"Same-as-Difference": Narrative Transformations and Intersecting Cultures in Harry Potter

Abstract

Seven years after Rowling's tousle-headed, bespectacled student wizard first appeared in print, the Potter books still lead the best-seller lists.1 The long-awaited fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, sold five million copies on its first day of sale and has been reviewed by thousands of Amazon readers (Kirkpatrick). What makes the Harry Potter books so readable and so popular? Answers to this question, and critical approaches to the series, have been as varied as Rowling's audience is vast. Theories of child development have been applied to show how Harry Potter's story contains elements that appeal to young children and adolescents, which are recognized and appreciated by adults (Damour). Other critics, who locate the books within various genres, suggest that Rowling is tapping into-and transforming-established formulae (Steege, Stephens). Blending boarding school and fantasy, Rowling has created a character who has been identified as a fairytale prince, a real boy and an archetypal hero (Grimes, Pharr, Black). Rowling's handling of morality, technology, gender, class, status, and ethnicity have all been examined (Whited, Schanoes, Gallardo-C). Rowling's prose, too, has been considered, rejected, and defended (Bloom, Duffy). The common denominator, the starting point for