[HPforGrownups] On the Classification of Age Ranges in Literature

[Mary Shearer]

No: HPFGUIDX 32592


--- caliburncy <caliburncy at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>  I would like to make the point that all
> classification 
> regarding creative works is ultimately an act of
> folly.  The intended 
> purpose of such categorizing is simply to serve as
> one element in the 
> understanding of a work's greater place, but (like
> the Mirror of 
> Erised) it can "give us neither knowledge nor truth"
> about the work 
> itself.

Here here!  I would like to humbly submit this view:
that  all of the sturm and drang surrounding the age
classification of these wonderful books is simply an
extension of our own guilt!  Otherwise, why would we 
be so desperate to classify them at all?  Are we, as
adults, trying to justify our wholesale immersion into
JKR's sparkling universe? I know that I have followed
this particular line of discussion intently for days,
hoping to affirm that I am just interested in good
literature, and not in some kind of literary mid-life
crisis! For those of you with no such insecurities, I
apologize for making too broad a supposition. 

Luke also wrote: 

The existance of genre
> is the outgrowth 
> of two things: 1) the inherent drive of the human
> consciousness when 
> given two things to compare them and 2) marketing,
> plain and simple.  
... all genre is ultimately a superficial
> imposition and 
> the factors that cause you to enjoy or despise a
> particular book have 
> more to do with those things that are common to all
> of our favorite 
> fiction, regardless of categorization of any sort: a
> compelling story 
> with characters that we can identify with or that we
> are fascinated 
> by; themes that resonate strongly with us or cause
> us to consider a 
> new perspective; escapism into the world of homo
> fictus rather than 
> the world of homo sapiens, where life is simply a
> great deal more 
> concentrated and poetic.  

There it is!!!!  We don't need to justify our interest
in the HP universe by categorizing the literature as
children/adult, fantasy/coming of age, or anything
else.  As Luke said, "It is what it is."  It's O.K.
for adults to take HP unto themselves on their own
level, because regardless of JKR's intended audience,
it has struck a resonant chord for many adults.  The
setting is rich enough, the characters are round
enough, and the story compelling enough for us to
analyze them exhaustively. (What fun that is, too!) 
There is a branch of literary theory called "reader
response."  It proposes that the intent of the author
is irrelevant - what matters is how a particular
reader approaches a text. Each reader is free to
interpret the material relevent to his/her needs, and
each reader will come away with a different
perspective.  While I don't think this approach
applies to all literature, I do think that it was
tailor-made for a ground-breaking series like HP.
Whether the intended reader is the child or the adult,
the result is the same - we step outside the box of
our own age range.  Children are expected to look
beyond the setting and the story to ponder some rather
adult themes, while adults get the opportunity to
escape into these works with a child-like wonder. When
JKR says that she is writing for herself, then
seemingly contradicts herself by implying that her
target audience is children, I think it becomes clear
that the target audience is of all ages, therefore,
all ages need to be considered in terms of content. I
doubt we'll see anything too hard-edged OR
sugar-coated. We will not be spared the grisly details
(as GoF shows us) but we won't want to slit our wrists
at the end either. Because I'm writing off the top of
my head, my argument may be flawed - please point said
flaws out if you see them :) - but I do think I could
be close to the mark, simply because every evening in
my home this winter has been devoted to reading a
chapter or two of HP. My husband is a working-class
Joe, my son is a moody 12-yr-old and into football, my
daughter is 9 and loves dogs and cats, and I am an
English teacher. Yet we gather for an hour or so and
come together while JKR weaves her marvelous story. 
When I pause and look up from the page, I see all of
their faces turned to mine, their expressions rapt
with attention. Now THAT'S magic! 
So!... Guilt-free, with no worries about whether my
obsession is appropriate for one my age, I lift my
glass to JKR...who, in the words of Ron Weasley, is
"BLOODY BRILLIANT!"
Mary - who is having a whopping good time in this
group since she discovered it 3 weeks ago - Happy New
Year to all!
   

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