Askwith, Ivan D. “Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium.” Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
Dena, Christy. “Transmedia Practice: Theorising the Practice of Expressing a Fictional World across Distinct Media and Environments.” Diss. University of Sydney, 2009. Christy’s Corner of the Universe. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006. Print. Media Analyst Henry Jenkins argues against traditional ideas of convergence, that a “black box” will unite all methods of media delivery. Jenkins contends that the digital age is instead a combination of media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence. The work is highly qualitative, drawing on a number of case studies and examples throughout the text. Of particular importance is the chapter, “Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling.” It explores The Matrix franchise through the lens of transmedia storytelling to show how the Wachowski brothers built a universe across a variety of platforms. It is an excellent introduction to the ideas of convergence and media in the digital age.
Jenkins, Henry. “Getting Lost.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 25 Aug. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
Jenkins, Henry. “Hollywood Goes “Transmedia”.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
Jenkins, Henry. “Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: The Remaining Four Principles of Transmedia Storytelling.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
Jenkins, Henry. “The Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: Seven Principles of Transmedia Storytelling (Well, Two Actually. Five More on Friday).” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.
Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005. Print. Johnson argues that today’s popular culture has actually grown more complex, and that complexity is in turn making us smarter. He examines how his theory plays across several mediums, primarily focusing on video games, films, and television. He notes that television programming has evolved through the implementation of the “multiple threading” and the disappearance of “flashing arrows, ” resulting in television shows that demand more from their audiences. Although not a scholarly work, this book can be enjoyed by both academics and general readers.
Long, Geoffrey A. “Transmedia Storytelling: Business, Aesthetics, and Production at the Jim Henson Company.” Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
Mittell, Jason. “Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television.” The Velvet Light Trap Fall.58 (2006): 29-40. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
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 understanding of the Book of Revelation as one of my primary sources. This book explains both the traditional meanings of the imagery used in Revelation, and the theological importance of the prophesy as a whole. A better grasp of the Book of Revelation as understood by Christian belivers will in turn help me get more out of my secondary sources written from both theological perspectives and historical/social perspectives.
Dellamora, Richard, ed. Postmodern Apocalypse: Theory and Cultural Practice at the End. Philadelphia, PA: U of Pennsylvania P, 1995. Print.
This book examines the theoretical foundation of the “postmodern apocalypse” theory in thirteen different essays. By providing different points of view and broader context for the application of the theory, the essays will be helpful to my understanding of Rosen’s particular definition of postmodern apocalyptic literature. In addition, several of the essays highlight the divisive nature of the apocalyptic myth and discuss the ways in which it has shaped identification within minority groups – specifically, its effect on women and the queer community. (“Representing Apocalypse: Sexual Politics and the Violence of Revelation,” by Mary Wilson Carpenter, “Queer Apocalypse: Framing William Burroughs,” by Richard Dellamora, and “Go-go Dancing on the Brink of the Apocalypse: Representing AIDS,” by Peter Dickinson.) These examples will be useful in my discussion of the harmful effects of apocalyptic dualism on society, and will contribute to the argument that the postmodern apocalypse works to undermine that dualism.
Granger, John. Harry Potter’s Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures. New York, NY: Berkley – Penguin, 2009. Print.
Each section of this book analyzes the Harry Potter books through the lens of a different genre – the one that will provide the most material for my discussion is Chapter Five, Harry Potter as a Postmodern Epic. This chapter is about the characteristics of postmodern thinking in general, and moral lessons taught in Harry Potter in particular. I will integrate these examples with a discussion of Rowling’s use of the apocalyptic myth to illustrate how the Harry Potter books fit Rosen’s definition of postmodern apocalyptic literature.
Lev Grossman. “J.K. Rowling Hogwarts And All.” Time Magazine 17 July 2005. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.
This article, based on an interview with J.K. Rowling, provides valuable insight into her motives for inserting her version of morality into the Harry Potter series. On the surface, it seems as though she falls into the postmodern “trap” of being tolerant of everything – except intolerance. I will argue that she avoids this trap by establishing a continuum of good and evil, and supports a morality which accepts everyone, even intolerant, dualistic fundamentalists, by allowing these types of people into her vision of New Jerusalem at the end of the seventh book.
Hunter, Nicole. “The last Harry Potter book has biblical overtones – Birmingham Christian Perspectives | Examiner.com.” Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
This source, contrary to the vague title, directly links the last book of the Harry Potter series with the Book of Revelation. It also argues that this connection cements the relationship between Harry Potter and Christianity, and therefore anyone who believed the books were working against Christian morals is proved wrong, once and for all. Obviously, as discussed above, the fact that Harry Potter uses Christian symbols and has parallels with the New Testament does not mean the series isn’t working to subvert one of the basic tenets of the religion.
