I just came across this entry and I know it's old and you are probably done with the topic but I just have to add my two cents.
First of all, I'm not an expert when it comes to fantasy literature. Anyway I have my own theory of what Rowling might have meant by saying that HP subverts the fantasy genre.
Fantasy novels create worlds which differ strongly from the readers reality. As far as I know, they classically do so not only by the use of supernatural elements, like magic, mythical creatures and so on, but also by setting the plot into a different age like the medieval. Therefore the social and political structures of the story usually strongly differ from those experienced by the reader in his everyday life (feudal system).
Unlike SiFi a classical fantasy novel doesn't aim for making a statement about the “real world” but for giving us a way to escape it, if only for a short while.
I'm not sure if novels set in modern times qualify as fantasy in the classical meaning of the word. As I said I'm not an expert. The only series that comes to my mind right now, which does contains supernatural elements and huge parts of which are set in the present (relating to the books date of appearance), are The Vampire Chronicles. Even if we consider them fantasy, the world of the vampire elite, which the series is centered around, is so extremely far away from our everyday live experience (immortality, fabulous wealth, unhuman straight tec). By this it resembles the above mentioned Tolkien-kind-of-book.
Harry Potter undermines the mentioned concept by using classical elements of the fantasy genre like magic but creating an alternative world that is extremely similar to our own, considering the social mechanics (group dynamics, great importance of popularity), bureaucracy and, last but not least, the way the wizards use a channeled form of energy for convenience and entertainment in every subarea of their lives. Their magic is our electricity. They depend on it and it comes natural to them to use it. I mean, they use “lumos” as I would a flashlight.
So all in all, when Rowling speaks of subverting the fantasy genre, maybe she is referring to this mirroring quality of the novel?
no subject
I just came across this entry and I know it's old and you are probably done with the topic but I just have to add my two cents.
First of all, I'm not an expert when it comes to fantasy literature. Anyway I have my own theory of what Rowling might have meant by saying that HP subverts the fantasy genre.
Fantasy novels create worlds which differ strongly from the readers reality. As far as I know, they classically do so not only by the use of supernatural elements, like magic, mythical creatures and so on, but also by setting the plot into a different age like the medieval.
Therefore the social and political structures of the story usually strongly differ from those experienced by the reader in his everyday life (feudal system).
Unlike SiFi a classical fantasy novel doesn't aim for making a statement about the “real world” but for giving us a way to escape it, if only for a short while.
I'm not sure if novels set in modern times qualify as fantasy in the classical meaning of the word. As I said I'm not an expert. The only series that comes to my mind right now, which does contains supernatural elements and huge parts of which are set in the present (relating to the books date of appearance), are The Vampire Chronicles. Even if we consider them fantasy, the world of the vampire elite, which the series is centered around, is so extremely far away from our everyday live experience (immortality, fabulous wealth, unhuman straight tec). By this it resembles the above mentioned Tolkien-kind-of-book.
Harry Potter undermines the mentioned concept by using classical elements of the fantasy genre like magic but creating an alternative world that is extremely similar to our own, considering the social mechanics (group dynamics, great importance of popularity), bureaucracy and, last but not least, the way the wizards use a channeled form of energy for convenience and entertainment in every subarea of their lives. Their magic is our electricity. They depend on it and it comes natural to them to use it. I mean, they use “lumos” as I would a flashlight.
So all in all, when Rowling speaks of subverting the fantasy genre, maybe she is referring to this mirroring quality of the novel?