Some won’t think a thing of it, but others will be quite troubled at the thought of teaching a book that concerns witchcraft. I’m of the opinion that what J. K. Rowling does in Harry Potter is not the menace that some think it is. I could write you a lengthy article about this, but couldn’t express it any better than does the conversation in this episode of The Literary Life Podcast: Episode 104: Witches, Wizards, and Magic, Oh My!! (1:18:33 in length)
In short, the spells in Harry Potter are Latin phrases that are completely ineffective and powerless in the real world, and the characters in the fictitious story do not summon the powers of evil spirits or angels. At the same time, the book is a literary masterpiece, written in “the Literary Tradition” ― the tradition that this very class exists to teach. It is a fairy tale, and not a manual for wickedness.
My own mentor, Angelina Stanford, has stated that Rowling may be the greatest living author writing in the Tradition, and she considers the Harry Potter series “the gateway to the literary tradition”. What better way, therefore, to teach the tradition than to show how a modern and super-popular author has crafted it into her own work? And besides all that, Harry Potter is a powerful story of love, loyalty, and friendship that carries a powerful message for today’s modern society. This is why I’m thrilled to teach it!