Killinger, John. God, the Devil, and Harry Potter: A Christian Minister’s Defense of the Beloved Novels. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne – St. Martin’s Press, 2002. Print.
This book is more or less a rebuttal of Richard Abanes’ book, discussed above. Written by a minister who sees the books as “narratives of robust faith and morality,” God, the Devil, and Harry Potter attempts to prove the Harry Potter series “is not only dependent on the Christian understanding of life and the universe, but actually grows out of that understanding and would have been unthinkable without it (11).” The second point supports my argument, which I will show by discussing the way J.K. Rowling meticulously appropriates the apocalyptic myth of the Book of Revelation. The first point, however, needs to be exposed as simplistic – yes, there is faith, but there is also doubt, and there is morality, but good people do very bad things. Killinger’s attempt to prove that “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, fails because the master plot is not the struggle between good and evil, it is the struggle to transcend black-and-white absolutes like “good” and “evil.”
Kirsch, Jonathan. A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization. New York, NY: HarperOne – Harper, 2006. Print.
This book demonstrates the ways in which Revelation is present in every aspect of Western societies. It supports Quinby’s argument for the pervasive nature of apocalyptic dualism in our society, but goes further back in history to chart the course of apocalypticism from its creation two thousand years ago to America’s present-day, more secular culture. Seeing how the myth has been used over the past two millennia to further different agendas will give an invaluable historical background to my arguments about current postmodern apocalyptic stories in general, and the specific case of Harry Potter.
Quinby, Lee. Millennial Seduction: A Skeptic Confronts Apocalyptic Culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1999. Print.
In this book Lee Quinby describes the damage apocalyptic dualism does to democratic societies, and challenges the idea of a “dictated and timeless Truth” (28). Skepticism, the alternative she proposes, is the idea that there can be many different truths, which can be discovered through dialogue and questioning. By always questioning, and accepting the uncertainty that we may never know the Truth, we can break free of the dualistic restraints of the apocalyptic paradigm. I will compare this approach with the postmodern apocalyptic one, which attempts to critique the paradigm from within, instead of abandoning it altogether.
Rosen, Elizabeth. Apocalyptic Transformation: Apocalypse and the Postmodern Imagination. Lanham, MD: Lexington – Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.
Rosen argues apocalyptic literature has been used a social critique since time immemorial. What she believes is new, however, is stories that use the traditional apocalyptic narrative to critique the apocalyptic myth itself, specifically, its moral absolutism. She calls this sub-genre “postmodern apocalyptic literature.” She discusses several characteristics of the genre, including humanization of the traditional deity, a cyclical (rather than linear) view of time, and questioning the existence of objective judgement. By comparing the Harry Potter series to the books and films Rosen examines, I will show that Harry Potter has all the elements of a postmodern apocalyptic story, and the value of reading it as such.
Additional sources to be explored:
Wallis, John and Lee Quinby, eds. Reel Revelations: Apocalypse and Film
Keller, Catherine. Apocalypse Now and Then
Strozier, Charles B, David M. Terman, and James William Jones, eds. The Fundamentalist Mindset
Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter
Reddish, Mitchell G., ed. Apocalyptic Literature: A Reader
Quinby, Lee. Anti-Apocalypse: Exercises in Genealogical Criticism.
The innate human disposition to acquire ideas of all-knowing supernatural agents fundamentally interested in one’s moral behavior can be demonstrated as adaptively advantageous in the context of its emergence in ancestral human populations.
It seems undeniable that human beings appear to be graced with the predisposition to accept as reasonable the idea that some form of supernatural agent capable of knowing all strategically-valuable information exists and acts to reward or punish behavior deemed as moral or immoral, respectively. As sympathetic to theological discourse as that may sound, it is actually far from it. The validity of specific religious sentiments is not the concern of this paper, as aren’t any unfalsifiable claims the concern of scientific considerations. What I’m intrigued by is the relationship between the apparent ubiquity of this disposition to acquire such religious notions and the reality of Darwinian evolution.
I would like to answer the question of what makes this disposition a characteristic of the human species with a phenotypic expression frequency rivaling that of the most obviously adaptive of our behaviors. What I’m referring to is the anthropologically-demonstrated fact that nearly all human populations, past or present, have subscribed to some religious notion of the type mentioned above. As a parallel, consider that the proportion of individuals found to lack such notions is indeed similar in magnitude to the proportion that lacks the capacity for complex social interaction in general (e.g. Autism). My intent is not to equate the two but to emphasize how exuberantly prevalent this religious predisposition is among the human species, in societies past and present the world over. It is a reasonable inference that any functionally-normal human brain is evidently predisposed to acquiring the idea that his moral judgments are necessarily being scrutinized by an external agent with complete knowledge of all relevant events at all times. This requires some explanation.
