Chapter Ten

MARC BOUSQUET
Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteian, cast vicaiiously as both
victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no meie
veneei of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished.
Howevei,thisvaloiousvisitationofaby-gonevexation,standsvivifed,
and has vowed to vanquish these venal and viiulent veimin vanguaid-
ingviceandvouchsafngtheviolentlyviciousandvoiaciousviolationof
volition.Theonlyveidictisvengeance;avendetta,heldasavotive,not
in vain, foi the value and veiacity of such shall one day vindicate the
vigilantandtheviituous.

DetectiveMaitinPiendeigast:Let`sgomeetsomenicepolicemen.
They`iegoodguys.Let`sgo."
BillFostei.I`mthebadguy:Howdidthathappen:Idideveiything
they told me to. Did you know I build missiles: I help to piotect
Ameiica.Youshouldbeiewaidedfoithat."

This chaptei exploies the Haiiy Pottei seiies in the context of the
Reagan-Bush-Thatchei-Blaii wai against evil" and an intensifying ieliance
on melodiama in political cultuie. The coie obseivation that I make is
twofold. Fiist, melodiama can be an extiaoidinaiily effective oiganizei of
public opinion in seivice of impeiial, dominative ambition, whethei
employedbytheblackshiitsoftheThiidReichoibyiecentoccupantsofthe
White House. The poweiful appeal of simple, binaiy melodiamatic ethics
(puiegoodveisusunmitigatedevil)anditscoiesubjectivity-thevictimized,
misundeistoodheio,whooftenappeaispaianoidoidelusionaltootheis-is
a signifcant component of the success of the Haiiy Pottei seiies. That same
poweiful appeal, when employed by state powei and coipoiate media, helps
to oiganize feelings of national victimization (by the Jews! by iadical Islam! by
the hateis of fieedom" and oui way of life"!) in suppoit of domination. The
totalizing ethics of melodiama tend towaid justifcation of violence-i.e.,
toituie can be good" when employed against evil" people. In this way, by
oiganizing nationalist-even impeiial-feelings in suppoit of the violent
exeicise of state powei against peisons, people, cultuies, and othei states,
melodiama justifably iaises enoimous conceins foi ciitical obseiveis of the
UnitedStatesasapoliticalandcultuialagentonthewoildstage.
One way of ieading the Haiiy Pottei seiies, theiefoie, is in the mode of
cultuialpathology:i.e.,asapotentiallyhaimfulcultuialaitifactthatdissemi-
natesamelodiamaticwoildviewandtheiefoiepiepaiesthewayfoitheabuse
ofstatepowei.Theieisofcouisesubstantialsuppoitfoisuchaieading.Ovei
thecouiseoftheseiies,theieisalsosubstantialsuppoitfoiacomplementaiy
ieading that would show Rowling-like many otheis woiking in a melodia-
matic mode-employing the melodiamatic giammai of white hats veisus
blackhatstointioducemanyfneshadesof giay.Thissecond ieading would
be compatible with numeious associated lines of thought, especially those
spiinging fiom pievailing tendencies in Biimingham-school cultuial studies.
Foi these ieadeis, the question is not how Rowling intended the seiies, oi
whethei theie was some fim allegoiical meaningin" the text that was itself
dangeious to young ieadeis` moial, ethical, oi political sensibility. Rathei,
these ciitics would exploie the complex, ambiguous-and often libeiatoiy-
waysthatieadeisemploytexts,eventhepoliticallydistastefulelementsofveiy
iegiessivetexts,oftenagainsttheauthoi`sintentions.
The second coie obseivation that I make is moie diffcult than the fist,
and leads to much edgiei, but peihaps moie subtle and fiuitful, ieadings of
HaiiyPotteiasacultuialaitifactthanthosesuggestedabove.
Thekeythoughtisthatmelodiama`sbioadappealhasmuchtodowithits
oiigins in the ievolutionaiy woiking-class insuiiections that saw the estab-
lishment of demociatic states between 1798 and 1848. With that in mind, I
pointoutthatbothhistoiicallyandatpiesentmelodiamahasneveibeenonly
a ihetoiic of state powei, of false victimhood assumed by impeiial stoim
tioopeis in seivice of domination.It has been and iemains also a ihetoiic of
libeiation. The appeal of melodiama as a libeiatoiy ihetoiic may in pait
explain its success when hijacked by the state. Of paiticulai inteiest is the
stiiking example of the flm V [or VenJea, which-astonishingly in the
cuiient climate of iepiession-iepiesents the political violence of its victim
heio in extiaoidinaiily sympathetic teims in his campaign against state
iepiession.Itisapoweiful,distuibing,exhilaiatingflmthat(ie)captuiesthe
MaicBousquet
ievolutionaiy, demociatic sensibility of the melodiama. It explicitly calls up
thelanguage,iconogiaphy,andsubjectivityofvictimizationestablishedinthe
demociatic ievolutionaiy theatei in an explicit attempt to once again build
populai insuiiectionaiy feeling and name demociacy`s common enemy-in
thosewhohavehijackedthedemociaticstateandthepublicspheie.
Since theie aie numeiouspaiallels in the way the latei installments ofthe
Potteiseiies handle the abuseof state powei, we must ask the diffcult ques-
tion: how, then, shall we iespond to the melodiamatic sensibility in Haiiy
Pottei, especially as it unfolds ovei the couise of the seiies, with Rowling
visiblystiugglingwiththeestablishedmelodiamaticgiammaiofthenovelsin
the afteimath of the intensifed adoption of melodiamatic ihetoiic to justify
bioad extensions of state powei in both Biitain and the United States aftei
Septembei11,2001:
Takingtheseiiesasawhole,canwedismissitsdeploymentofmelodiama
simplistically as social-psychological bad medicine foi young minds: Oi aie
theiewaysinwhichtheseiiesislikeV [or VenJea:Whilenoxiousasaiheto-
iicofdomination,is melodiama peihaps stilla viable andnecessaiy ihetoiic
fiombelow:Wemaynotwish,inotheiwoids,tothiowouttheievolutionaiy
babywiththeiight-wingbathwatei.
Finally:aiewesosuiethatthatweknowwhatthecoiiect"alteinativesto
melodiamamightbe:

Melodiama (black hats vs. white hats, puie good vs. puie evil, as in Seigio
Leone westeins, Rocky and Bulwinkle, etc.) oiiginates in the eighteenth
centuiy woiking-class theatei and its emeiging iconogiaphy of the Fiench
ievolution.Thevillainswoieblack,thedaik evening clothes,andtop hatsof
theaiistociacy.Theheioeswoiethehomespun,oftenundyedclothingofthe
woikingclassandpeasantiy.Melodiamaplacedvillainsinblacktophatswith
specifc ihetoiical consequences. It functioned to name the enemy" foi
woiking-classaudiences,fosteiingasenseofclasssolidaiityagainsttheaiisto-
ciatic oppiessoi. As a victim, the heio`s chaiactei geneially doesn`t develop,
butisalways,simply,good."Consequently,muchofthediamaticactionhas
todowithbeingmisundeistoodoivictimized.Thechaiacteidoesn`tchange,
buthisciicumstanceschangeoihistiueidentityisievealed.
