Harry Potter and His Worlds

The course "Harry Potter and His Worlds" examines how the Harry Potter phenomenon has been analysed from a vast number of perspectives in previous research. Examples of theoretical approaches that will be applied during the course are a gender perspective, an intermedial perspective that explores the interaction between different media, such as books, movies and a stage play, and an author perspective, which highlights how J. K. Rowling is trying to control fans' interpretations of her stories. The course introduces different tools for understanding and interpreting children's literature and Young Adult (YA) literature. It also highlights defining characteristics of the fantasy genre and how this genre is utilised in the Harry Potter books and movies. The stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the two Fantastic Beasts movies are discussed critically, for example in terms of their depiction of conflicts between different generations and LGBTQ+ aspects. The examination consists of written and oral assignments and tasks.