There are several questions that need to be answered as part of any reasonable explanation as to the origin of the disposition to acquire such notions. First, one must prove that this particular disposition is indeed a real one. If this condition is met, which I intend to prove it is, then several subsequent questions arise and pose further constraints on what constitutes a reasonable mechanism for the inclusion of this disposition in our genomic repertoire. Of these arising questions, one stands out as demanding the most immediate of our attention.
In general terms, one must address how in fact a disposition to acquiring a particular sort of mental representation manifests itself from a genetic code subject to Darwinian selection into the omnipresent cultural phenomenon directly observed. This task is accomplished by considering meme-theory in combination with cognitive psychology and other sciences of the mind. In particular, one must keep in mind the ways in which any such mechanism evolves out of several levels of selection, operating independently of each other yet affecting the same ultimate outcome, culminating in the most selection-friendly population of individuals that evolution can come up with.
On the surface, consider the conclusions of meme theory, the study of the transmission of ideas from person to person. Originally introduced into the scientific lexicon by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book “The Selfish Gene,” meme-theory acts to apply Darwinian selection processes to the realm of human culture. While Darwin had originally fashioned his theory to explain the process of speciation, Dawkins has in effect demonstrated that the same principles of selection that justify Darwin’s original theory, also extend to any system in which a population of constantly-mutating entities competes for a common resource. As physical nutrients and potential mates dominate the arena of natural genetic selection, the human propensity to accept, interpret, and transmit concepts governs the tendency for one idea to spread through a population at the cost of another. In other words, it seems quite self-explanatory, that those ideas that take the shape of concepts which we can cognitively represent take precedence to those which we can’t. Likewise, those ideas which we can remember, take precedence to those which we can’t; and those ideas which we are likely to transmit take precedence to those which we are likely to keep to ourselves.
This is all simple enough, but how does this relate to the concept of a supernatural entity capable of enforcing moral-dispositions? Well, as it turns out, this idea is one that we very well can represent cognitively. In fact, piles upon piles of evidence suggest that this concept resides very comfortably in the cognitive inference systems that make up our ability to process incoming information from the outside world. Indeed it can be demonstrated that the particular systems necessary to conceptualize this notion are in fact necessitated by the most fundamental requirements of our survival.
On other words, the fact that we can successfully represent (that is: understand) these notions is a product of the particular inference systems we have and the particular kinds of inferences these systems can make from the particular kinds of input information that these systems accept. As inference-system theory suggests, the brain, any brain (not just human) operates as an incredibly complex interaction of independent inference systems, designed by evolution to selectively parse all available information into units which can be used to make meaningful inferences about one’s environment. These inferences then guide one’s behavior in response to environmental conditions toward the ultimate evolutionary goal, of producing viable offspring.
Intuitively then, it seems obvious that the human mind can only entertain those concepts which it is capable of representing—this is essentially an inarguable fact. This fact alone, however, does nothing to the effect of details. Indeed, inference-system theory can be invoked to justify the observed limits of just about any of our cultural phenomena, but I intend to focus my efforts on this one particular religious concept. The systems involved in representing this concept are vast and plentiful, but they are conveniently summarized by renowned religious Anthropologist Pascal Boyer in his 2001book “Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought.”
Using the latest relevant findings of various relevant fields of research including psychology, anthropology, and biology, Boyer demonstrates the efficacy of inference-system theory in describing the experimental outcomes of tests designed to evaluate its accuracy. Indeed, according to Boyer, the research has come a long way to identify individual inference systems in animals from humans to pigeons; to justify the evolutionary development of these systems in terms their individual adaptive value; and ultimately to account for the inclusion of religious concepts like the one I am considering in the list of representations that these systems can make using the same old set of environmental input available to all creatures big and small inhabiting this planet alongside ourselves.
An illustrative example is Boyer’s discussion of what is called the “agent-detection” system. This system is proposed to be responsible for the task of detecting environmental cues representative of agency in one’s environment, where agency is defined as goal-oriented behavior and includes the identification of those observed goals. Indeed children as young as one year old appear to possess such cognitive machinery and indeed so do other species of animals as well. The adaptive value of such agency-detecting is apparent immediately as is the relevance of such capability to the acquiring of notions of supernatural agents whose goal is identified as the enforcement of morality. Further important, is the capacity for this system, and others, to make false inferences, detecting agency where there is none, and perceiving imaginary goals of imagined agents. Indeed this capacity for false inferences is itself adaptively advantageous as the system has clearly been molded by evolution not for its tendency to create valid illustrations of reality but for its ability to detect and avert danger, among other vitally important functions, which is a pursuit important enough to justify accepting the risk of making false inferences from time to time.
