Call for Papers: A Brand of Fictional Magic: Reading Harry Potter as Literature A two day conference hosted by the

School of English, University of St Andrews 17-18 May 2012, Kennedy Hall, St Andrews, Scotland The relentless success of J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter series (1997-2007) evokes words like phenomenon and catastrophe. With the conclusion of the film franchise and the launch of Pottermore.com, the series is receiving increased academic consideration in conferences, articles, and monographs. However, relatively little work has been done directly engaging with the series as a literary text. This conference attempts to begin redressing that lack. Rowlings combination of fantasy and school-story genres, her use of folkloric archetypes and mythopoeic symbolism, and her social and religious messages render the Harry Potter books a point of interestand controversyto scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Specifically, this conference seeks to critically explore Rowlings concept of imaginative empathy, the ability to learn and understand, without having experienced. Of particular interest are ways in which the power of empathy, in addition to its being of socio-political necessity, might be read as Rowlings brand of fictional magic. We invite papers and panels that engage with the text to discuss the centrality of empathy to the economies of the creative artist. Relevant topics might include: The poetics of empathy Symbolic or archetypal depictions of empathy Readings of the series as childrens or YA literature Mythopoesis and the re-appropriation of folklore Medievalism and depictions of the Middle Ages in the Wizarding World Space, landscape, or architecture Representations and uses of socialization or maturation Depictions of education and pedagogy, empathetic or bounded Rowlings concepts of mental agoraphobia and wilful unimagination Literary influences on the series Textual or semiotic analysis of the narrative Genre criticism, viz., Gothic, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, School Story, Dystopia, et al. Narrative voice and authority Political empathy, class action, or solidarity

Keynote speakers will be John Granger and Jessica Tiffin. Papers will be 20 minutes, and may discuss any of the seven books individually or the series as a whole. Please submit a 300-word (max.) abstract in .doc, .docx., or .pdf format with a short CV to John Patrick Pazdziora (jpp6@st-andrews.ac.uk) by 31 October 2011.