[HPforGrownups] HP- childrens books?

[Kate Tanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 43106

One of the problems I have with the denial of the HP books as
'Children's Literature' is that most adults seem to believe that the
label 'Children's Literature' refers to a dumbed down version of adult
literature and, of course, HP is not dumbed down for children. In my
research for my HP thesis, I've come across hundreds of articles that
critically examine Children's Literature, and by no means believe it to
be less worthy of criticism than adult literature. Alice in Wonderland
is considered to be Children's Literature, yet Norton has a critically
annotated version published which examines Lewis Carroll with the same
sharpness that they examine Charlotte Bronte. Additionally, some of the
best articles on Harry Potter come from Children's Literature
magazines, although they are slowly seeping into the mainstream as more
and more people accept HP as something special. The 'Adult covers'
printed by Bloomsbury aren't in my opinion a reflection of the
acceptance of HP as 'Adult' literature, but an attempt to cash in on
more money and save the Tube readers some embarassment. 

I believe it was Philip Nel who asserted that HP will actually become a
Bildungsroman, a coming of age study of Harry Potter as we see him grow
from boyhood to manhood. Most critical studies of HP examine the large
concepts that JKR battles with: Good vs Evil, Power and it's uses,
Racism, etc. Mixed in with this aspect is also of course, adventure,
mystery, fantasy . . . all elements that are genre specific, not age
specific, and all elements that are deeply rooted in the children's
literature/folkloric tradition. It is for this reason that I believe
Harry Potter was first marketed as Children's Literature and I believe
it to be an accurate assessment of the series, although that may
change. 

One of the most interesting things about the novels is the way each one
grows with Harry, emotionally and textually. An 11 year old boy is
going to think about girls quite differently than a 14 year old boy,
and JK does a wonderfully subtle job of showing this. I think we are at
a disadvantage trying to classify the series when it hasn't been
completed yet, and because of that we should take JKR's claim that it
wasn't intended for children with a grain of salt. Perhaps it wasn't
intended to be for children, and perhaps if she had written all seven
books and then looked for a publisher these classifications wouldn't be
as difficult as they are now. 

Respectfully retreating once more to lurkerdom, 

=Kate=

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