Petei Biooks analyzes the coie featuie of melodiama as this moment of
enlightenmentoiclaiifcation,theclimacticievelationoftiuth.Itistheiefoie
adiamaofknowledge.Theactionendswhenthemysteiy isdispelledand/oi
the misundeistood heio`s always-extant goodness is at last iecognized.
Biooks`analysisinthisiegaidispaiticulailyhelpfulbecausethegoodveisus
evil"iconogiaphyofmelodiamahas,ofcouise,amuchlongeihistoiy.
1
Thespecialcontiibutionofthemelodiamaisthecieationofavictimheio,
misundeistood and misiecognized, in a plot that diives ielentlessly towaid
HaiiyPotteiandtheWaiagainstEvil
claiifcation and iecognition. The stoiy is ovei when the victim heio`s viitue
is known. This means that one of the genie`s most common plot engines is
misiecognition by a fguie in authoiity-a paient, employei, spouse, police
offcei, politician, cleiic, headmastei, oi teachei. Sometimes the mistaken
authoiityinmelodiamaisthepublic"itself,oiafguiefoithepublicspheie,
such as a jouinalist oi spoits audience. Typically the ultimate iecognition of
theheio`s goodnessis accompanied by othei ievelations: the identity oitiue
chaiactei of the villain, claiifcation of plot lines, and so foith. As Biooks
points out, the melodiamatic aesthetic intioduces ambiguity and complexity
onlytodiiveitfiomthescene,emphasizingthattherewarJ ofviitueisonly
asecondaiymanifestationoftheretognon ofviitue"(27).
Oveiwhelmingly the dominant foim of the nineteenth-centuiy stage and
thetwentieth-centuiyflmindustiy,melodiamaincoipoiatesEnlightenment/
Encyclopedicideology abouttheielationship betweenknowledge,education,
andsocial change. In melodiama,when thepioblemisfullyundeistood,the
pioblemisiesolved.Thisfaiththattheexposuieofwiongsleadsinevitablyto
theii iediess is widespiead among educatois and cultuial actois thioughout
the West. Sustained by melodiamatic cultuial foims, including jouinalism,
politicalspeech,andeducatoipiactice,thebeliefinthetiansfoimativepowei
of knowledge, speech, and publicity emeiged in the eighteenth centuiy, iose
todominanceinthenineteenthcentuiy,andiemainsdominanttoday.
Accoidingly, melodiamadid notlong iemainievolutionaiy woiking-class
piopaganda. It was incoipoiated into the pioject of political modeinism
moie bioadly. Piomptly appiopiiated by the elites, piofessionals, and man-
ageis who contiolled the theateis, it was adapted to liteiaiy puiposes and
inuenced political discouise, political iconogiaphy, and political thought
fiom the eaily nineteenth centuiy thiough the piesent. Little studied oi dis-
cussed in academic ciicles today, melodiama has fai fiom waned. If it has
become moie diffcult to giasp ciitically, it is only because it satuiates the
politicalandcultuialatmospheie.Itisthesinglemostinuentialmass-media
foim today. It is neaily omnipiesent in big-budget Hollywood flms-many
ofwhosevideo-stoiegenies"ofwestein,thiillei,action,hoiioi,etc,aiebest
undeistoodassubgeniesofclassicmelodiama.(Manyofthemhavetwocen-
tuiies of antecedents in woiking-class theatei.) Ditto foi almost all video
games, especially the fist peison shootei" vaiiety. Melodiama stiuctuies
bestselling fction and television naiiative. It shapes tabloid and television
jouinalism. Itpiovides a poweiful set of tiopes to political speech, especially
in waitime, oi in stiuggles analogized to wai (as in the wai on diugs"). In
political discouise, including paitisan speech and television news iepoiting,
melodiama`s capacity to name the enemy" and consolidate a collective
antagonist to the evil" Othei is most effectively deployed by those whose
inteiestsaieshaiedbycoipoiatemediainteiests.
Evei piesent in modein political discouise, melodiama is not howevei
MaicBousquet
always dominant. Foi instance, the waitime melodiamatic iegistei established
in the stiuggle against fascism continued unabated in the subsequent
McCaithyism. Subsequently, howevei, the melodiamatic policy complex of
anticommunist geopolitics thiough the 1960s and 1970s steadily gave giound.
Even in the midst of the Reagan-Bush-Thatchei ieaction, Reagan`s evil
empiie" iemaik was theiefoie ieceived as staitling and iegiessive, one which
caused bittei divisions even within the ianks of his stiongest suppoiteis and
closest advisois.
Today, howevei, melodiamatic conventions aie once again policy and the
manufactuied consensus of political cultuie, including the conviction that
evildoeis aie less than human. Geoige W. Bush`s ihetoiic of a wai against
evil" fiames and sustains a bioadei public commitment iegaiding evildoeis."
This ihetoiic casts the United States in the iole of blameless victim, a viigin
tied to the tiacks while top-hatted dictatois of oil wealth gleefully twiil theii
mustaches.
The fact that Saddam Hussein had no connection to the events of Septem-
bei 11th only intensifes the melodiamatic iegistei, because the United States
is now not only blameless, but misundeistood on the woild stage. The Bush
administiation expeiiences its ciisis of legitimacy in ielation to the Iiaq wai in
the mannei of the heioes of most Schwaizeneggei, Stallone, oi Willis stai
vehicles. Fiom Rambo and the Teiminatoi to Willis`s John McLane, these
violent avengeis aie all compulsively and iepetitively misundeistood by
employeis, politicians, spouses, and the public. The action of the plot moves
in installments towaid claiifcation-a claiifcation poweied by authoiity`s
long-awaited iecognition of the heio`s essential, unvaiying, misundeistood
goodness. As the misundeistood heio of J. S. Jones` 1838 classic, T|e Peo|e's
Lawyer, has it: You shall one day know who I am and be soiiy foi this injus-
tice!" (398). Invoking the language, iconogiaphy, and psychology of melo-
diama, the Bush administiation appeais to have the same desiie-to be
iecognized by last-minute inteivention (the confession of an evildoei, the
discoveiy of a missing document oi witness, etc.). The Bush administiation
compulsively iepeats its need to be acknowledged as having been wholly good
and blameless fiom the beginning. At the end of the mayhem, the heio`s
iewaid is an acknowledgement that he was iight all along, howevei paianoid,
iiiational, and antisocial he seemed thioughout the plot.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
By contiast, many commentatois and ciitics cast the Bush administiation
within the naiiative of bildungsioman oi bouigeois iealism. These naiiatives
go a bit like this: facing a test of chaiactei and giowth, the Bush administia-
tion fails to change, ieect, oi develop. This conseives the tiaditional iefei-
ence point of liteiaiy iealism: the iealistic" iepiesentation of the
psychological development of bouigeois subjects.
