cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Submissions

Harry Potter Casebook contracted for publication with Palgrave Macmillan Publishers
We need ten to twelve analytical essays of 4,000-5,000 words. For full consideration, please e-mail a 250-500 word proposal or abstract to both editors by 31 May 2010:
Dr. Cynthia J. Hallett (cynthia.hallett@gmail.com) and Dr. Peggy Huey (hueypj@verizon.net)

Contributors of selected proposals will be notified no later than 30 June 2010, and completed essays are expected by 31 December 2010. All selected contributors will be sent individual forms of assignment for signature, and each will receive two copies of the finished book (one hardback and one paperback).

Selected essays will reflect the development of important critical debates about J. K. Rowling’s work and should address current critical thinking regarding effective pedagogical approaches to the Harry Potter series. Additionally, the film adaptations can be given due attention.

All seven novels …
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
…will be addressed in the course of the essays selected. However, it may be difficult to follow a sequential approach (i.e., treating each novel separately), as most critics treat the first three novels as an entirety, for it was only after the third book that the critical community began writing about the Harry Potter books to any extent. Hence, in attempting to represent the phases of criticism about the J. K. Rowling series, we seek critical analyses of the individual novels, groups of novels, or the series as a whole.

The essays selected for this Casebook will focus on key aspects that have been identified by literary critics. This collection is intended to be useful to people who have a general interest in or who are studying the Harry Potter series at a variety of academic levels.

Note: the development of the critical field as a whole will be discussed in the editors’ introduction, which will also examine some of the negative criticism of the Potter series and consider the extraordinary success of the series that has been of interest to cultural commentators.

Possible topics:
• Crossover Literature (children and adult readers)
• Cultural Identity
• Gender Identities
• Heroic Myths and Folkloric Elements
• Magic and Technology
• Narrative Language and Character Development
• Politics of Harry Potter
• Relationship of the series to Traditions in Children’s Literature and/or to Fantasy Literature
• Representations of other cultures
• The development of the novel as a series
• The Potter books as cultural products
• The Religious Controversy
• Theoretical and Pedagogical approaches to the series