An Academic Look At The World's Most Popular Wizard

A University of Cincinnati assistant professor of language arts contributed to a book that takes a scholarly look at the Harry Potter phenomenon. Rebecca Sutherland Borah penned the final chapter for The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter, Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon, due in bookstores nationwide by early January. The book is published by the University of Missouri Press.

Borah joins scholars from the U.S., Great Britain and Canada in what is called the first book-length analysis of Harry Potter, examining folklore, literature, psychology, sociology and pop culture.

Borah's chapter, titled, "Apprentice Wizards Welcome: Fan Communities and the Culture of Harry Potter," examines Harry Potter's appeal and his message to fans young and old. "It's not just a story of fantasy. There are moral issues in these books," she says. She approached her chapter for The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter as both a Harry Potter fan and an academic, she says, surfing Harry Potter websites-those that appeal to the fans as well as anti Harry Potter websites. The Latonia, Ky. resident also held a Harry Potter tea for local children from her church, as she explored criticisms that the young wizard is anti-religion. "One of the children in the group even said, 'One of the ghosts is the Fat Friar. He's religious!'"

Borah says the Potter fan communities have strong similarities to the Star Trek "Trekker" culture, "but at the same time, they're very different because with Potter, there's an interesting mix of young children and adults and there's such a wide fan culture on the Web. Also, contrary to those Saturday Night Live 'Get a Life' satires of the Trekkers, Potter fans are intelligent, articulate and motivated people and are not living in their parents' basement. In fact, most of the Harry Potter fan communities include a large percentage of women who are highly intellectual, who communicate with each other about continuity and character development."

Harry Potter's popularity comes from his "do good" philosophy, innocence and imagination, says Borah.  Fans promote his moral code of learning to read or teaching others to read. "Teachers can tap into those fan behaviors to motivate their students."

Borah has been a Potter fan since J.K. Rowling released her first book in the Potter series. Borah is now passing on her Harry Potter enthusiasm to her newborn son, Andrew Gabriel. She's currently at work on little Andrew's Potter-themed nursery. Andrew was born Nov. 10.

The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter ($34.95) will be available in bookstores nationwide, but can also be ordered online through Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and the Missouri Press. The book can also be ordered from the University of Missouri Press by calling 800-828-1894.