I'm presenting "Snape's Appeal in Canon: Severus, Meet Sherlock" at this fall's Harry Potter Symposium in Salem!!!

[vivienne_davalon]

No: HPFGUIDX 130772

Well, it's official.  At the Harry Potter Symposium in Salem this 
October, The Witching Hour (http://www.witchinghour.org/) I will be:

1)	presenting one paper;
2)	co-leading a round table discussion; and
3)	assisting with an event.

1) The paper I am presenting is called "Snape's Appeal in Canon: 
Severus, Meet Sherlock"  and the summary follows:
	
	At our previous Harry Potter Symposium, Nimbus 2003, I 
attended a panel discussing Snape's appeal in Canon and Fanon.  The 
conclusion drawn by the head of the panel was that Snape really had 
no appeal in Canon, only in Fanon.  I would dispute this conclusion 
by pointing out the similarities between Snape and another famous and 
exceedingly popular literary misanthrope, Sherlock Holmes, using 
extensive examples from both Canons as well as literary critiques of 
the Holmes stories.

One famous quote refers to Holmes as a totally unlikable drug 
addict, "without a single redeeming quality."  And yet Holmes is one 
of the most beloved characters of all time.  In this paper I will 
point out numerous similarities between Snape and Holmes in 
appearance, attitude and manner, professional pursuits and morality.  
I will close by discussing some theories about why Holmes is so 
popular and suggest that for those same reasons, Snape will also go 
down in history as one of the best loved misanthropes of literature.

By way of example: they both have a "hawklike nose," "piercing eyes," 
and "sallow skin"; they both love chemistry (particularly poisons); 
they are both "shrewd," "calculating," love logic, and seem to read 
minds ("My dear Holmes," says Watson in "A Scandal in Bohemia," "You 
would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries 
ago").  They desire recognition and take great pride in their 
abilities, despite the need for secrecy in their spying activities -- 
both men infiltrate underground networks run by master criminals.  
They also share numerous negative qualities, including racism and 
distrust of foreigners.  They both sulk, are cold and antisocial, and 
snarl and sneer with sarcasm.  Holmes' anger sends criminals running 
in fear for their lives, similar to Harry's reaction when Snape 
looks "murderous." They are both bitter, cruel, and notoriously 
amoral. (In one story Holmes tests a pill for poison by giving it to 
his landlady's dog, who expires forthwith – shades of Snape's test of 
Neville's potion on Trevor.)

Yet despite this, Holmes is one of the most wildly popular literary 
characters of all time.  According to Ellery Queen "more ha[s] been 
written about [him] than any other character in fiction."  Who knows 
but that writings about Snape will one day match or surpass him.  
Holmes' very eccentricity and amorality are what gives us such 
pleasure as readers, though "the traits that are now familiar, even 
endearing, were to his first readers alternately intriguing and 
appalling – and eminently mysterious." (1) Could Holmes, in another 
Universe, have become a Potions Master at Hogwarts?  In his own 
words, "there, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes."

(1) Atkinson, Michael.  "Psychologizing the Text of a Study in 
Scarlet: Repression in the Textual Unconscious."  The Secret Marriage 
of Sherlock Holmes and Other Eccentric Readings.  Ann Arbor, the 
University of Michigan Press, © 1996

2) The round table I will be co-leading is on the topic of Harry 
Potter and Wicca (in lieu of my presenting my paper on that topic)

3) The event I am assisting with is Tea With Trelawney (I am also a 
tarot reader).

If anybody here is planning to attend The Witching Hour, please drop 
me a line at Vivienne_davalon at yahoo.com.  I would love to hear from 
you so I can keep an eye out, and I look forward to meeting you!

BB,
Vivienne D'Avalon