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
Those of us woiking in the academic wing of the cultuie industiies typ-
ically value these iealist" and classically libeial-bouigeois naiiatives of chai-
actei giowth-of oveicoming inteinal obstacles and changes of attitude by
the heio-moie highly than we value melodiamatic naiiatives of oveicoming
exteinal obstacles and consequent changes of attitude by peisons othei than
the heio. We tend to view bouigeois iealism and melodiama as veiy diffeient
fiom each othei. We fuithei believe bouigeois iealism to have tiemendous
meiits-liteiaiy, ethical, psychological, educational-that melodiama all but
completely lacks. To a stiong extent, oui academic iejection of melodiamatic
cultuial foims ieects oui stiong commitment to classically libeial values,
including those of libeial education. Bouigeois-iealist foims of naiiative
asciibe enoimous meiit to all activities associated with chaiactei development
(including, bioadly, education). Bouigeois, oi psychological, iealism iesolves
plots happily with peisonal giowth, and unhappily with failuie to giow.
The discomfoit of libeial educatois with melodiama is undeistandable.
Libeial educatois commonly conceive of libeial education as in pait encoui-
aging students to develop" in ielation to melodiamatic foims. The piesump-
tion is one of a tiajectoiy: away fiom melodiamatic foims associated with the
unschooled juvenile (fist-peison shootei video games, caitoons, comics)
towaid the bouigeois-iealist foims geneially piized in close piopoition to
schooling. These piefeiied texts include, foi instance, novels dealing with
contempoiaiy social themes such as iace, gendei, and cultuial diffeience. Sig-
nifcantly, howevei, these piefeiied texts iaiely addiess the theme of social
class (except thiough highly ideological mediations such as iace).
In addition to positive and piosocial messages iegaiding the impoitance of
chaiactei-building against iacism and gendei bias, these novels typically
iequiie a giasp of such new-ciitical values as ambiguity, complexity, and
iiony. With moie of these things, moie inteinal navigation of ambiguity and
complexity, and less melodiamatic binaiizing and simplifcation, we believe,
peihaps the Bush administiation would have uiged us to saddle up to
Saddam`s hanging paity in vain.
In shoit, libeial educatois view melodiama thiough a melodiamatic lens.
We view melodiama, puiely, and simply, as bad." In the academic imagina-
tion, melodiama is bad liteiatuie, bad cultuie, bad politics, bad education. It
stands in opposition to good" liteiatuie, politics, and education.
This leads those of us with educatoi`s tin stais pinned to oui vests to a
cleai, simple, stiaightfoiwaid conclusion: We need moie schooling to stamp
out the juvenile attachment to melodiama. Melodiama is the enemy.
But is it:
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Thinking about melodiama iequiies us to go a little fuithei, to exploie some
unexpected ambiguities of the melodiamatic stiuctuie of feeling. One com-
Maic Bousquet
plexity to considei is that bouigeois iealism and melodiama have a lot in
common-especially the shaied tiadition of iomantic, heioic, individualism.
Puisuing the giowth of bouigeois chaiactei in bildungsioman, liteiaiy
iealism developed in close ielationship to the social psychology of a piofes-
sional, manageiial fiaction of the woiking class: peisons foi whom an
extended appienticeship of schooling and piosocial chaiactei development
ends with the iewaid of a good income and status iecognition, a iough ana-
logue of the chaiactei-building adventuies of the bouigeois son in bildungso-
man, not yet ieady to diiect his fathei`s wealth-building enteipiise. Fiom the
lattei half of the nineteenth centuiy thiough the piesent, piofessionals and
manageis have consumed a liteiatuie valoiizing the oveicoming of inteinal
obstacles, of psychological giowth associated with exteinal iewaids. In a way,
liteiaiy iealism is simply the exible foim of the melodiama, with the obsta-
cles to iecognition moved inwaid. Melodiamatic heioes aie misundeistood
by authoiity; iealist heioes misundeistand themselves oi otheis. Realism also
depends on a seiies of iecognitions; it, too, is an epistemological diama. But
in iealism the libeial subjectivity-Roity`s libeial iionist, Andeison`s impeiial
self-becomes both the object and subject of iecognition. Both as a mattei of
cultuial histoiy and emotional content, the libeial conviction of the educatoi
and administiatoi that the viitues of schooling will be iewaided is not so veiy
fai fiom the convictions of the melodiamatic heio. Both piogiess towaid the
ultimate iecognition of viitue.
Anothei consideiation is that melodiama functions moie like giammai than
a piesciiption oi foimula. It shapes what can be said, but is not fully deteimin-
ing. Even in its most industiialized and commodifed foim, Hollywood flm,
aitists woiking with the giammai of melodiama have found a way to navigate
complexity, ambiguity, and iiony. This is the intention of Joel Schumachei`s
Falling Down, based on an Edgai-awaid winning oiiginal scieenplay by Ebbe
Roe Smith. In many ways a classically modeinist flm with the auteuiist ambi-
tion of featuiing Eveiyman on the edge, the flm thematizes the inadequacy of
the melodiamatic iegistei of contempoiaiy subjectivity-I`m the bad guy: But
I build missiles to piotect Ameiica!"-while ielying entiiely on dominant,
melodiamatic flm giammai to make the point. This is the coie obseivation of
Biimingham-school cultuial studies appioaches to commodifed mass cultuie:
ideology ciitique of mass cultuie in the Fiankfuit school tiadition, while valu-
able, is not enough. Even the most ideologically naiiow cultuial aitifacts beai
contiadictoiy meanings and can be put to use against the giain of the intended
signifcance. Puisuing Bouidieu`s dictum iegaiding mass cultuie-Theie is
anothei pioduction called consumption"-the Biimingham school tiaces the
ways that oidinaiy citizens constantly piy ideologemes fiom theii intended
meanings and cieatively ie-deploy them to libeiatoiy puipose.
In shoit, both pioduceis and consumeis of melodiama aie in the habit of
making the language of black and white signify in eveiy shade of giay.
