Cultural Politics in Harry Potter

Rubén Jarazo-Álvarez is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Balearic Islands, Spain. He teaches Cultural and Media Studies. His research comprises British tele-fantasy, sci-fi and Anglophone cultures in Spain.Pilar Alderete-Diez is a Lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She teaches language, translation and interpreting, and modern children’s literature and film. She completed an MA (Spanish) on the translation of humour and character voice in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2005.

• List of ContributorsPrefaceAcknowledgementsNote on the TextPART 1. Wizarding (Bio)politics and Intersected Discourses1. The Chosen One(s): Ethnic Election and Contemporary English National Identity in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. 2. Squibs, Disability and Having a Place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 3. A Magic Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Luna Lovegood and the Concept of Postfeminism. 4. "Like an Old Tale": Art and Transformation in the Harry Potter Novels and The Winter’s Tale. PART 2. Death Culture, Trauma and Anxiety5. Death Sells: Relatable Death in the Harry Potter Novels. 6. The Last Enemy: Harry Potter and Western Anxiety about Death. 7. "A Story About How Humans Are Frightened of Death": Harry Potter, Death and the Cultural Imagination. 8. Arthur, Harry and the Late Mother: From T.H. White to J.K. Rowling. 9. King’s Cross: Harry Potter and the Transformative Power of Pain and Suffering. 10. When Spares are Spared: Innocent Bystanders and Survivor’s Guilt in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 11. Death Culture, Literary References and Postmodern Sacred Elements in Harry Potter as a Transmedia Franchise.12. Death and How to Deal With it in the Harry Potter Series. PART 3. Trauma, the Politics of Fear and Postmodern Transformations 13. Al-Qa'ida and the Horcruxes: Quests for Immortality by Violent Extremist Organizations and Lord Voldemort. 14. Gender, Sexuality and the War on Terror in Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 15. Magic as Technological Utopia? Unpacking Issues of Interactivity and Infrastructuring in the Potterverse. 16. Flirting with Posthumanist Technologies in Harry Potter: Overconsumption of a Good Thing – Technology as Magic. Index

"This book extends previous scholarly analysis of Rowling’s work to new canon like the Cursed Child play and Fantastic Beasts film, while also addressing unexplored and important topics such as the War on Terror and trauma. It is a welcome and important addition to the field."Cathy Leogrande, Le Moyne College