"I've Walked This Street": Readings of "Reality" in Children's Reception of Fantasy

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Paper Session: Children, Adolescents, and the Media Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

This paper examines children’s perceptions of identifiable, ‘real’ elements in their reception of the Harry Potter series, focusing on how fantasy finds meaning in the lives of children because they connect with reality in reading fantasy. Notwithstanding the abundance of magical hexes, witches, and wand-waving that characterise the series, children’s talk is found to veer towards emotional matters, relationships and real-life elements. The paper argues that this propensity to extract touches of reality out of the world of fantasy, is not visible in aspirations towards an unreachable, ‘magic’ world hidden somewhere which children believe really exists, but rather by drawing out of the world of fantasy, elements of everyday life, complete with its characters, bonds, rapports, attachments and socio-cultural references. Analysing data from fieldwork with teen audiences of the Harry Potter series, this paper explores ways in which children find a sense of location, rooting and grounding in reading fantasy.

Author

• Ranjana Das, U of Leicester