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
This contiadictoiy deployment of melodiama as both the object of ciitique
and the giammai of the ciitique itself, is also tiue of mainstieam iesponses to
the Bush administiation`s wai against evil" ihetoiic. Jon Stewait and
Stephen Colbeit, foi instance, constantly skewei the Bush administiation`s
melodiamatic woildview. But Stewait`s own tiope foi the vice-piesident and
piesident aie iconically melodiamatic villains. Foi him, Cheney is Daith
Vadei, the aiistociat-villain caped in black. He coiiespondingly casts Bush in
the iole of puie evil`s comic sidekick with an imitation (heh-heh-heh") iedo-
lent of such familiai second villains as Muttley, Dick Dastaidly`s dog in the
Hanna-Baibeia seiies. Colbeit`s peifoimance is even moie inteiesting: as a
libeial iionist, he nightly peifoims the iole of someone who, as he says, sees
the woild in black and white," with the appaient intention of inviting his
audience to considei the distance between the woildview of the egotistical
simpleton he poitiays and theii own. Yet it`s nevei cleai that the gap is as
laige as he would like.
The best ciitique of the melodiamatic woildview is that it simplifes ieality
and can be used to oveiwhelm dissenting speech and ciitical thought. The
Bush administiation`s assignation of white hats and black hats makes it much
haidei, foi instance, to speak oi even imagine paiallels between the histoiical
tactics of Ameiican iebel-patiiots (ioadside sniping by nonunifoimed com-
batants) and those of contempoiaiy Iiaqi iesistance to Ameiican occupying
foices. Theie is little to defend in the woildview of an impeiial nucleai supei-
powei that giasps inteinational ielations in the caitoonish and paianoiac
mode of an axis of evil." Deploying melodiamatic epistemology well in
advance of its biigades, the Bush administiation seeks-just as Elisabeth
Ankei contends-to place state powei beyond the iealm of demociatic polit-
ics and the possibility of debate: Thoughtfulness was ieplaced by the impeia-
tive towaid ietiibutive action" (33). The administiation`s binaiization into
camps of foi" and against" is, of couise, a foim of totalization, an intellec-
tual ieign of teiioi. Ankei is iight to name melodiama as the mode thiough
which Bush and the coipoiate media took powei away fiom citizens by
encouiaging them to assume that state powei was an unquestionable moial
impeiative in fghting the eteinal battle between good and evil" (36). By way
of melodiama, the Bush administiation and coipoiate media fiamed a
national consensus that a) all those dubbed evildoeis by the administiation
can and should be toituied to claiify the plot; b) that theie can be no ielief to
good until the evil othei is destioyed; and c) because you`ie eithei with us
good] oi against us evil]," anyone distuibing these claiities is potentially an
enemy of the state.
On the othei hand, Ankei piobably misses out on something by desciibing
melodiama as having piimaiily dangeious iamifcations" foi demociatic cit-
izenship (22). As we`ve seen with Colbeit and Stewait, even libeial iionists aie
diawn to melodiama`s powei to name the enemy, cieating a solidaiity of
Maic Bousquet
antagonism. Any full consideiation of melodiamatic utteiance has to
acknowledge, foi instance, the bieathtaking challenge to libeial oithodoxy
posed by a couiageous flm like the Wachowski biotheis` V [or VenJea,
which attempts to iecaptuie the ievolutionaiy melodiamatic woildview,
wiesting the language, iconogiaphy, and yeaining foi justice of melodiama
away fiom state piopaganda and back to its ioots in populai insuiiectionaiy
feeling.
Is it only a question of the Bush administiation using the wiong cultuial
mode: Oi is it a question of the cultuial mode being deployed to name the
wiong enemy: V foi Vendetta makes a compelling case foi the lattei. One has
to wondei whethei it can be accidental that a majoi flm so fully captuiing the
demociatic ievolutionaiy feeling emeiges aftei thiee decades of a ieactionaiy
class wai fiom above, pioducing globally unpiecedented extiemes of inequal-
ity and a secuiity state fai closei to the totalitaiian imaginings of Oiwell`s
1984 than most U.S. obseiveis evei thought possible.
Fuitheimoie: claiifcation iemains a libeiaitoiy aim in many ciicum-
stances. As I was fnishing up this piece, jouinalist John Cloud published his
piece on Dumbledoie`s sexuality in Time magazine, igniting a vaiiety of ieac-
tions, many akin to this lettei to the editoi, anxiously tiying to contain its
meaning: The Haiiy Pottei stoiy is about Haiiy and his best fiiends woiking
togethei to fght evil. It is not a p.c. statement about sexuality. It is not Haiiy
and the Angiy Inch. J. K. Rowling`s stoiy staited as a childien`s book and
evolved into teenage ieading mateiial. That is it." (Van den Heiik) As libeial
educatois, oui typical ieaction to this anxious demand foi claiity is a iueful
smile. Of couise, we say, the stoiy is ieally about Dumbledoie`s sexuality.
That good and evil stuff is foi childien and the unsophisticated.
Notwithstanding oui sense of supeiioiity foi masteiing the aits of subtex-
tuality, if we push even a bit at the libeial valoiization of ambigity, complex-
ity, and iiony, we can`t be so suie that these modes aie automatically
piefeiable in all ciicumstances. Anyone iemotely familiai with U.S. laboi law
undeistands that the Reagan-Bush ieaction has not pioceeded by caitoonish
iefeiences to evil empiies" alone. It has also pioceeded by the canny woik of
battalions of lawyeis and buieauciats dedicated to pioducing iegulatoiy com-
plexity and ambiguity aiound such teims as woik" and woikei." These
masteis of subtext all tiained in classes like ouis. They too chuckled at the
lettei-wiitei who insisted that the stoiy was ieally about a bunch of kids
woiking togethei to fght evil." We taught them to do that.
The consequence of these iegulatoiy ambiguities-ciafted by oui best stu-
dents-has been piofound foi tens of millions of woikeis. Peisons woiking as
independent contiactois" aien`t woikeis. Undocumented immigiants can
woik, but cannot claim the iights of laboi. Peisons employed pait-time"
don`t enjoy many woikei piotections, so now woik moie than full-time-just
at multiple pait-time jobs. At the height of the faculty unionization
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
movement, faculty in piivate colleges weie dubbed supeivisoiy" peisonnel,
and can be legally ietaliated against foi attempting to unionize. Following the
same legal ambiguity, even nuises who have no suboidinates have been legally
constiued as supeivisoiy peisonnel, and denied laboi piotections.
If theie is a mode that chaiacteiizes the class wai fiom above, it tuins out
not to be melodiama aftei all. Instead, class wai fiom above ielies on new-
ciitical textual manipulation: iegulatoiy ambiguity, the million-dollai-a-yeai
lawyei`s pioduction of inteipietive complexity, and the iionic mode, which
allows oui libeially-educated best students" to live with themselves while
they seivice capital.
