Witching Hour Brings Many Magical Discussions

Oct 09, 2005

Posted by: SueTLC

Uncategorized

The Associated Press has written a story about The Witching Hour, the Harry Potter Symposium taking place in Salem, Massachusetts. The five day event, which concludes tomorrow, featured many diverse and thoughtful panels and presentations all steming from the Harry Potter book series.

One of Saturday’s most popular events was a speech delivered by Henry Jenkins, a professor of literature and comparative media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“What’s exciting about this (symposium) is the total fusion of fan and academic discussions,” Jenkins said. “That’s a breaking down of the walls that hasn’t occurred in many other places.”

Jenkins, who wrote about Harry Potter fans in a forthcoming book, “Converge Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide,” said Rowlings’ novels could become fodder for serious academic study.

“(Nathaniel) Hawthorne’s books were potboilers in their time and became part of the literary establishment,” Jenkins said of the 19th century author, a native of Salem. “No one knows if the Harry Potter books will be part of the literary curriculum 100 years from now, but it’s quite possible.”

In attendance was actor Chris Rankin, who portray Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter films. You can hear more from Chris who was a guest for our special Pottercast, which will be aired this week.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.