Harry Potter, capitalist
You've been discussing the power of books to stimulate intellect and imagination, and the Harry Potter series is certainly an example of the power books still have in our culture. But what messages are readers of Harry Potter taking away with them? A group of French literary theorists have been debating this question, most recently on the pages of the French newspaper, Le Monde. One of the essays was reprinted in The New York Times today, worth registering for and reading, for those of you interested in the capitalistic messages of today's influential mass media. From "Harry Potter, Market Wiz:"
"Harry Potter, probably unintentionally, thus appears as a summary of the social and educational aims of neoliberal capitalism. Like Orwellian totalitarianism, this capitalism tries to fashion not only the real world, but also the imagination of consumer-citizens. The underlying message to young fans is this: You can imagine as many fictional worlds, parallel universes or educational systems as you want, they will still all be regulated by the laws of the market. Given the success of the Harry Potter series, several generations of young people will be indelibly marked by this lesson. "
1 Comments:
The point of the French critiques of Harry Potter have nothing to do with black magic or JK Rowling's commercial success. They are simply pointing out that in the fantasy world of Harry Potter, where cars fly and children can make themselves invisible and fly on brooms -- everyone still acts like a capitalist.
The fun and imaginative Weasely brothers are entrepreneurs; the evil brother is a narrow minded government bureaucrat. The weak don't survive; everything is about competition between kids, between faculty, between the four houses, between Good and Evil. This isn't anything other than an observation (not an evil conspiracy). It's just that Rowling invented many things in her books, but she didn't invent any interesting alternative economic system. Another part of the essay includes this passage:
"We have, then, an invasion of neoliberal stereotypes in a fairy tale. The fictional universe of Harry Potter offers a caricature of the excesses of the Anglo-Saxon social model: under a veneer of regimentation and traditional rituals, Hogwarts is a pitiless jungle where competition, violence and the cult of winning run riot."
I agree that kids are not analyzing the economic systems that underlie behavior at Hogwarts. It's just an interesting observation, that the values of a consumer-based society are carried over in our fairytales. What do the little wizards and witches do when they have a holiday? They shop!
By
donica, at 10:46 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home