The same points about nuance, complexity, and ambiguity might be made
with iespect to the law and discouise suiiounding toituie, oi the Supieme
Couit`s endoisement of Bush`s electoial victoiy" ovei Goie in a state gov-
eined by his biothei.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Ovei the couise of the seiies, Rowling`s ambitions foi hei cential chaiactei
change and giow. He begins a classically melodiamatic victim heio, and
becomes, with the longei novels (foui to seven), moie of a bouigeois-iealist
heio, with ||Jungsroman-style challenges that establish the giowth and evo-
lution of his chaiactei. Peihaps the most diamatic challenge Haiiy faces is the
evolution in his feelings towaid the situation of the house-elves, a giowth that
takes place so slowly that foi seveial installments of the seiies it is haid to
ciedit Rowling with what appeais to have been hei ultimate intention, foi
Haiiy to move towaid the gieatei sympathy with theii situation evidenced by
Heimione and, eventually, Dumbledoie. The melodiamatic giammai estab-
lished in the fist novels iemains fimly in place thioughout the saga, and the
moie ambitious novels have as one of theii coie challenges the expiession of
moial ambiguities-albeit with a vocabulaiy designed to eliminate them.
As we fist meet him, Pottei is desciibed in the classic melodiamatic
postuie of the victim heio, whose tiue identity is obscuied even fiom himself:
he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous" (Sor-
terer's Sone 18). Thioughout the subsequent decade, Haiiy yeains to be
known, and we aie piesented with a montage foieshadowing the satisfaction
of this desiie, showing a paiade of stiangeis ovei the yeais inexplicably
waving at him, bowing to him, shaking his hand, and so foith (27). Duiing
this peiiod, and ieally thioughout this novel, Haiiy`s chaiactei doesn`t stiug-
gle to develop, so much as it stiuggles simply to emeige-to pass into the
limelight, piessing past obstacles into vision and iecognition. The Duisleys
function to cloak his viitue, actively concealing evidence of his good qualities,
his past, his identity-his veiy existence. Relegated to a closet undei the staiis,
he is absent fiom the family photogiaphic iecoid, and misinfoimed about his
paients and cultuie. Above all, the Duisleys aie iepeatedly undeiscoied as
Maic Bousquet
peisons who couldn`t appieciate Pottei`s viitues even if they weie inclined to
do so. This sets up the diama of unveiling that the fist novel, and the entiie
seiies, compulsively iepeats: Haiiy`s essential viitues aie misundeistood by
fguies in powei and authoiity, then iecognized, then misundeistood once
moie.
The woild of school initiates the fist defnitive ievelation of Pottei`s chai-
actei with the tiaditional melodiamatic device of the waylaid document. The
piotiacted stiuggle ovei the admissions lettei is the fist diiect confiontation
that the boy initiates: foi the fist time, he makes demands and outiight
iefuses the authoiity of the Duisleys: Haiiy didn`t move. 'I WANT MY
LETTER!` he shouted" (31). This is entiiely a stiuggle ovei knowing: the
Duisleys seek at all costs to pievent ievelation while Haiiy and his eventual
sidekick Hagiid stiuggle to biing it about.
That moment of enlightenment is paitly the ievealed memoiy of tiauma
(the moment of his paients` muidei), tioped on limelight: As Hagiid`s stoiy
came to a close, he saw again the blinding gieen light, moie cleaily than he
had evei iemembeied it befoie" (46).
On the melodiamatic stage, this ievelation scene would have been accom-
panied by a ash of light ievealing the chaiacteis fiozen in place in a caiefully
composed pictuie, oi tableau, as well as by a shaip sound effect, such as
thundei, an oigan choid (ta-da!) oi, as when Sweeney Todd lifts his iazoi
high and pauses, a steam whistle. Fiequently the tableau is accompanied by
the echoing laugh of the villain, which is what accompanies Haiiy`s ievela-
tion: and he iemembeied something else, foi the fist time in his life, a high,
cold, ciuel, laugh" (46).
This fist achievement by oui heio is an achievement of self-asseition, of
insisting on being known in his piopei chaiactei-in this case, as a potential
mastei of the aits of tiaditional, libeial, college-piepaiatoiy schooling, heie
tioped as magic. One of the gieat weaknesses of the melodiama as a vehicle
foi woiking-class solidaiity was its eaily, pionounced tendency to ieveal the
identity of the heio as someone who doesn`t belong to the woiking class at all,
typically an aiistociat in disguise oi blocked fiom his inheiitance and title by
accident oi conspiiacy. In some cases of Jacksonian-eia melodiama, the
heio`s woiking-class ioots and iough manneis aie celebiated in the foim of a
natuie`s aiistociat," a veision that suivives today in, foi instance, Biuce
Willis vehicles oi television police/legal pioceduials, in which sexist oi iough-
talking police offceis nonetheless ieveal themselves as having heaits of
gold." Moie commonly, howevei, as in the 1839 J. S. Jones classic, The
People`s Lawyei," the heio pioves to have been not natuie`s nobleman but,
moie simply, an actual aiistociat in disguise. In these cases, the iecognition of
the heio`s identity is accompanied by a pot of money, status, and, typically,
the powei to iesolve any iemaining conicts in the plot.
This tendency captuies the desiie of the woiking-class audience to escape
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
its condition, albeit in a way unlikely to advance woiking-class ievolution.
This device has paiticulai social-psychological appeal foi the emeigent
piofessional-manageiial fiaction of the woiking class, foi whom schooling
and libeial bouigeois ideology iepiesented the possibility of a conciete, pei-
sonal satisfaction of theii individual desiie to escape the woiking-class con-
dition-without incuiiing the peisonal iisks and cost of tiansfoiming
undeilying social ielations.
The expeiience of schooling is suipiisingly consistent with melodiamatic
ideology foi the piofessional-manageiial class: sentenced, like othei membeis
of the woiking class, to a lifetime of laboi, of woiking in oidei to live, school-
ing is the expeiience that ieveals theii meiitoiiousness, validates theii claim to
an income some fiaction oi multiple of the income of otheis who woik in
oidei to live. Thiough schooling, the piofessional-manageiial class supplants
the natuie`s nobleman" aitisan heio of some Jacksonian melodiama with the
loids of the giade-point aveiage, the seigneuis of standaidized testing, and so
on. Pottei, Heimione Giangei, and Dumbledoie aie all vaiiants of this
veision of heioism, which includes a faiily conventional dismissal of the (iest
of) the woiking class (the dullaid Hufepuffs), accompanied by an equally
typical lionization (giiffn"-doi) of the haid-woiking but modestly leisuied
bouigeois good" membeis of the iuling class compiising entiepieneuis, pio-
fessionals, manageis, and ventuie capitalists by distinction fiom the leisuied,
aiistociatic bad" membeis of the iuling class in Slytheiin. One of the ieasons
the scholaily Ravenclaw house is laigely absent fiom the plot thiough the
seiies is because the heioism of Giiffyndoi is functionally ieliant on school-
ing. The text fails to distinguish Giiffyndoi fiom Ravenclaw to the extent it
distinguishes it fiom the othei two houses because Giyffndoi is schooling
plus bouigeois viitue (and sometimes schooling as bouigeois viitue), togethei
with the habits of iule. Giyffndoi iepiesents the piofessional-manageiial
contiadiction-of stiiving to piove meiit demociatically" thiough school-
ing, but which tuins out to be an oppoitunity to display a plausibly bouigeois
meiitoiiousness that associates social powei with belonging to the iuling
class, oi at least confoimity with its inteiests. Which may explain in pait why
the biggest-selling of the books about Pottei may well tuin out to be the one
that offeis leadeiship wisdom fiom the woild of wizaids," Tom Moiiis` I[
Harry Poer Ran Cenera| E|etrt, a compendium of platitudes puipoiting to
explain how to be a gieat man" in the woild of capitalist exploitation.
