Connections (Harry Potter moment)
Sandra Dodd
From a Time magazine article on J.K. Rowling, referencing Harry Potter:
"He is also a billion-dollar media property and a global cultural
figure. Now translated into 65 languages, the books have joined a
canon that stretches from Cinderella to Star Wars, giving people a
way to discuss culture and commerce, politics and values. Princeton
English professor William Gleason compares the series' impact to the
frenzy that surrounded Uncle Tom's Cabin before the Civil War. 'That
book penetrated all levels of society,' he says. 'It's remarkable how
similar the two moments are.' And he does not see this as a passing
fad or some triumph of clever marketing. 'They've spoken profoundly
to enough readers that they will be read and reread by children and
by adults for a long time,' he says. Feminist scholars write papers
on Hermione's road to self-determination. Law professors cite Dobby's
tale to teach contract law and civil rights. University of Tennessee
law professor Benjamin Barton published 'Harry Potter and the Half-
Crazed Bureaucracy,' in the Michigan Law Review, which examined
Rowling's view of the legitimacy of government. His conclusion?
'Rowling may do more for libertarianism than anyone since John Stuart
Mill.' A Rutgers researcher named a rare rain-forest plant in Ecuador
apparata after her verb apparate because it seemed to appear out of
nowhere. French intellectuals debate whether the stories indoctrinate
kids into free-market capitalism. In Turkey, the books were absorbed
into the argument over Turkey's cultural geography: Is Harry a symbol
of Western imperialism or of lost Eastern traditions of mysticism and
alchemy? A seventh-grade teacher in Pakistan in November invited her
class to compare the country's crisis to Harry Potter. The class
immediately cast Pervez Musharraf as Voldemort and Benazir Bhutto as
Bellatrix. 'Potter is like a Rorschach blot,' says Georgetown
government professor Daniel Nexon, 'for people articulating concerns
about globalization in their cultural setting. It's incredibly
significant that Potter even enters these debates.' "
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/
0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html
http://tinyurl.com/2z87hp
The idea of connections isn't off topic, but the many connections to
any specific thing goes off topic pretty quickly, so I'm reminded to
link a blog I've started just for the purpose of helping people
explore connections for fun. This week we're doing wood. If it
looks like unit studies, it's not that--it's seeing wood as a portal
to the universe, as something that connects to everything, and
appreciating what some people know about wood and what they can do
with it. http://thinkingsticks.blogspot.com
If you've felt unsure about the idea of strewing or immersion in a
topic, or if you just enjoy the strewing and immersion feeling, come
by there. As weeks go by there will be more topics you could add to
or explore.
Sandra
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
"He is also a billion-dollar media property and a global cultural
figure. Now translated into 65 languages, the books have joined a
canon that stretches from Cinderella to Star Wars, giving people a
way to discuss culture and commerce, politics and values. Princeton
English professor William Gleason compares the series' impact to the
frenzy that surrounded Uncle Tom's Cabin before the Civil War. 'That
book penetrated all levels of society,' he says. 'It's remarkable how
similar the two moments are.' And he does not see this as a passing
fad or some triumph of clever marketing. 'They've spoken profoundly
to enough readers that they will be read and reread by children and
by adults for a long time,' he says. Feminist scholars write papers
on Hermione's road to self-determination. Law professors cite Dobby's
tale to teach contract law and civil rights. University of Tennessee
law professor Benjamin Barton published 'Harry Potter and the Half-
Crazed Bureaucracy,' in the Michigan Law Review, which examined
Rowling's view of the legitimacy of government. His conclusion?
'Rowling may do more for libertarianism than anyone since John Stuart
Mill.' A Rutgers researcher named a rare rain-forest plant in Ecuador
apparata after her verb apparate because it seemed to appear out of
nowhere. French intellectuals debate whether the stories indoctrinate
kids into free-market capitalism. In Turkey, the books were absorbed
into the argument over Turkey's cultural geography: Is Harry a symbol
of Western imperialism or of lost Eastern traditions of mysticism and
alchemy? A seventh-grade teacher in Pakistan in November invited her
class to compare the country's crisis to Harry Potter. The class
immediately cast Pervez Musharraf as Voldemort and Benazir Bhutto as
Bellatrix. 'Potter is like a Rorschach blot,' says Georgetown
government professor Daniel Nexon, 'for people articulating concerns
about globalization in their cultural setting. It's incredibly
significant that Potter even enters these debates.' "
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/
0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html
http://tinyurl.com/2z87hp
The idea of connections isn't off topic, but the many connections to
any specific thing goes off topic pretty quickly, so I'm reminded to
link a blog I've started just for the purpose of helping people
explore connections for fun. This week we're doing wood. If it
looks like unit studies, it's not that--it's seeing wood as a portal
to the universe, as something that connects to everything, and
appreciating what some people know about wood and what they can do
with it. http://thinkingsticks.blogspot.com
If you've felt unsure about the idea of strewing or immersion in a
topic, or if you just enjoy the strewing and immersion feeling, come
by there. As weeks go by there will be more topics you could add to
or explore.
Sandra
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]