“I’ve walked this street”: readings of ‘reality’ in British young people’s reception of Harry Potter

This paper examines young people’s perceptions of identifiable, “real” elements in their reception of the Harry Potter series, focusing on how fantasy finds meaning in the lives of young people because they connect with reality in reading fantasy. Notwithstanding the abundance of magical hexes, witches and wand-waving that characterise the series, young people’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 young people believe really exists, but rather in 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 young people find a sense of location, rooting and grounding in reading fantasy.