The ievelation of Pottei`s identity follows this pattein of schooling-as-
ievealed-bouigeois-meiit closely. The iecognition of his viitue is accompa-
nied in shoit oidei by the ievelation that he is, in fact, an aiistociat in the
woild of schooling, and a splendidly iich celebiity to boot: It`s an outiage! . . .
not knowin` his own stoiy when eveiy kid in oui woild knows his
name!"(Sorterer's Sone 44). With consideiable diamatic economy, Rowling
makes Pottei`s fist woiking-class sidekick the agent of this ievelation
Maic Bousquet
(Hagiid looked at Haiiy with waimth and iespect blazing in his eyes" (47)),
so that the heio`s new aiistociatic status is piopeily set off by the fieely given
defeience of the woiking class, as well as by the (haidei-won) new defeience
of the piofessional-manageiial subuibanite Duisleys. As an aiistociat in the
woild of schooling, he is summoned away fiom the destiny aiianged foi him
by these false paients (He`s going to Stonewall High and he`ll be giateful foi
it.") into the boaiding-school destiny aiianged by his tiue paients and theii
suiiogates, such as Dumbledoie-His name`s been down evei since he was
boin" (47).
The natuie of Pottei`s belonging to a iuling class is the souice of considei-
able plot consideiation ovei the couise of the seiies. The continuous iecycling
of the ievelation plot ovei the couise of the seiies-Pottei misundeistood,
Pottei iecognized-ietains some vitality by using these iepeated scenes of
misiecognition to paise moie and moie fnely the heio`s ielationship to othei
heioes and villains, often on the basis of socioeconomic class and class fiac-
tions. What one obseivei has convincingly desciibed as Rowling`s close
detail of a late capitalist, global consumei cultuie" theiefoie at least to an
extent navigates some of the social inequities and injustices that masqueiade
behind the diapeiies of demociacy" (Westman 306-307). In this way, Pottei`s
aiistociacy of the boaiding school is quickly distinguished fiom the aiistoc-
iacy of the Malfoys (who ietain theii ancient association, like all of the seiies`
villains, with the iconic clothing, mannei, giammai, and plot function of the
landed class enemy of the ievolutionaiy melodiama). Pottei`s qualifcations
foi the iuling class aie also quickly distinguished fiom the piofessional-
manageiial scholasticism of Heimione, and the lowei-middle-class institu-
tional loyalties of the civil-seivant Weasleys, as well as the commeicial
inteiests of the Duisleys (though Pottei himself latei dabbles in ventuie
capitalism, suppoiting the Weasley twins` desiie to iise fiom theii back-
giound by enteipiise). Latei episodes deal with the moie diffcult paisings
iepiesented by Tom Riddle/Voldemoit, Snape, and Dumbledoie, as diffeient
dimensions of Pottei`s chaiactei aie ievealed.
The seiies deiives tiemendous eneigy fiom continuously iecycling the iev-
elation plot. The seiies ieveals ovei and ovei again that Haiiy is, indeed,
good, iight, and viituous aftei being mistaken by family, fiiends, the wizaid-
ing public, the Muggle public, and even paiental suiiogate Dumbledoie: at a
few points Pottei is even mistaken about himself, and the plot functions to
ieveal Haiiy`s goodness to himself. The ievelation plot woiks foi Haiiy`s
vaiious doppelgangeis as well, both those who aie eventually ievealed as
standing with good, and those who aie eventually ievealed as standing with
evil. Indeed, neaily eveiy signifcant chaiactei in the book takes a tuin in the
ievelation plot.
The coiollaiy to the ievelation of the heio`s identity is the ievelation of the
villain, as in the climactic chaptei 17 of the fist novel, The Man With Two
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
Faces." As in the melodiama and nineteenth-centuiy seiial fction emulating
it, Rowling has biought down the cuitain in chaptei 16 with the villain
ievealed in a tableau of shadows: Theie was alieady someone theie-but it
wasn`t Snape. It wasn`t even Voldemoit" (Sorterer's Sone 208). Aftei the cine-
matic beat of the chaptei bieak, chaptei 17 begins on the next page as if with
the snap of a oodlight:
It was Quiiiell.
You!" gasped Haiiy.
Quiiiell smiled. His face wasn`t twitching at all.
Me," he said calmly. I wondeied whethei I`d be meeting you heie,
Pottei."
But I thought-Snape-"
Seveius:" Quiiiell laughed and it wasn`t his usual quiveiing tieble
eithei, but cold and shaip. Yes, Seveius does seem the type, doesn`t he:
So useful to have him swooping aiound like an oveigiown bat. Next to
him, who would suspect p-p-pooi st-stutteiing P-Piofessoi Quiiiell:"
Haiiy couldn`t take it in. This couldn`t be tiue, it couldn`t.
But Snape tiied to kill me!"
No, no, no. I tiied to kill you."
(209)
The fist thiee volumes, the shoitest in the seiies, tuin almost entiiely
aiound ievelation plots: Quiiiell and Snape in the fist, Tom Riddle in the
second, and Siiius Black in the thiid (YOU`VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
Haiiy shouts into the face of the befuddled ministei Fudge (:|a|an 285)).
Whenevei the diamatic tension is not about Haiiy`s mistaken identity, the
tension iemains epistemological-will the chaiactei be ievealed as good oi
ievealed as evil: Sometimes this tiuth is concealed fiom the ieadei, and
known to chaiacteis in the fction; in othei cases, the ieadei knows, and the
plot action is a effectively an epistemological cai chase, a fienetic stiuggle to
iectify the mistaken identity. In some cases, the ievelation plot is used to
iehabilitate chaiacteis-the Malfoys-pieviously ievealed as evil. Even minoi
chaiacteis aie continuously subject to ievelation scenes, as when the second
volume`s Gildeioy Lockhait, a veision of the classic melodiamatic heio, |a
Dudley Do-Right, is ievealed as a cowaid. Lockhait functions to position
Haiiy within the melodiamatic tiadition-as a Claik Kent piofessional-
manageiial heio, modestly seeking to escape his celebiity.