Another such system (and please do take the word ‘system’ lightly as any of these can likely be further broken down into component sub-systems) is that responsible for moral evaluations. It is demonstrable that certain information (as it pertains to the actions of others) is processed by an inference system independent of logical reasoning and any other cognitive functions. That is, the criteria by which this information is evaluated as representative of permissible rather than impermissible behavior stems from an integrated conception of morality, as hardwired into our brains by millions of years of group-living and a selection favoring reciprocal kindness in favor of universal selfishness. Indeed, I intend to conclusively defend the proposition that morality is an inherent function of normal human minds, separate from logical reasoning, and that religion in fact takes residence partially in this system; as opposed to the backward notion that religious ideas act to inspire moral ones. Using evidence primarily derived from the study of individuals afflicted by deficits of proper functioning in these and other systems, researches have reasonably reached a near-consensus regarding the general theory pertaining to these systems defining the functioning of normal minds.
In the case that my discussion of these systems is sufficiently conclusive, it stands reasonable to move on to further description of how millions of years of directional selection has resulted in a species capable of applying the cognitive machinery resident in their heads not only to those tasks for which they were specifically evolved but to secondary, further favorable considerations—favorable of course in the selfish Darwinian sense of supporting the survival and subsequent reproduction of populations in possession of these considerations.
Ultimately, my discussion of these systems aims to discount the competing notion among researchers that religious concepts are derived from their own discrete inference systems. On the contrary, I aim to prove that religious concepts, like the one I am specifically interested in, are (in the least offensive way it can be put) parasitic upon the cognitive machinery of the typical human being. In this view, it isn’t that the brain is born with a disposition to arrive at religious conclusions in the way that it is born to arrive at conclusions regarding goal-oriented behavior; but rather more indirectly, that certain kinds of religious notions, once introduced to the mind, proceed to be represented and embellished by intuitive expectations generated by cognitive inference-systems in place for performing non-religious functions with the ultimate result that these notions are represented as factually-accurate ways of perceiving the world.
To prove this, I will consult relevant neuropsychological literature, which prominently features evidence that people’s religious experiences are manifested by predicted inference systems—namely those pertaining to agency-detecting and special-orientation (which turns out to be a particularly important system in relation to metaphysical “out-of-body” experiences).
So the notion of a supernatural agent in a form invariably capable of possessing all relevant strategic-knowledge necessary to affect moral judgment, is a function of our mind’s inherent tendency to represent certain input stimuli in a specific fashion, leading to the capacity for representing, remembering, and transmitting this notion to others. This aspect of the solution is enough to explain why our minds can support such an idea but it does little toward demonstrating why in fact it is bound to support this idea by the statistical laws governing all life as we know it. It is this question that I shall devote the remainder of my paper to.
It is my view, and indeed a view shared by many, that this particular religious notion of strategically-aware supernatural entities interested in maintaining moral behavior, is a cultural phenomenon that once acquired by a population results in a substantial increase in the survival tendency of this population as compared to a population lacking such a conception.
The mechanism by which it translates into an adaptive advantage is evidenced by the theory of group-selection. Group selection theory states that in an evolutionary sense, when two groups compete for the same set of resources, that group which cooperates receives more resources per person than does a group that competes both with outside groups and with itself. It stands to reason then, that if it can be shown that the religious disposition discussed above is a promoter of cooperation, then those groups which subscribe to it are likely to outbreed and outlast groups which do not and will subsequently ensure that their traits dominate the species as a whole.
As evidenced in Behavioral Psychologist Richard Sosis’s 2009 Article titled “The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual,” several studies have gone to demonstrate a correlation between levels of religious belief and levels of cooperation among compared populations. I must now mention a cautionary note regarding use of the word ‘belief’ to describe religious convictions. Indeed, as Boyer pointed out in “Religion Explained,” the concept of ‘believing’ one’s religious notions is altogether foreign to many peoples who see no reason to ‘believe’ something that they recognize as fact. It is akin to asking something like whether one believes that trees have leaves.
In any case, it is my view that the religious notion which I have singled out is indeed the one responsible for the observed levels of cooperation among religious societies, which, for all their variety share a common core in the conception that some supernatural entity or another is affecting the consequences of their moral behavior and in fact little else. Perhaps a better explanation is out there, but all my research has led me to this path and I am willing to assert that until more evidence is uncovered, that this explanation bears the support of the greatest proportion of the relevant scientific community and is in fact one which makes most coherent sense of the available data.
somebody forgot their book in class last wednesday… I have it and will bring it tomorrow!
