[HPforGrownups] Re: Diversity in Literature & Media (WAS book differences)

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 40685

Darrin:
> I stand by my assertion that if Dean Thomas had been named DeRon or 
> given some other "black-sounding" name than the anti-P.C. crowd would 
> 

I don't think this is true. I dislike what I regard as crass statements of 
political correctness, or tokenism, but I do believe in treating people first 
and foremost as people, whatever their colour.

I don't really have a problem with this example, but I can understand those 
who do. To me, there is a difference between Dean obviously being black in 
the original UK edition (this being flagged by his having an obviously 
"black-sounding" name, or a mention of his skin colour, or hair, or 
characteristic speech pattern) and his suddenly being revealed as black in 
this rather ham-fisted manner.
> 
> Cho was not introduced in the first novel. And I have read that 
> England, or at least London, has a significant Pakistani and Indian 
> 

Sorry, don't get that point.

> 
> 

The thing that's odd to me, is that it didn't. Yet when I worked it out, 
there are more children from ethnic minorities there than statistically there 
should be.
Subjective impression and reality conflicted.
I think the change has been made because of someone else's subjective 
impresssion.

> 
> What exactly is WRONG with that?  Again, we're talking about just the 
> existence of a black kid at Hogwarts. He's not doing anything 
> politically correct at all. No one treats him any better or worse. He 
> gets into arguments about sports with white kids, but he's not a 
> stereotypical great athlete. 
> 
> Dean is just there.
> 
> 

No, it's not. That's *not* the point. It's not his existence as a black kid, 
it's the fact that either he suddenly changed race, or his skin colour took 
on a significance that it didn't have when the book was originally published.
If he's just there as a black kid and race is not an issue (for Scholastic, I 
presume) then why was the book changed to emphasise it? There is no 
plot-driven reason for it. It tells us nothing about his character or 
background. Why do we need to know? It smacks to me (from a British 
perspective) of being a change made specifically for political, rather than 
literary reasons. 

But widening my perspective as a result of this discussion, leads me to guess 
that this is because Brits, on the whole, would realise that the Patil twins 
are black, whereas Americans wouldn't necessarily and so there is a need a 
clearly flagged black student of probably Afro-Caribbean origin for Hogwarts 
to be obviously racially inclusive. So in a way there is a literary goal, if 
it is part of JKR's intention that Hogwarts is perceived as multi-racial, as 
it seems clear that she does. If she was informed by her American publisher 
that her multiracial vision of Hogwarts just didn't come across, I can easily 
believe that she either sanctioned or initiated that particular change.

Eloise.

> 
> 




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