Literature and multimedia: the Harry Potter phenomenon

Abstract

This paper, taking as an example the children's book series Harry Potter, aims to discuss and present the influences of the digital age and media convergence in the creation and maintenance of a global reach virtual community of readers and fans of the series. Paying attention to the revolutions in the concepts of literary production and reception in the digital era and working theorists such as Henry Jenkins, Néstor García Canclini, Stanley Fish, Suman Gupta, and others, this paper traces a theoretical path of literary reception, from New Critics close reading to the current scenario, in which the Internet, especially social networks, enables the formation of different interpretive communities (a term coined by Fish 1980) in the virtual world: one of them, in particular, in this work , the global community of Harry Potter readers and fans. Consolidated by advances in communication technologies, in addition to the influences of globalization, capitalism and the entertainment industry, the British author JK Rowling's series has managed to outpace the publishing market and remain relevant in two decades since its first publication, consolidated as a cultural reference for millions of readers and fans worldwide, especially for its presence in the most diverse media.