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 read anything like them before, on the contrary, J.K. Rowling’s books sat on my shelf next to well-worn copies of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum. I was no stranger to intricate mythical worlds, precocious teenage heroes and magical adventures, and for many years, the Harry Potter series was simply that, an enjoyable fairytale.
As I got older, however, the books got progressively darker, and I began to suspect there was more to the series than just an exciting plot. The tension between magical and non-magical people looked suspiciously similar to race and class divisions in our reality. Both the “good guys” and the “bad guys” could rightfully be called terrorists or freedom fighters, depending on a character’s allegiance. The magical government seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere…almost as if authorized by a Patriot Act of their own. The parallels to our own society were impossible to ignore, but I was content to acknowledge J.K. Rowling’s political subtext without wondering how or why she was able to integrate social critique while leading readers through Harry’s adventures.
The last book was released in 2007, just a few months after I graduated from high school. Although I was still active in the online fan community, I went to college with a sense of closure – no more wondering which characters would live and which would die, who would be betrayed and who would do the betraying, or if Harry and his girlfriend would ever get beyond the occasional kiss. (They had three children.) I moved into the dorms and on with my life, not really expecting to take another look at the series until I read it with my own kids. I certainly didn’t expect a class I took last year to inspire me to dive back into the series in the name of academia, instead of leisure.
Doomsday was an honors seminar dedicated to examining our culture’s fascination with apocalyptic belief. We read a variety of apocalyptic fiction and analytic nonfiction about the pervasive effects of millennial electism on our society. The Harry Potter series, with its emphasis on the triumph of good over evil, explores many of the social and political consequences of this hierarchical worldview. The series, naturally, borrows heavily from the traditional apocalyptic myth and narrative established by the Book of Revelation. I chose to do my thesis on apocalypticism in the Harry Potter series because I want to study how J.K. Rowling appropriated St. John of Patmos’s text both to create a hugely popular book series and further her own social agenda. I want to help the readers of my research better understand the social significance of the Harry Potter series as more than just an exciting story about a boy wizard.
I expect my readers to be generally familiar with both apocalyptic belief and the Harry Potter series as cultural phenomena. Since apocalypticism is so pervasive in our society and Harry Potter has become a household name, I hope to incite readers’ curiosity by combining two such popular subjects. I want to explore how the books portray specific themes within the apocalyptic belief system (i.e. “us” vs “them” mentality, gender panic, authoritarianism, etc.). Hopefully, I will be able to support general discussion of these themes with specific examples of symbolic details in the books. On the other hand, I’ll have to be careful to avoid getting too caught up in the minutia of the apocalyptic significance of each detail. That would be boring for readers familiar with the books as well as those uninterested in the series.
I’ll be the first to admit I grew up with Harry Potter. He was eleven in the first book and seventeen in the last; I was nine when I took my first ride on the train to Hogwarts and eighteen when the series ended. I’ve been a member of the online fan community since I was twelve, going to Wizard Rock concerts since I was fifteen, and this past summer, at twenty-one, I went to Orlando to attend a fan convention and visit the new amusement park. Obviously, my story continues as I enter my senior year and start thinking about graduate school. There will not, most likely, be any more books following Harry through his twenties and beyond. Nonetheless, I’m not leaving him behind just yet. Through my research, I hope to join the small-but-growing community of scholars who have begun to study this series at the university level.
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 of truth that operates within a field of power relations and describes a particular moral behavior (Quniby, Anti-Apocalypse xv). The binary nature of the myth (good vs. evil, the saved vs. the damned) insists on the superiority of some groups over others. In Millennial Seduction, Lee Quinby describes how this hierarchical worldview influences a variety of ostensibly secular matters in the United States, including gender equality, race relations, the entertainment industry, news media, and so forth (8).
Only time will tell if the Harry Potter series can, in fact, begin to change this and future generations’ destructive adherence to the Book of Revelation’s oppressive “insistence on absolute morality, theologically justified patriarchy, and pre-ordained history with an (always imminent) End-time” (Quinby, Millennial Seduction 16). Nonetheless, a critical literary analysis of the Harry Potter series and its connection to the Book of Revelation will show its potential to inspire such a change, and the mechanisms through which J.K. Rowling attempts to do so. I will also consult secondary sources that offer both religious and secular perspectives on the books and I will examine numerical data, such as sales figures, membership in Harry Potter Facebook groups and fan organizations, philanthropic contributions from both J.K. Rowling and fans and relevant polls and surveys, if available.
