claiming that Harry is indoctrinating kids into Christianity. From Iranian TV:
Iranian state television has come to the conclusion that Harry Potter is a Zionist plot. The documentary, which you can watch here, features several “experts” discussing the wildly popular series of books and movies.
One of the experts quoted in the documentary says that Harry Potter is part of a “cultural crusade” and through the movies “they [Zionists] are indirectly saying: ‘join us.’”
The documentary, which shows many of the darker scenes from the series, concludes that elements of the Kabbalah are presented in the movies. One expert says that Harry Potter is portrayed as the Messiah and the film touches on Armadeggon, which he says fits into popular Christian Zionist beliefs.
In 2007, Iran’s ultra-conservative daily “Kayhan” called Harry Potter “a billion-dollar Zionist project” and a “destructive bomb” for children’s minds. It alleged that the author J.K. Rowling had links to Zionists and that was how she became so well known.
I’d heard about this before, but this is the first time I’ve ever read a genuine report about it. Fascinating. Either Harry’s anti-Christian, or he is the culprit behind a Christian takeover.
OK, so that’s not really happening. But my book, Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds, opens with a chapter on the importance of mythological and fairy-tale thinking as opposed to what G.K. Chesterton called “scientific fatalism.” Richard Dawkins has decided to write the opposite book, positing the possibility that fairy tales are potentially dangerous, because they teach children anti-scientific, magical thinking.
The prominent atheist is stepping down from his post at Oxford University to write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in “anti-scientific” fairytales.
Prof Hawkins said: “The book I write next year will be a children’s book on how to think about the world, science thinking contrasted with mythical thinking.
“I haven’t read Harry Potter, I have read Pullman who is the other leading children’s author that one might mention and I love his books. I don’t know what to think about magic and fairy tales.”
Prof Dawkins said he wanted to look at the effects of “bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards”.
“I think it is anti-scientific – whether that has a pernicious effect, I don’t know,” he told More4 News.
“I think looking back to my own childhood, the fact that so many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes, whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality, I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s something for research.”
Thoughts? I happen to think that stories about frogs turning into princes are good for children (and adults!), so if someone wants to arrange the debate, I’d be glad to oblige. Since that’s highly unlikely to happen, stay tuned for a couple months focusing on fairy tales and mythical thinking, what J.K. Rowling calls, learning to “imagine better,” and pay close attention to this site and Zossima.com for news on the release of Harry Potter & Imagination.
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Georgia Vote Today
December 14, 2006Update #3: It’s just getting uglier. If the story is correct, Laura Mallory is considering taking her complaint to court. What could she possibly hope to accomplish in court?
Update #2: It might not be over. There’s talk of an appeal. I might stop covering this story just to protect my [...]