For over a decade, the Harry Potter books have become ubiquitous early texts for children, and are also a popular choice for many adults. Indeed, an entire generation of children has now grown up in the midst of "Pottermania." But beyond the books, movies, web sites, and more, this significant cultural phenomenon also constitutes a powerful form of social text, and speaks volumes about the intersections of ideology, popular culture, and childhood. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter provided the first sustained analyses of the iconic status of the Potter books, bringing together scholars from various disciplines to examine the impact of the series. This thoroughly revised edition includes updated essays on cultural themes and literary analysis, and its new essays analyze the full scope of the seven-book series as both pop cultural phenomenon and as a set of literary texts. Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Second Edition draws on a wider range of intellectual traditions to explore the texts, including moral-theological analysis, psychoanalytic perspectives, and philosophy of technology. The Harry Potter novels engage the social, cultural, and psychological preoccupations of our times, and Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter, Second Edition examines these worlds of consciousness and culture, ultimately revealing how modern anxieties and fixations are reflected in these powerful texts.

("DISCLAIMER: This book is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., or anyone associated with the Harry Potter books or movies.")

Elizabeth E. Heilman is Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University.

Introduction: Fostering Insight through Multiple Critical Perspectives, Elizabeth E. Heilman

I. Perspectives on Identity and Morality

1. Controversial Content: Is Harry Potter Harmful to Children?, Deborah J. Taub and Heather L. Servaty-Seib

2. Harry Potter and Christian Theology, Peter Ciaccio

3. Harry Potter's World as a Morality Tale of Technology and Media, Nicholas Sheltrown

4. Is Desire Beneficial Or Harmful in the Harry Potter Series?, Taija Piippo

5. The Great Snape Debate, Peter Appelbaum

II. Critical and Sociological Perspectives

6. Schooling Harry Potter: Teachers and Learning, Power and Knowledge, Megan L. Birch

7. Comedy, Quest, and Community: Home and Family in Harry Potter, John Kornfeld and Laurie Prothro

8. From Sexist to (sort-of) Feminist: Representations of Gender in the Harry Potter Series, Elizabeth E. Heilman and Trevor Donaldson

9. Monsters, Creatures, and Pets at Hogwarts: Animal Stewardship in the World of Harry Potter, Peter Dendle

10. Harry Potter, the War against Evil, and the Melodramatization of Public Culture, Marc Bousquet

III. Literacy Elements and Interpretations

11. Playing the Genre Game: Generic Fusions of the Harry Potter Series, Anne Hiebert Alton

12. Harry Potter and the Secrets of Children's Literature, Maria Nikolajeva

13. Harry Potter and the Horrors of the Oresteia, Alice Mills

14. Philosopher's Stone to Resurrection Stone: Narrative Transformations and Intersecting Cultures across the Harry Potter Series, Kate Behr

IV. Cultural Studies and Media Perspectives

15. Lost in Translation?: Harry Potter, from Page to Screen, Philip Nel

16. The Migration of Media: Harry Potter in Print and Pixels, Anna Gunder

17. Writing Harry's World: Children Co-Authoring Hogwarts, Ernest L. Bond and Nancy L. Michelson

18. Pottermania: Good, Clean Fun or Cultural Hegemony?, Tammy Turner-Vorbeck