The narrative timeline in the Book of Revelation can be broken down into five essential structural elements: divine authority, receiver of a revelation, end of the world, judgment day, and New Jerusalem. Postmodern adaptations retain this traditional structure, but rewrite the myth “to use it as the most effective vehicle for…social critique” (Rosen xx). In this sense, the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, could be a poster-child for the postmodern apocalyptic literature genre. Rowling’s work follows the Book of Revelation’s structure, but preaches tolerance, rather than prejudice.
A closer examination of the text, however, reveals the astonishing degree to which she relies on the traditional story, and begs the question of whether she has fallen into her own trap. She attempts to use the traditional apocalyptic narrative to critique the traditional apocalyptic binary. In both, one side wins, and one side loses. Is she merely perpetuating traditional apocalypticism by celebrating the superiority of good, tolerant people, and condemning bad, prejudiced people?
The author admits that in her story, “undeniably, morals are drawn” (Grossman). But while Harry Potter may be a vehicle for promoting her own social agenda, J.K. Rowling avoids the binary structure of the original myth by allowing her characters to be morally ambiguous no matter which side of the war they’re on. She creates a spectrum of good and evil, instead of two separate and opposing groups. Although this isn’t a complete departure from a binary worldview, it is enough of a step in the right direction to allow the Harry Potter series to critique the damaging effects of apocalypticism in our society.
Prior to the release of the last book in 2007, the series had sold 121.5 million copies in the United States and 325 million copies worldwide (Rich). The last book sold 8.3 million copies on its first day in print (Rich). Harry Potter is a household name. With such a large audience, it’s not unreasonable to say the Harry Potter series is a major cultural phenomenon. But the series is more than an adventure story about a boy wizard. J.K. Rowling appropriated the structure of the Book of Revelation to challenge its black-and-white moral reasoning. While other postmodern apocalyptic stories have done the same, the overwhelming popularity of this series justifies an examination of its possible effects on society.
Bibliography
Elizabeth Rosen. Apocalyptic Transformation: apocalypse and the postmodern imagination. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008. Print.
Lee Quinby. Anti-Apocalypse: exercises in genealogical criticism. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Print.
—. Millennial Seduction: a skeptic confronts apocalyptic culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999. Print.
Lev Grossman. “J.K. Rowling Hogwarts And All.” Time Magazine 17 July 2005. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.
Motoko Rich. “Record First-Day Sales for Last ‘Harry Potter’ Book.” The New York Times 22 July 2007. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.
The Sino-Indian Border War of 1962 was a major event in the geo-politics of South Asia yet it has not been adequately explored by contemporary research in the field. The significance of the Sino-Indian border war is often overlooked, mostly because of its overlap with the Cuban Missile Crisis, but this three week war has much to offer in showing the transition new born nations of the 20th century made from colonialism into the Cold War. Therefore, I propose the border war was a significant milestone in the development of the Cold War in Asia because the subsequent years after the war marked the militarization of the India-China border in the northwest (Aksai Chin & Kashmir and Jammu) as well as the northeast (Tibet & Assam frontiers).
Before I can illustrate the expansion of the Cold War in Asia after the Sino-Indian Border War, the pre-war international relations and diplomatic conditions in South Asia must be ascertained. This section, which will comprise the first half of the paper, will endeavor to determine whether the border war can be categorized as a proxy war. To do so, I will rely on Maxwell Neville’s India’s China War and Mohammad Ali’s Cold War in the High Himalayas accompanied by primary sources such as treaties, agreements and personal correspondences between key figures i.e. Nehru, Prime Minister of India. I will also utilize journal articles to highlight strengths and weaknesses of the above sources.
Maxwell Neville writes about conflicting history of the border and detailed accounts of army movements and maneuvers. While his work is possibly the most comprehensive and seminal text about the border war, it suffers from age as it was published 40 years ago and cannot consider the documents that became available after the end of the Cold War. On the other hand, Mohammed Ali’s more recent work sheds light on the covert operations that state actors (India, China, Pakistan, and United States) engaged in to thwart their enemies. However, Ali only uses Indian and American sources so his analysis is also limited in scope. Despite not being able to use Chinese documents, which are not available to the public, Ali’s book begs the question what was the Soviet Union’s role as this conflict unfolded? He only mentions the USSR in passing.
