LE3 .A278 2012

2012

Wyile, Andrea Schwenke

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

English

English & Theatre Studies

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels have effectively set in motion the current “crossover novel” phenomenon, captivating both children and adults alike. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories have been the subject of much critical attention because of their multiple readerships, categorizing the novels in the relatively new genre of “crossover fiction” – one that challenges established readerships and blurs conventional (and antiquated) reading lines. Within the Harry Potter series, Rowling engages in what I refer to as a “triple crossover”. The crossover exists first by inviting adults to engage in a “children’s” text, encouraging a kind of literary appropriation. Within the series itself, Rowling plays on a notion of “thresholds” as a means of creating passages on both literal and figurative levels – and in this process creates a second, or double, crossover. By book four, the midway point of the series, Rowling begins shifting elements of tone, plot, character and theme to parallel the transition from child to adolescent, thus creating a third form of crossover. In discussions of the books, many critics argue that Rowling’s work is “ordinary” – that her success is the result of well-executed publishing and marketing strategies. In attempting to situate her novels in the broader realm of children’s and crossover literature, I argue that Rowling finds herself caught in an evaluative threshold of “high” vs. “low” literature. By identifying qualities of both high and low literature in the novels, Rowling’s Harry Potter series settles in a “middle” category, or threshold, in between.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:925