Harry Potter and the literary phenomenon

21st century high fantasy in the book "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling

With the popularity of the Harry Potter book series, the fantasy genre is said to have been revived, increasing awareness about books and authors who are credited to be good examples of this particular literary genre. However, the fantasy genre, with its revived popularity, has also evolved to become a 'higher form of fantasy' -- that is, the creation of high fantasy. The concept of high fantasy is controversial in that it takes the genre to a higher level or form, which, considering that fantasy is already a high form of the human imagination's expression, takes fantasy to a higher, if not highest, development.

This paper looks into the concept of high fantasy in the novel, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by the author JK Rowling. In the discussion and analysis of the novel, characters, elements, and plots in the novel are included as cases in point in developing the argument that indeed, "Harry Potter" contains the elements comprising a high fantasy novel. Specifically, this paper posits that in the novel, high fantasy is the dominant genre because it specifically targets the adult segment of the market, wherein fantasies require a greater understanding and imagination development for this group. Thus, what makes "Harry Potter" a high fantasy novel, then, is the level of imagination development that occurs during the adult individual's consumption of the "Harry Potter" material. While the novel also mainly targeted the young adult segment, its inclusion of the adult segment deemed it necessary for the high fantasy genre to exist as a way of coping with the levels of imagination adults have (as compared to children).

Balfe (2004) provided an appropriate assessment of the fantasy genre as it relates to the present nature of society as a highly consumer-oriented society. Fantasy as a genre in today's reading public is determined through the kinds of theme propagated within the literary work. That is, more than anything else, fantasy -- specifically modern fantasy -- is characterized by "a quest involving 'the world, or the universe, or the Lord Almighty...which includes a Peter Pan figure, a girl of noble birth, and a moron of some kind" (77). These characteristics bear striking resemblance to Rowling's own development of the main characters of the novel: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Respectively, each character represented the 'ideal character' presented, wherein Hermione assumes the 'girl of noble birth' role, Ron as the 'moron' who acts as humor relief in the novel, and Harry as the 'Peter Pan figure' in the novel.

The author's analogous resemblance of Harry with the Peter Pan figure in the fantasy novel demonstrated how, in Rowling's attempt to capture both the young adult and adult segments, she mixed both elements, which she believed would appeal to both segment groups. Indeed, the presence of both realistic and fantastical elements in the novel was a strategy consciously made to make young adults appreciate "Harry Potter" fantasy, and at the same time, have the adults achieve a greater imagination development, thereby making the novel also an example of high fantasy literature. Creating the characters in the image of humans, and even the inclusion of the mortal world in the novel, are strategic attempts to make the novel more relevant, if not totally fantastical, to adult people's lives, views and perceptions of reality. Thus, in "Harry Potter," the genre of high fantasy is maintained through this strategy.

Simmons and Evely (2006) classified "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," and the other Harry Potter novels as examples of 'magical realism' novels. This, they believed, was the most appropriate term to define the kind of fantasy tackled and illustrated in the novel, since the authors took into account the "adult elements" that are relevant to, and oftentimes targeting at, the adults. In their analysis, high fantasy was substituted by magical realism, for high fantasy requires the individual to seek greater imagination development devoid of one's awareness of the existence of the human world. This was not the case in the Harry Potter novels, that is why they deemed it necessary to opt for the "magical realism" concept instead, to make the assessment more realistic and true to the present nature of the fantasy-reading adult segment in the market today.