Professor Amy Sturgis and Allison Mills, two serious students and admirers of J. K. Rowling’s artistry and meaning in her Hogwarts Saga, are Native Americans and scholars of First Nations culture and treatment of indigenous peoples in literature. They join Keith Hawk and John Granger to discuss the controversy surrounding Rowling’s depiction of Native Americans and her use of symbols and characters from First Nations traditions in ‘History of Magic in North America.’
Is it all overblown political correctness from minorities looking to play the victim to supposed colonial oppressors? Or has J. K. Rowling, self-proclaimed champion of the marginalized and ‘other,’ over stepped herself in careless, damaging, and negligent story telling at the expense of peoples persistently persecuted or forgotten?
Join us for a wide-ranging and penetrating discussion of an issue that won’t go away because it tells us so much about the focus of Rowling’s work and, as important, the lack of care in other aspects of her writing. Listen and then join in the discussion in the comment boxes below!
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