Here is my NCUR presentation:
http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/hpapocalypse/files/2011/04/HPPresentation.ppt
I’ve included my notes, so hopefully you can get a pretty good idea of what I’ll be saying when I present at the conference.

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure. “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” (Deathly Hallows 723) This exchange is arguably the most important conversation in all 41,000 pages of the Harry Potter books. It takes place at the end of the final Harry Potter book, when Harry meets his (dead) mentor in a dream-like state following Voldemort’s second-to-last attempt to kill him. Harry presents Dumbledore with a binary choice, as if “real” and “happening inside my head” are mutually exclusive. As John Granger writes, “Dumbledore’s response reveals that he thinks Harry has created a false dichotomy. There is another option to account for his experience than just either/or…there is a nonmaterial (albeit, anything but immaterial) unity between what is real and what is happening in our heads” (Granger, Lectures 178, 179). Dumbledore casting aside Harry’s dichotomy, and replacing it with an option that offers the unification of opposites, is … Continue reading →

Abstract Title: Ending Dualism at Hogwarts: Reading Harry Potter as Postmodern Apocalyptic Fiction Name of Author, (Faculty Advisor), Department, Institution and Institutional Address Ariana Tobias, (Nico Israel and Lee Quinby), English Department, Macaulay Honors College and CUNY Hunter, New York, NY 10065 Abstract: The Harry Potter series ignited a debate within the American Christian community between fundamentalists, who believe the books are dangerously subversive to Christianity, and more moderate Christians, who emphasize the triumph of Christian values like faith, love, redemption, and the victory of good over evil. Both sides are perceptive, but neither tells the whole story. Apocalyptic morality, as set forth in the Book of Revelation, promotes hierarchy and dualism based on black-and-white absolutes like “good” versus “evil.” Similar binary classifications and accompanying value judgments have evolved to dominate Western perceptions of race, gender, sexuality, and religion. Morality in Harry Potter, by contrast, isn’t simply about the struggle between good and evil; it’s the struggle to transcend the dualism that promotes conflicts of good versus evil. As Elizabeth Rosen’s work on postmodern apocalyptic fiction shows, some authors have challenged the legitimacy of moral systems based in apocalyptic absolutism. I argue that J.K. Rowling’s fictional metanarrative about prejudice in … Continue reading →

The Harry Potter series ignited a debate within the American Christian community between fundamentalists, who believe the books are dangerously subversive to Christianity, and more moderate Christians, who point out biblical symbolism in the books and the triumph of Christian values like faith, love, redemption, and the victory of good over evil. On one hand, Richard Abanes, author of Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick, argues that the Harry Potter series contains “spiritually dangerous material that could ultimately lead youth down the road to occultism” and promotes “unbiblical values and unethical behavior (6).” On the other hand, Christian minister John Killinger explains parallels between Harry Potter and the New Testament in an attempt to prove that ultimately, “the master plot, the one underlying the entire novel, is the critical struggle between good and evil” with Harry as Christ and Voldemort as Satan (38). Neither of these points of view fully appreciate J.K. Rowling’s use of Christian dogma to challenge Christian morality, especially as derived from the Book of Revelation. Those who believe the Harry Potter series undermines Christianity have correctly recognized the series’ effect, but have misidentified the mechanisms Rowling uses to achieve that end. In … Continue reading →

The apocalyptic prophesy of the Book of Revelation is meant to convey a sense of cosmic order, a reassurance that God has a master plan and will eventually deliver humanity (or some of it) from suffering and chaos. In this sense, the Book of Revelation and other apocalyptic narratives are stories designed to bring comfort to communities afflicted by persecution and violence. At the same time, the text prompts a powerless group to seek deliverance in the promise of ultimate divine judgment against their perceived oppressors. Subscribing to the apocalyptic belief of the Book of Revelation allows powerless communities to maintain their faith and tolerate living in times of crisis and chaos, since these ordeals are seen as merely the temporary forerunners of an eternal, divine social order. Elizabeth Rosen argues the apocalyptic myth is more powerful than other paradigms humans have used to make sense of social conditions (like conspiracy theory and chaos theory) because “it encompasses a moral dimension” and “is naturally a vehicle for the analysis and criticism of behavior, whether of the individual, nation, or cosmos” (Rosen xiii). Yet apocalyptic narratives are not simply comforting stories told by persecuted groups. Yes, the version of morality offered … Continue reading →

Abanes, Richard. Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick. Camp Hill, PA: Horizon – Christian Publications, 2001. Print. This book argues that the Harry Potter series contains “spiritually dangerous material that could ultimately lead youth down the road to occultism” and promotes “unbiblical values and unethical behavior (6).” The major focus of this book (Part 2) is proving the Harry Potter series’ connection to the occult, which isn’t overtly relevant to my discussion of apocalyptic dualism Harry Potter. In Part 1, however, the odd-numbered chapters provide plot summaries of each of the four books, while the subsequent even chapters discuss occultism, ethics, and age-appropriateness of each book. “Potterethics” is the author’s term for the “morally confusing messages” of the books (7). These sections will be particularly helpful for their analysis of the ways in which the books undermine and defy Christian moral extremes (i.e. good and evil), although I will have to show why this is a good thing, as opposed to Abanes, who is clearly opposed. Bauckham, Richard. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print. As someone without an extensive theological background, I will use this book to aid my … Continue reading →

I’ve waited on lines at midnight. I’ve won trivia competitions. I’ve debated theories on the internet and I hate the movie adaptations. In short, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Unlike those who claim Harry Potter got them into reading, … Continue reading →

I will argue that the Harry Potter series provides a significant social critique of Anglo-American apocalypticism by providing an alternative, non-binary apocalyptic paradigm. The Book of Revelation provides much of the foundation of apocalyptic belief in the western Christian world. The text contains a myth about the end of days, which has created “a regime […]

I’ve waited on lines at midnight. I’ve won trivia competitions. I’ve debated theories on the internet and I hate the movie adaptations. In short, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Unlike those who claim Harry Potter got them into reading, I was always a voracious reader. I didn’t love the books because I had never […]