The longei novels, fouith thiough seventh in the seiies, incieasingly incoi-
poiate plots featuiing the development of Haiiy`s chaiactei. But this doesn`t
ieduce theii ieliance on the melodiamatic economy of ievelation, of tension
iegaiding the misundeistanding of chaiactei, iathei than its development.
The fouith volume deiives signifcant tension fiom the tiaditional device of
Maic Bousquet
establishing the allegiance of Lupin, foi instance. Moie inteiestingly, the ffth
volume-the fist published aftei the assault on the Woild Tiade Centei-
bioadens the feld on which Haiiy and his allies, doubles, and mentois aie
misundeistood. In Harry Poer anJ |e OrJer o[ |e P|oenx, Haiiy, Dumble-
doie, and Weasley senioi-as well as theii entiie cadie-become the object of
state teiioi and misinfoimation, with Haiiy subjected to ielentless public
scoin and a full ciiminal tiial" signifying the willingness of the state to abuse
its powei.
The ffth and sixth volumes display the most complex engagement with the
melodiamatic stiuctuie of feeling. The ffth volume highlights what happens
when agents of state powei appiopiiate melodiamatic ihetoiic with the eagei
collaboiation of the coipoiate media. This inauguiates both an intensifcation
of melodiamatic plot diiveis and a distinct effoit to distance oi biacket the
seiies` ieliance on melodiamatic logic. As the object of state teiioi in the ffth
volume, Haiiy`s sense of being misundeistood ieaches its peak. His inteiioi
monologue captuies the ieadei`s own fatigue with the much-iepeated mis-
iecognition plot, How many moie people weie going to suspect that he was
lying oi unhinged:" (OrJer 198). Cast in the goveinment-sciipted melodiama
as public enemy numbei one, Haiiy expeiiences kinship with the falsely
accused and eventual fugitive Dumbledoie and, especially, the wiongly
impiisoned Siiius Black: Haiiy thought Siiius was piobably the only peison
who could ieally undeistand how he felt at the moment, because Siiius was in
the same situation" (269). This diives Haiiy into the piototypical defance of
the melodiamatic heio: They`ll know we`ie iight in the end," but, he
wondeis, how many moie assaults would he have to enduie befoie that time
came" (199).
Simultaneously, howevei, this theme of the misundeistood victim heio is
foi the fist time in the seiies-aftei liteially dozens of iepetitions-iendeied
pioblematic by Rowling. In the context of Heimione Giangei`s sustained
campaign to iaise awaieness iegaiding stiuctuial exploitation in the wizaid-
ing woild, and the complicity of wizaids and theii institutions, including
schools, in that exploitation, Haiiy`s sense of peipetual victimization at last
giows thin. Oh, stop feeling all misundeistood," Giangei fnally snaps
(OrJer 441). Togethei with Dumbledoie, Heimione in the fnal thiee novels
becomes incieasingly visible as a tutelaiy agent moving Pottei fiom self-
absoiption to an actual inteiest in otheis. In this novel, the piivileged Haiiy`s
peiennial feeling of ill-usage" (152) is handled as a chaiactei pioblem that he
must stiuggle to oveicome-i.e., an element in a ||Jungsroman oi liteiaiy-
iealist plot-and no longei functions uncomplicatedly as a melodiamatic plot
diivei. This is accompanied by a foimal iejection of melodiamatic logic by
fathei-suiiogate Siiius Black, 'Yes, but the woild isn`t split into good people
and Death Eateis,` said Siiius with a wiy smile." (271). Now a wiy" libeial
iionist, Rowling attempts to wiench Black fiom the misiecognition plot-
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
innocence mistaken foi evil-that gives him his name (seiious black"). Sim-
ilaily, at the conclusion of the sixth volume, while Haiiy is still dubbing
Snape a villain, Heimione backs him off: 'Evil`s a stiong woid,` Heimione
said quietly" (Ha|[-B|ooJ 595).
This moie psychological handling of Haiiy-the effoit to tieat him with
the devices of liteiaiy iealism-doesn`t imply a iepudiation of the melodia-
matic, but iathei an effoit to make the melodiamatic signify in psychologi-
cally complex ways, as in Haiiy`s intensifying self-ieection thioughout the
fnal thiee novels. Utilizing almost exclusively the Romantic tiope of the dop-
pelgangei, this self-ieection constiucts moial ambiguity in the language of
good and evil: Haiiy stiuggles to undeistand how he can be both good" and
intimately, piofoundly, inescapably tied to evil," as he incieasingly involun-
taiily expeiiences manifestations of his own consciousness as a kind of aeiial
that was tuned in to tiny uctuations in Voldemoit`s mood" (OrJer 489).
This psychological handling is accompanied by the classic psychological
plot-the oveicoming of the fathei. Wheieas melodiamatic psychology
yeains foi iecognition by the fathei oi patiiaichal authoiity (the gaze of the
magistiate, teachei, detective, etc.), liteiaiy-iealist psychology commonly
pioblematizes the fathei: aftei yeaining to be like his fathei, Pottei in the ffth
novel discoveis that his fathei was a bully, and at last wondeis, But did he
want to be like his fathei any moie:" (OrJer 588). To a substantial extent, this
liteiaiy-iealist ambition shaies space with melodiama in the fnal thiee
volumes. The seiies` climax is theiefoie dual. In the last pages of the fnal
volume, we have both a melodiamatic climax-in chaptei 34, which opens
Finally, the tiuth." (Dea||y Ha||ows 554) and closes with the tiaditional
ash of gieen light"-as well as a liteiaiy-iealist climax, in chaptei 35. Like
Incident at Owl Cieek Biidge," the stoiy by Ambiose Bieice most often
desciibed as the piototypical liteiaiy-iealist text, chaptei 35 is essentially a
dieam sequence that takes place in psychological ieality. Bieice`s stoiy takes
place duiing the execution by hanging of a Confedeiate piisonei, iecoiding
his imagined escape and ieunion with his family duiing the instant in time it
takes to plummet to the end of his iope: at the conclusion of Haiiy`s similai
psychological adventuie, Dumbledoie plays English piofessoi: Of couise it is
happening inside youi head, Haiiy, but why on eaith should that mean it is
not ieal:" (579).
These liteiaiy-iealist ambitions in the fnal thiee volumes aie accompanied
by what might be called a piofound melodiama fatigue." On the one hand,
the effoit to diaw plot eneigy fiom the established economy of the seiies leads
to incieasingly tiied effoits to bieathe life into the stiuggle between good and
evil. As even the fist flm based on the seiies makes cleai, it is alieady a dia-
matic and semiotic challenge foi Alan Rickman to peifoim Snape`s evil in the
mode of a black-clad lisping aiistociat when theie aie at least thiee othei
black-clad villains with sibilant speech patteins in the same episode alone!
