[HPforGrownups] Re: Diversity in Media and Literature (WAS No Subject)

[Pen Robinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 40727



It has been interesting to learn in this thread that many non-British
readers did not recognise the 'flagging' of the Patil girls as, hmm, what
shall I say - non-white.   I wonder if that is in part because of the
incredible diversity of surnames in the USA?  Indeed, the same applies to
forenames: in a society in which Loree, Willow, Brandi, and so forth are of
no particular moment, Padma and Parvati probably don't stand out.  Here,
they are noticeably different from the Hannahs and Ginnys and even
Hermiones.

My children had black friends at school (a brother and sister matching my
own kids in age), who were called Jennifer and Andrew, and had a 'British'
surname too.   No 'flagging' for skin colour.   The Asian children in their
classes now do have distinctively different names, none of which I can for
the moment recall.  My point?  That Dean Thomas could be any colour.
Angelina is a slightly more unusual name, which makes tenuously more sense
to me when I learn that she's black, but it isn't really 'flagged' either.
So in both cases, we are outright told that these characters are black.
[Hey, we have a couple of rather good British athletes, Linford Christie
and Colin Jackson.  The former, it may not surprise you to learn, is black
- that forename is unusual.  The latter is Welsh.  And black.  No way of
gauging either of those facts from his name.]

I don't have a copy of the US edition, but if I recall this train of
thought aright, Dean is briefly described as being (a) black, and (b) even
taller than Ron.  I really don't see this 'black' as being overt or
offensive mention of the boy's race.  It's a one-word physical description!
I for one am glad to have such a description of this boy (and it's a pity
it wasn't added to the British edition).  It gives me a clearer visual
image of this character than I otherwise have.   (We'd never have had this
discussion if he had been, say,  blond, but the word would have sharpened
the visualisation in the same way.)    The main characters, of course, get
far more detailed physical description, so we can arrive at a more exact
picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione (and Snape and Dumbledore).  Fair
enough.   Peripheral characters may not be described at all (someone
mentioned a Morag McDougall [I think], and for me, the name alone conjures
up a girl with milk-pale skin, freckles, and dark red hair).  We do have
other brief descriptions of minor characters (Seamus being 'sandy haired',
for instance) which perform the same function - give us a very basic
glimpse at the appearance of said character.  (Although Seamus' name is
very clearly 'flagged' as Irish, which may or may not solicit assumptions
about his appearance.)

Surely the reason why Dean is mentioned at all at this point in the
American edition is  that he had been omitted from the Sorting scene in the
original, and someone picked up on the fact?  Quite right, too.   (Pity
they didn't then reconcile the numbers by changing the 'three' to 'four',
but I suppose we can't have everything.)

If we assume that JKR always intended Dean to be of West Indian origin,
which is perfectly possible, how could this be better conveyed than by the
mention that he is 'black'?

Pen