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One of the strengths of Pugh’s Harry Potter and Beyond is clear in its title: Pugh not only considers Rowling’s Harry Potter series in his monograph, but also examines the author’s online presence, and her adult novels The Casual Vacancy (2012) and the Robert Galbraith murder mysteries. Pugh frames his analysis using the hybridizations of genres throughout Rowling’s writings. He devotes chapters to her use of the characteristics of fantasy, school stories, bildungsroman, mystery, and allegory, and argues that Rowling “has created a fresh, hybrid form of literature that takes advantage of the narrative potential of intersecting aesthetic traditions” (19).
Pugh’s introduction begins with a biography of Rowling in which he deconstructs the “rags to riches” or fairy tale lenses that are often applied to her rise as a popular author and cultural icon. He notes the ways her political assertions are represented among her novels and considers the maturation of her characters and how these aspects prevent categorizing her Harry Potter series solely as young adult or children’s literature.
“The Fantasy Foundations of the Harry Potter Novels” draws attention to the hero’s journey (most commonly associated with Joseph Campbell). Pugh focuses upon Rowling’s implementation of this journey and its impact upon how gender is depicted throughout the Harry Potter series. Pugh argues Rowling depicted Harry as being more masculine than his friend Ron and asserts the use of the hero’s journey detracted from allowing female characters to take more central or active roles in the narrative. This chapter also focuses upon the...