Potter Encyclopedias and Guidebooks: Let the Avalanche begin!

August 11, 2007 by 8 Comments

I was surfing a wonderful Political Science/International Relations weBlog that a new friend of mine makes contributions to and was startled to find quite a bit of Harry Potter commentary. I recommend you check out the pieces by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson on “What Harry Potter Inherits From Star Wars” and “Why Harry Potter Beats Football for Conversation” if discussion of the books as monomyth/legend/mythology or as cultural artifact is your sort of thing. Me? I was trying to get to Daniel Nexon’s “How Harry Potter Explains the World” at the New Republic Online but I couldn’t get past the subscriber-only blocker, doggone it. (You can read it here.)

What I was able to read that Prof. Nexon linked to, though, was an article by Scott McLemee from July in the Inside Higher Education blog called “Pottering Around.” Not much of what Mr. McLemee is of interest to serious readers of Harry Potter because he discloses with a hint of pleasure that he has not been up to reading any of the books or seeing any of the movies. He does share at least one thing you should know; the avalanche of academic papers and Big Publishing House Guidebooks to the series has begun. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

A Rainbow of Gold, Black, White, and Red: The Alchemical Artistry of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ (A)

August 10, 2007 by 18 Comments

A revised and much expanded version of this post is now Chapter 3 of The Deathly Hallows Lectures.

Filed Under: Literary Alchemy

Terry Mattingly: “Final Harry Potter wars? Part II”

August 9, 2007 by 4 Comments

I’m through the Nigredo portion of my monster post on Alchemy in Deathly Hallows. Maybe tomorrow I can storm through the Albedo and Rubedo so it will go up here for your comment and correction. Until then, I offer this placeholder and thought provoker for those All Pros who check into HogPro daily. My apologies for this delay!

Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes the weekly religion column for the Scripps Howard News Service that is syndicated to papers throughout the country. He reports on the coverage of religion in Main Stream Media every day at www.GetReligion.org on which site in addition to his columns he has followed the “ghost” in the Harry Potter story since 1999. The first TMatt post Deathly Hallows column was called “Final Harry Potter Wars, Part I.” Here is the second part, hot off the presses:

Coming soon to a parish near you: Sunday school with Harry Potter.

This could happen if your congregation buys the new “Mixing it up with Harry Potter” study guides from the Church of England. The goal of the 12-part series is to use scenes from these omnipresent books and movies to help children discuss big issues such as death, sacrifice, loneliness, fear, mercy and grief.

“Jesus used storytelling to engage and challenge his listeners,” said Bishop John Pritchard of Oxford, speaking on behalf of the curriculum. “There’s nothing better than a good story to make people think, and there’s plenty in the Harry Potter books to make young people think about the choices they make in their everyday lives.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Unlocking Harry Potter

Thirty HogPro Deathly Hallows Threads: Still Humming

August 8, 2007 by Leave a Comment

I promised the alchemical review of Deathly Hallows and it has become too big a project to deliver today, alas. I am headed home for the night but leave you with the Thirty HogPro Deathly Hallows threads and a post about the Prophecy 2007 Luncheon I moderated. Jump Right In!

1. The Covers
2. The Opening Quotations from Aeschylus and Penn
3. The Christian Ending
4. Stoppered Death
5. Narrative Misdirection
6. The Hero’s Journey
7. The Rubedo
8. Postmodern Themes
9. Traditional Symbolism
10. Beheadings
11. Unrequited Love
12. Horcrux Hunting
13. Ron’s Departure and Return
14. Transformations
15. Nazi Echoes
16. The Name Taboo
17. Phallic Phantasy?
18. Fairy Tales
19. The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
20. Disappointed?
21. Philosopher Stone Echoes
22. Comparative Battle Scenes
23. Smuggling the Gospel Fallout
24. Three Controversial Points
25. John Granger at Prophecy 2007 and in Deathly Hallows?!
26. Struggling To Believe: The Dateline/Today Interviews
27. The Bloomsbury Chat
28. Opening and Closing Chapters
29. Arthuriana
30. Best Links for Deathly Hallows Commentary

Filed Under: Deathly Hallows Discussion Points

Notes from Prophecy 2007: Friday Luncheon

August 8, 2007 by 12 Comments

I am just getting back on my feet after two days in Toronto at Prophecy 2007. Because both my talks were about Deathly Hallows, a book I had only managed to read twice in the thirteen days since it was published, I was something of a wreck getting my notes into something like a lecture while moving my family from Point A to a distant Point B. That I had volunteered to say something meaningful about the Christian Content of the finale and the Literary Alchemy of Deathly Hallows, my supposed areas of expertise, didn’t make my preps any easier. Self-inflicted wounds are the worst, right? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Deathly Hallows Discussion Points