The second half of the paper will emphasize the immediate and subsequent consequences of the border war in relation of the Cold War and Sino-Indian relations. I intend to examine the impact of the war within the stretch of one decade after the war. I chose to fence this paper until 1972 because I suspect that year is another major milestone in the development of the Asian Cold War. Nixon’s visit to China changed the power dynamics and state alliances toward a new direction, and so it is beyond the scope of my study. I will continue to use Ali to discuss the post-war militarization of the border. Other books such as Lorenz Luthi’s Sino-Soviet Split, Chen Jian’s Mao’s China and the Cold War, and anthology called The India-China Relationship edited by Frankel and Hardings will be used as supplements to connect the overarching events and state policies directly to the burgeoning conditions after the border war. As before, I will insert pertinent information from primary sources and journal articles whenever possible.
Ultimately, the purpose of this project is to generate greater understanding and interest about the Sino-Indian Border War. Even prior to the border conflict, the Cold War in Asia was ubiquitous. I do not suggest the 1962 war triggered the Asian Cold War; however, it nonetheless propagated the phenomenon by pulling India and China into overt alliances and militarization. Therefore, the 1962 war was a moment of restive possibilities and a point of departure for a new phase of the Cold War. This new face of the Asian Cold War presented an intensification, militarization and greater superpower involvement in the ideological and strategic confrontations in the Subcontinent by India and China.
Autobiographical Statement!
Punctuality has never been a strength of mine. As a matter of fact, neither has been discipline nor efficient time management. However, over committing to unusually large of amounts of really unnecessary and pointless extracurricular activities is a specialty of mine. An plethora of excess responsibilities and skills are, in fact, my bread and butter, and the stuff I thrive on. At this point, I know what you are thinking, mostly because it is what I had been thinking for some time now, especially after enrolling in the year long thesis seminar class with Professor Lee Quinby. It is fairly obvious that my deficiencies are painfully complimentary with my tendencies, that they are overly counterproductive, most important of all, that they cannot lead to a sustainable lifestyle. Suffice to say, I am at a Crisis!
Did you know the Chinese expression of the word ‘crisis’ is a combination of two characters? The First is danger and the second opportunity. Now, what does this seemingly random fact has anything to do with my predicament or even my thesis project, you wonder. Am I spinning wild tales? And leading you in circuitous routes to nowhere? I doubt it. To be honest, I am not quite certain why I chose to include it but I sense it is relevant and important. Rest assured, it will come to me in due time. Now let’s move on to the belly of this autobiographical statement.
My paper topic is an extension of a paper I wrote for my Modern China class last fall. That paper dealt with the historical causes of the Sino-Indian border disputes that culminated into a short border war fought in 1962. The war coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the greatest point of tension and the closest the United States and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war in the Cold War. Because of this overlap, the Sino-Indian Border War does not receive much attention in its impact in expanding the Cold War in the Asian continent to new heights, and dramatically changing the geo-political power dynamics of the region.
Until then, India followed a policy of non-alignment, refusal to ally with any of the superpowers. Prior to the war, China had its own limitations in activity in the Cold War. With the hostile Sino-Soviet relations and an ongoing American embargo, China became entangled in the Cold War to protect its territories. Considering these conditions, it was not in the best interest for both China and India to not go to war, yet they did. So why did Nehru chose military action despite Zhou Enlai’s reassurance to resolve the conflict diplomatically? How did it change Sino-Indian relations in the interplay of the Cold War? In what ways, the involvement of the international community worsened or stabilized the region? Can the border war be classified as an unconventional proxy war? These are questions come up upon a closer re-examination of the 1962 border war.
The war can be classified as a crisis. According to the Chinese derivation of the word, the war was without a doubt dangerous in destabilizing the region but also presented set of opportunities to re-define their boundaries. As fledgling nations, Indian and China were compelled to protect their territorial sovereignty so the border war exemplifies the dangerous opportunities for the two Asian powers.
By that token, this thesis project resembles a similar scenario, albeit in an exponentially smaller scale, in my own life. The thesis project and all the other things have I gotten involved in are a set of dangerous opportunities. Will I be able to get my act together and complete this project in due time or am I going to let my tendencies dictate, as they have prior, to disaster? I have a lot of on my plate, some responsibilities important, others scarcely so but nonetheless needs to be done. It is a gamble and sheer recklessness on my part but I wish to grow through this endeavor, and learn to better manage my life and activities. To mature as a researcher would be wonderful but I would be happier still if I matured as a person because as Davi said so eloquently in class (and I paraphrase), research is not only a skill, it is a lifestyle. Don’t let me tell you of my successes or failures. You, faithful readers, are the ones who will pass the ultimate judgment.