Maic Bousquet
Unsuipiisingly, by the sixth volume, foi Voldemoit even to be legible as a
villain in the melodiamatic iegistei, he has to be desciibed in magnifcently
amplifed teims, in a veiy long exposition by Dumbledoie as having tiaveled
beyond the iealm of what we might call usual evil" (Ha|[-B|ooJ 464). In the
same exposition, Haiiy is once moie iecast as the heio puie of heait" oiigi-
nating with melodiama-diawing stiength fiom the incompaiable powei of
a soul that is untainished and whole" (478).
On the othei hand, at the same height of fatigue with melodiama, the
seiies in this sequence ievives the Hegelianism cuiient at the iise of ievolu-
tionaiy melodiamatic populai logic-the claim that iuling-class evil gives iise
to its own giavediggeis, best foimulated by Maix in the Communist mani-
festo, and heie paiaphiased by Rowling in Dumbledoie`s explanation to
Pottei: Don`t you see: Voldemoit himself cieated his woist enemy, just as
tyiants eveiywheie do! Have you any idea how much tyiants feai the people
they oppiess:" (Ha|[-B|ooJ 477). While this is haidly the stuff of the childien`s
liteiatuie pioduced by the actual, vital cultuie of Westein Maixism (see
Mickenbeig, especially The Commies Go Aftei the Kids," 136ff), it does iep-
iesent at least the possibility of pushing back at a tyiannical iuling class.
In assessing the meaning of the melodiamatic logic animating this seiies of
moie than 3000 pages, we have to acknowledge that Rowling`s woik engages
the stiengths of melodiamatic mode as well as its weaknesses. Even to the
extent that it paiticipates in the hidden melodiama of piofessional-
manageiial heioism-meiit at last ievealed by education institutions-the
seiies fnds time to iaise questions about that complicity, giving us Dumble-
doie`s iitation with fascism. And just wheie it confims oui educatois` bias
in favoi of safe fctions with positive messages" of chaiactei development, it
moves onto the teiiain of V [or VenJea and asks us whethei we piofessionals
and manageis do need to join with the house-elves and goblins and stait
naming the enemy who tuins out to be Tom Riddle, a double of oui own suc-
cesses thiough schooling. And fnally, it asks us whethei oui heioism thiough
schooling, howevei essential, can evei be enough.
It isn`t easy foi educatois to name the enemy." They`ie often quite litei-
ally foibidden to do so, with intensifying iuling-class contiol of cuiiiculum
and teachei speech. It is, in any event, an act geneially outside of noimative
pedagogy. By contiast, Ankei`s call foi moie complex and nuanced ways of
undeistanding contempoiaiy national life," is peifectly conventional and sen-
sible within the fiame of libeial oithodoxy in contempoiaiy electoial politics.
Hei call foi nuance exactly captuies such authoiitative positions as that
advanced by the authois of the iecent Cainegie text, EJutang [or Demotraty,
which associates educating foi iesponsible political engagement" with fostei-
ing the disposition towaid ciitical thinking defned in classic new-ciitical
teims as the disposition to appieciate complexity and ambiguity" (55). In
that book, the 60-yeai-old oithodoxies of the post-wai liteiaiy new
Haiiy Pottei and the Wai against Evil
ciiticism," emeiging in pait as a mode of delegitimizing the militant and
class-conscious fction of Ameiican pioletaiian wiiteis, now functions not
just as a liteiaiy but as a political oithodoxy within the education establish-
ment. Even knowing the specifc political content fiaming this neutial oitho-
doxy doesn`t make it easy to challenge.
But peihaps the diffculty of aiguing with these conventional beliefs and
noimative pedagogy is the point. Is iesponsible political engagement" always
best seived by nuance: Was the political sophistication of the Ameiican popu-
lation impioved by banishing texts addiessing class, class stiuggle, and the class
wai fiom above fiom cuiiicula and even postsecondaiy liteiaiy histoiy (albeit by
the soft banishment of being judged insuffciently tinged with ambiguity, com-
plexity, and iiony): Aie theie not moments when incivility, fngei-pointing, and
naming the enemy (demonization") is the most iesponsible political act: It is
easy to lionize civility when one is not being toituied, exploited, unfaiily teimi-
nated fiom employment, evicted, educated in a iat-infested schoolhouse, oi dis-
ciiminated against. It is easy to appieciate ambiguity and complexity when it is
the economic well-being, nutiition, and health caie of otheis at stake.
Full, faii, infoimed consideiation of any utteiance in the melodiamatic
mode-including Rowling`s-cannot come fiom the naiiow, cold-wai stand-
point of a long-outmoded bianch of liteiaiy ciiticism. Ultimately, thoughtful
consideiation of the continuing appeal of melodiamatic utteiance in political
demociacy has to at least considei the extent to which the ievolutionaiy social
piomise of political demociacy iemains incompletely fulflled.
MMMM
1. As many commentatois on Haiiy Pottei have noted, including some that focus on the
political cultuie and inteinational ielations, e.g., Neumann 160.
2. This is a faiily contested point, with the tiaditional ieadeis of melodiama, such as Dan
Geiould, associating it piimaiily with ievolutionaiy feeling, and moie iecent ieadeis, such
as Biuce McConachie, emphasizing the evolution of the genie`s audience and ideological
impoit. See theii tait exchange in TDR, spaiked by Geiould`s ieview of McConachie`s
inuential Melodiamatic Foimations. Similaily, Elaine Hadley ieads melodiama as a
contestatoiy mode" while Jeffiey Mason ieads it in ielation to the myth of Ameiica."
3. Foi moie on the violent avengei" and the emeigence of heioic individualism and its iela-
tionship to libeial hegemony, see McConachie, Mason, and Bousquet.
4. This is piecisely the standpoint of the most inteiesting analysis of melodiama as a peiva-
sive cultuial mode" aftei 9/11, Elisabeth Ankei`s UC Beikeley disseitation and foithcom-
ing book, which convincingly ieads Bush administiation ihetoiic and media coveiage to
desciibe how the U.S. became signifed as a moially poweiful victim ensnaied in a posi-
tion that iequiied it to tiansfoim victimization into heioic ietiibutive action" (22). I think
this is a veiy impoitant line of analysis, but that it is limited by demonizing the melodia-
matic mode (as I did in my own disseitation, which also positioned melodiama as the
undesiiable othei of demociatic cultuie).
5. This is a point made eloquently with iefeience to the melodiamatic technocultuie"
suiiounding the Pottei phenomenon by Petei Appelbaum in the fist edition of this
volume:
One thing I have leained fiom cultuial studies is that textual analysis is not
enough. . . . It is especially impoitant to leain fiom people how they use"
Maic Bousquet
populai cultuie iesouices to make sense of theii lives, theii cultuie, and theii
feais and fantasies, and thiough such mediation, to constiuct new modes of
meaning.
(26)

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