Abstract
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels situate their child protagonists in a fantastical world side by side with present day British society. Through the characters’ choices and realizations, young readers are introduced to the complexities and ambiguities of the contemporary world. Harry and his friends embrace these qualities of postmodern childhood and question injustices established by and through the adult wizarding world. The characters’ resistance occurs in relation to control of their minds and bodies, the hegemony of wizarding bloodlines, and efforts to frame children as in need of protection. Rowling’s novels imagine a culture in which such child agency is possible, where young people become builders of context, awakening to the network of relationships and institutions that frame their lives.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Apple, Michael W. Ideology and Curriculum: Third Edition. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004.
Bhabha, Jacqueline. “The ‘Mere Fortuity’ of Birth? Are Children Citizens?” differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 15:2, 2004. 91–117.
Blake, Andrew. The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter. London: Verso, 2002.
Buckingham, David. After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of Electronic Media. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000.
Carlson, Marvin. “Resistant Performance.” The Routledge Reader in Politics and Performance. Eds. Lizbeth Goodman, Jane de Gay, London: Routledge, 2000.
Engels, Frederick. “Engels to Mehring.” Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels. Selected Correspondence1846–1895. Dona Torr, trans. New York: International Publishers, 1942.
Foucault, Michel. “From ‘Discipline and Punish.’” Performance Analysis: An Introductory Coursebook. Ed. Colin Counsell, Laurie Wolf. London: Routledge, 2001.
Guilherme, Manuela. “Is there a Role for Critical Pedagogy in Language/Culture Studies? An Interview with Henry A. Giroux.” Language and Intercultural Communication 6: 2 (2006). 163–175.
Hollindale, Peter. Signs of Childness in Children’s Books. Gloucester: Thimble Press, 1997.
Hourihan, Margery. Deconstructing the Hero: Literary Theory and Children’s Literature. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
Lee, Nick. Childhood and Society: Growing Up in an Age of Uncertainty. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2001.
Mendlesohn, Farah. “Crowning the King: Harry Potter and the Construction of Authority.” The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. Ed. Lana A. Whited, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002.
Nikolajeva, Maria. “Harry Potter—A Return to the Romantic Hero.” Harry Potter’s World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Elizabeth E. Heilman. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003.
Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 1997.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 1999.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 1999.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2000.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2003.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2005.
Rowling J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2007.
Skulnick, Rebecca, Goodman, Jesse “The Civic Leadership of Harry Potter: Agency, Ritual, and Schooling.” Harry Potter’s World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Elizabeth E. Heilman. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003.
Strimel, Courtney B. “The Politics of Terror: Rereading Harry Potter.” Children’s Literature in Education 35:1, 2004. 35–52.
Westman, Karin E. “The Specter of Thatcherism: Contemporary British Culture in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.” The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. Ed. Lana A. Whited, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chappell, D. Sneaking Out After Dark: Resistance, Agency, and the Postmodern Child in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Child Lit Educ 39, 281–293 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-007-9060-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-007-9060-6