The seven books in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series bring together a variety of aspects of young adult fiction and portray youthful rebellion as well as cultural containment and an adolescent’s negotiations through these conflicting forces. This detailed study of Harry Potter explores the limits of the formulaic structure of adolescent fantasy fiction and also examines the impulse of exploration, subversion, and resistance contained within the formula. Within both subversion and containment in the narrative, young adult fantasy becomes an embodiment of the experience of adolescence—its angst, rebellion and also its journey of personal maturation.

Vandana Saxena teaches at the School of Modern Languages and Culture at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.

Vandana Saxena
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 218
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6674-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8991-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
List of Abbreviations      vii
Preface      1
Introduction      5

1. The Hero      35
2. The Schoolboy      71
3. The Savior      103
4. The Monsters      136

Conclusion      166
Chapter Notes      181
Bibliography      193
Index      209

• “A welcome addition to the mass of scholarship currently available on Rowling’s notorious series. The comprehensive nature of the work serves up a narrative that will leave scholars and leisure readers alike extremely satisfied.”—Children’s Literature Association Quarterly
• “A welcome addition to the critical discussion on the Harry Potter series”—Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
• “Saxena explores the dynamics of subversion and containment, narratives of growth and adolescence, within the limits of the formulaic structure of fantasy literature”—Reference & Research Book News