'Externalities'

[davewitley]

Kneasy wrote:

> No, I regard all the discussion about sources, influences etc. as 
pretty much
> on a par with the extras they tend to include on  DVDs - all 
those "how we
> did this" and "weren't we clever to do that". Extraneous guff from 
smug bastards.

Hey, hey, now, steady on.  I think it's possible and interesting to 
ask and try to answer questions such as the following without being 
smug.

Economic: how do you think that JKR's experience of penurious single 
parenthood might show up in her depiction of Harry at the Dursleys?

Political: the wizarding world is portrayed as having many 
injustices, which are sometimes regarded by fans as unrealistic.  
How do you think JKR's experience of working for Amnesty 
International might come across in this aspect of her work?

Religious: in what sense, if any, can Sirius Black be seen as a 
Christ figure?

I do feel, however, that Sean and Iris were particularly referring 
to *literary* influence: literary criticism takes many forms and 
those based on Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, and so on are only 
one part, just as those confining themselves to the text in 
isolation are only another part.

So: how does the Harry Potter series appear to show the influence of 
CS Lewis' Narnia series?  Does JKR's known liking for Jane Austen 
make us re-think her handling of romantic relationships?  How does 
Harry Potter stand in the tradition of the British boarding-school 
story?  Are there genre conflicts between the school element, the 
fantasy element, and the detective element?

Oh, and here's one I have not the least knowledge of, but would love 
to hear: JKR studied French at university: does the Harry Potter 
series suggest any French literary influences?

Some - maybe all, I have missed many good discussions over the past 
couple of years - of these questions have been discussed in the 
past.  I understand they may not be of equal interest to everyone, 
but guff they ain't.

David, who thinks the French academics provided bad answers to good 
questions last year