Giving the Devil His Due
I’m sure J.K. Rowling would be the first to admit it but the Harry Potter phenomenon did not arise spontaneously from the author’s imagination but is part of a tradition in English literature that has its roots in the earliest forms of expression, even before anyone thought of writing them down. The Grail stories, for example, were legends passed from generation to generation and only obliquely mentioned in English letters at the time. Geoffrey of Monmouth devoted an entire chapter of his History of the Kings of England, written in the 12th Century, to the prophecies of Merlin. He also chronicles the five battles of King Arthur but there is no mention of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. Upon this slender foundation rests an entire literary genre.
To give the devil his due (and Ms. Rowling her due) Harry Potter, along with the other recent upstart on the shire-scene Bilbo Baggins, are worthy representatives of this tradition. Our Circulation maven, Deb Legg, inadvertently coined a phrase recently which will henceforth always be associated in my mind with myth and magic in the age of commercialism: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Commerce. This is all well and good as long as we acknowledge the people who laid the groundwork for today’s commercial success, authors like George McDonald and Lord Dunsany. If you are interested in how this tradition may have looked and sounded in a more primal form check out Katherine Paterson’s Parzival: the Quest of the Grail Knight.
Interestingly, Katherine Paterson may have directly benefited from the interest in folk and faerie that has emerged in the wake of Harry and Bilbo’s commercial success (as did local wizard Charles Vess.
Bridge to Terabithia, her classic tale of childhood innocence and the power of the imagination was beautifully adapted to the screen earlier this year thirty years after its original publication. Charles’ Stardust will hit the big screen some time in August. Like J.K. Rowling Paterson’s work has run into irrational opposition. In fact, it is number 9 on the list of most challenged books compiled by the ALA from 1990-2000 (Harry Potter is #7). Just as the Victorians feared sexuality (at least in public), so today there are those who fear the imagination. Writers like Rowling, Paterson, Philip Pullman, Lord Dunsany, The Pearl Poet, writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and countless others through the ages, have succeeded in harnessing the imagination and sharing its vast and wondrous possibilities.
Postscript: In the months to come the library community will be participating in a community read and discussion of Fahrenheit 451. Censorship and freedom of information will be discussed at different forums coinciding with the book discuaaion. Stay tuned for details.