Voldemort and the Failure of Magic in the Harry Potter Series: The Post-human Monster in Fantasy and Science Fiction
Martín Alegre, Sara ![ORCID Identifier](/img/uab/orcid.ico)
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Date: |
2017 |
Description: |
21 pag. |
Abstract: |
The current theorization of post-humanism allows us to compare monsters belonging to fantasy and science fiction, using as common denominator their post-human nature, in particular as regards their urge to overcome death beyond current techno-science. In the series Harry Potter by British author J. K. Rowling not only the hero's story is narrated but also that of his enemy, Voldemort. His wish to transcend death as a human weakness ends up transforming this villain into, as Harold Bloom pointed out, a post-human monster. However, his aberrant physical monstrosity (which is part of Rowling's moral message) reveals, rather, the failure of magic in transcending humanity, especially when we compare the limited Voldemort to the post-human monsters of current SF, a genre here represented by novelists John Scalzi and Richard K. Morgan. In their novels the new post-humans horrify us not quite because of their superhuman physique, which somehow we admire, but because of the monstrous science that creates them and which threatens the very existence of the human species. |
Note: |
Originally published as "Voldemort y el fracaso de la magia en la serie Harry Potter: El monstruo posthumano en la fantasía y la ciencia-ficción". El monstruo fantástico: Visiones y perspectivas. David Roas (ed.). Aluvión Editorial, www.editorialaluvion.com, 2016. 199-214. Translation by the author, with permission from the publishers. |
Rights: |
Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades. ![Creative Commons](/img/licenses/by-nc-nd.ico) |
Language: |
Anglès |
Document: |
Capítol de llibre |
Subject: |
Monster ;
Post-human ;
Voldemort ;
J.K. Rowling ;
John Scalzi ;
Richard K. Morgan |
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Record created 2017-03-08, last modified 2023-05-31