Ilya Ryvin
Proposal Paper
LOST represents a moment of narrative transition in television, one where show runners are starting to understand that they are not restricted to one medium. In fact, Executive producers like Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse understand that by spreading their narratives across a number of different platforms, they are creating a new brand of television narrative. Perhaps the most significant change is that transmedia narratives like LOST are putting new demands on their audiences, where show runners are encouraging their audiences to actively engage and explore the media they consume.
I will explore the evolution of popular narratives on television, and the factors that ultimately contributed to that evolution. I will look at the complexity of stories being told, how new and emerging technologies affected these stories, and how all of this ultimately put a new level of demand on mass audiences to be more engaged and active with their media. Nevertheless, due to the nature of transmedia storytelling, I will obviously have to mention movies, videogames, comics, etc, but my focus will remain in television.
Of course, I also plan to explore what transmedia storytelling is. Using Jenkins’ definition as a starting point, I plan to show that the definition is still in flux and that a number of different academics have a number of different views. The idea is to give my audience a better understanding of transmedia storytelling, but also to create my own working definition of what transmedia storytelling truly is.
That definition, however, will not be complete without examples. Using LOST as my case study, I plan to show how the show runners created an effective transmedia text. Specifically, I plan to emphasize how the producers of LOST encouraged audiences to be active and participate. My main reason for using LOST as a case study is that LOST was a mega hit, both critically and commercially. It was not a small fringe program, but a show embraced by a mass audience, not all of whom were hardcore fans. This distinction is important to analyze because the show managed to have a broad enough appeal while offering an experience that promoted active engagement.
The purpose of this study is to ultimately present a model that will guide transmedia producers in creating successful transmedia narratives in the future. Drawing examples from LOST, I plan to offer a number of suggestions that producers can consider when developing their narratives that perhaps were lacking in past transmedia works.
Methodologically, I will first need to tap into the available literature on transmedia storytelling. I will look at the works of Henry Jenkins, Christy Dena, Geoffrey Long and other noted academics and practitioners of transmedia to get an idea of what similarities, but more importantly differences, exist when defining transmedia. Because I want to explore the level of active engagement that fans had with LOST, and how show runners encouraged and nourished that engagement, I will look for interviews, articles, and instances within the show itself that show that encouragement. Doing this, I hope to develop my model for an effective transmedia framework, by looking what worked within the LOST franchise that past media producers perhaps failed to realize.
Ilya Ryvin
Proposal Paper
LOST represents a moment of narrative transition in television, one where show runners are starting to understand that they are not restricted to one medium. In fact, Executive producers like Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse understand that by spreading their narratives across a number of different platforms, they are creating a new brand of television narrative. Perhaps the most significant change is that transmedia narratives like LOST are putting new demands on their audiences, where show runners are encouraging their audiences to actively engage and explore the media they consume
I will explore the evolution of popular narratives on television, and the factors that ultimately contributed to that evolution. I will look at the complexity of stories being told, how new and emerging technologies affected these stories, and how all of this ultimately put a new level of demand on mass audiences to be more engaged and active with their media. Nevertheless, due to the nature of transmedia storytelling, I will obviously have to mention movies, videogames, comics, etc, but my focus will remain in television.
Of course, I also plan to explore what transmedia storytelling is. Using Jenkins’ definition as a starting point, I plan to show that the definition is still in flux and that a number of different academics have a number of different views. The idea is to give my audience a better understanding of transmedia storytelling, but also to create my own working definition of what transmedia storytelling truly is.
That definition, however, will not be complete without examples. Using LOST as my case study, I plan to show how the show runners created an effective transmedia text. Specifically, I plan to emphasize how the producers of LOST encouraged audiences to be active and participate. My main reason for using LOST as a case study is that LOST was a mega hit, both critically and commercially. It was not a small fringe program, but a show embraced by a mass audience, all of whom were not hardcore fans. This distinction is important to analyze because the show managed to have a broad enough appeal while offering an experience that promoted active engagement.
The purpose of this study is to ultimately present a model that will guide transmedia producers in creating successful transmedia narratives in the future. Drawing examples from LOST, I plan to offer a number of suggestions that producers can consider when developing their narratives that perhaps were lacking in past transmedia works.
Methodologically, I will first need to tap into the available literature on transmedia storytelling. I will look at the works of Henry Jenkins, Christy Dena, Geoffrey Long and other noted academics and practitioners of transmedia to get an idea of what similarities, but more importantly differences, exist when defining transmedia. Because I want to explore the level of active engagement that fans had with LOST, and how show runners encouraged and nourished that engagement; I will look for interviews, articles, and instances within the show itself that show that encouragement. Doing this, I hope to develop my model for an effective transmedia framework, by looking what worked within the LOST franchise that past media producers perhaps failed to realize.
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