Although rule breaking in Harry Potter is sometimes dismissed as a distraction from Harry’s fight against Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter and Resistance makes the case that it is central to the battle against evil. Far beyond youthful hijinks or adolescent defiance, Harry’s rebellion aims to overcome problems deeper and more widespread than a single malevolent wizard. Harry and his allies engage in a resistance movement against the corruption of the Ministry of Magic as well as against the racist social norms that gave rise to Voldemort in the first place. Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix employ methods echoing those utilized by World War II resistance fighters and by the U.S. Civil Rights movement. The aim of this book is to explore issues that speak to our era of heightened political awareness and resistance to intolerance. Its interdisciplinary approach draws on political science, psychology, philosophy, history, race studies, and women’s studies, as well as newer interdisciplinary fields such as resistance studies, disgust studies, and creativity studies.
Author(s): Beth Sutton-Ramspeck
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 224
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good: Rule Breaking as Resistance
“Not a Good Kid”? The Controversies About Harry’s Rule Breaking
Why Not Just Obey?
What Is “Resistance,” and How Does It Apply to Harry Potter?
The Value of Crime
Care Ethics, Carol Gilligan, and Resistance to Patriarchy
Harry, Resistance, and the Ethic of Care
Traditional Political Resistance in Harry Potter
Hermione as a Resistance Leader
Subtler Resistance in Harry Potter
A Marauder’s Map of the Book’s Geography
Notes
1 “Made to Be Broken”: The Laws, Rules, and Norms of the Magical World
Laws of Magic and “What’s at Stake”
Quidditch Rules and Rule Breaking and the Wizarding World’s “Particular Character”
Points, Punishments, and Power: The Problems With Hogwarts’s School Rules
Wizard Government and Law: Inconsistency, Incompetence, and Injustice
Unwritten Rules: What Is “Perfectly Normal”?
Notes
2 “Filth! Scum! By-Products of Dirt and Vileness!”: “Mudbloods,” Dirt, Privilege, and Systemic Oppression in the Harry Potter Series
The Dirt On Dirt in Harry Potter
Disgust Sensitivity and the Wizarding World
“Muggles Are Like Animals, Stupid and Dirty”
Systemic Racism in the Magical World
It’s Complicated
“My Mother Can’t Have Been Magic, Or She Wouldn’t Have Died”: Animal-Reminder Disgust, Race, and Fear of Death
Cleaning: Sometimes Repression, Sometimes Resistance
Resisting Privilege—Defending and Redeeming Ron Weasley
Notes
3 “How Dare You Defy Your Masters?”: Rules, Roles, and Resistance in the Potterverse’s Domestic Realm
“Fair Wages and Working Conditions”: Liberal Feminism, House-Elves, and Traditional Domestic Womanhood
“House-elves Have Got Powerful Magic of Their Own”
“But Why Don’t You Leave? Escape?” The Problem of the Contented Slaves
A Power of Their Own: House-Elf Love and Relational Feminism
Sacrifice and the “Power the Dark Lord Knows Not”
Notes
4 “Creative Maladjustment”: Creativity and Resistance in the Harry Potter Series
Creativity as Rule Breaking
“Can You Imagine?”
“Harry Invented”: Lying, Rule Breaking, and Creativity
“Maladjustment” and Creativity
Politically Resistant Curiosity
Creative Maladjustment in Action in the Harry Potter Series
“Accident, Was It?”: Luck and Creativity
Notes
5 “Do You Really Think this Is About Truth Or Lies?”: Honesty and Resistance in the Harry Potter Series
What Is Truth?
“There Will Be No Need to Talk.”
Constructivism and the Potterverse’s Big Lie
Truth-Telling as Resistance to Propaganda: Prophets and Quibblers
Magical Culture’s Big Lie
“Is this Real?”
Notes
Epilogue: “Mischief Managed”?
The Unresolved-House-Elf Dilemma
When Good Wizards Do Bad Things
Notes
Works Cited
Index
