Harry Potter and the Invisible Hand
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Harry Potter and the Invisible Hand: The Notion of Inevitable Inequality, and ‘Niceness’ as Moral Action in J.K. Rowling’s Neoliberal Fantasy Kabir Chattopadhyay School of English Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin Supervisor: Dr. Padraic Whyte Thesis re-submitted after revisions for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2021 1 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis has not been previously submitted as an exercise for a degree, at this or any other university, and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the Library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. KABIR CHATTOPADHYAY 2 SUMMARY My thesis analyses J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books as a series of fantasy texts which perpetuate and disseminate contemporary neoliberal ideological messages. My central aim is to demonstrate how, using the metaphor of magic as a fundamentally mysterious force that regulates all action, Rowling offers a vision of civil society which is hegemonically structured on an immutable hierarchy, where the only mode of possible moral action is depicted as individual acts of niceness. While such a message is transmitted as optimistic and celebratory, I demonstrate how deeply contingent such moral action is made on the perpetuation of underlying inequality. My selection of Harry Potter as primary text has been motivated by its remarkable impact on global socio-political culture; the visions of morality and autonomy in the books have been celebrated and adopted into cultural expressions. At the same time, the books transmit subtly ‘conservative and hierarchical notions of authority clothed in evangelistic mythopoeic fantasy’ (Mendlesohn, “Crowning” 181). To analyse how these conservative messages are subtly formulated as celebratory and optimistic, I employ a twofold methodological approach; I build on existing scholarship in children’s literature, fantasy, and Harry Potter to demonstrate the narrative strategies and themes used by Rowling, and analyse my findings using cultural criticism and economic scholarship on neoliberal political economy to ascertain what the ideological ramifications of such strategies are. My theoretical framework draws upon a Marxist critique of hegemonic structures and ideological formulations of 3 individual moral values, as well as Michel Foucault’s work in identifying biopolitics, or the systemic reconfiguration of individuals into interpellated subjects. I build upon existing children’s literature criticism which has analysed the strategies and ideological messages disseminated in Harry Potter and similar works of fantasy, and locate myself within a specific understanding of the neoliberal underpinnings of the texts’ dissemination of moral messages. I locate my research at the juncture of children’s literature scholarship and socio-political analysis of contemporary ideological models which regulate and influence the perception of morality. While the issue of Harry Potter’s conservative morality has been researched and analysed by existing criticism, my research identifies and demonstrates such moral messages as a symptom of Rowling’s neoliberal fantasy. Identifying the ideological roots of cultural texts which disseminate individual niceness as a sufficient mode of moral action in civil society, while denying the possibility of introspection into the roots of the fundamentally unequal status quo, is of particular importance in a world which is becoming increasingly pliant to the idea that a hierarchy, where ‘by definition certain people must be left behind’ (Littler 3), is inevitable and fixed. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude, first, to my supervisor, Dr. Padraic Whyte, for his guidance and support over the last five years of my life as a postgraduate student at Trinity College Dublin. He has offered me advice and encouragement consistently, which has helped me transform myself from an aspiring student of children’s literature into a confident researcher eager to pursue my field of study. He has regularly ensured that I had the finest opportunities to present my work and to network with people whose inputs have been priceless for my career, and I would like to thank him for the immense kindness he has shown me since my first day in Ireland. The staff at the School of English, Trinity College Dublin, have all my gratitude for giving me the best possible opportunity to become a researcher of literature. I would like to thank Dr. David O’Shaughnessy and Dr. Jane Carroll for their valuable input on my PhD, and to Dr. Clare Clark, Dr. Amanda Piesse, and Dr. Emma Vyroubalova for giving me the opportunity to teach the Undergraduate courses co-ordinated by them, where I have discovered my love for teaching Shakespeare. Last but not at all the least, I wish to thank Ruth Archbold, Brenda Brooks, Diane Sadler, and Dr. Bernice Murphy, without whom I would not have been able to fulfill my administrative duties during my time in Trinity. 5 Financial support is always a big concern for a non-EU student, and I have to thank the School of English, and the family of Dr. William F. Pyle, especially Ms. Sheelagh O’Neill for their kindness in funding my research. I would also like to thank the Yale-TCD Alumni Bursary and the Trinity Trust Travel Fund for helping me fund my international research trips to Yale University and the International Society for the Study of Children’s Literature in Toronto, Canada, respectively. These research trips were, and shall always be, the highlights of my career, and I could not begin to express how enriching these experiences have been for me. My friends in Trinity College and UCD have made me fall in love with Dublin as a second home, and I would like to thank Joana, Vikram Da, Bidisha Di, Naloke, Tukai, Pratyush Da, and Julie Di for the kindness and love they have shown to me. And finally, I would like to thank Anirban, Madhumita, Tithi, and Adwitia, that is to say, “my family and other animals.” Without them, none of this would have been possible. 6 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………… 13 1. Overview………………………………………………………………………….. .13 2. Context: Critical Framework…………………………………………………….17 2.1. Ideology and Children’s Literature Criticism…………………………….17 2.2 Fantasy and Children’s Literature Criticism………………………………29 3. Context: Neoliberalism and the Metaphor of Magic…………………………. 28 3.1 Neoliberalism: Homo Economicus and Compensatory Niceness………..30 3.2 Spontaneous Philosophy: Magic as a Metaphor for the Invisible Hand…36 4. Methodology…………………………………………………………………….....40 5. Thesis Overview…………………………………………………………………..44 6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………49 CHAPTER 1 Magic as a Hegemonic, Exclusionary Knowledge-System……………………………53 Introduction: Chapter Outline……………………………………………………..53 1.1 Hogwarts as Ideological State Apparatus: Magic as Hegemony…………….59 1.1.1 The Functions of Schools as ISAs…………………………………….59 1.1.2 Hogwarts, a Hegemony: The Invisible Hand of Magic as ‘Common Sense’………………………………………………………………………..62 1.1.3 The Sorting Ceremony and Interpellation: Students as Competitive Subjects...........................................................................................................74 7 1.1.4 Hogwarts as Site of Ideological Conflict: Coercion versus Hegemony……………………………………………………………………..87 1.2 Magic as an Elite Knowledge-System: The Hogwarts Classroom……………97 1.2.1 ‘Natural Magic at Hogwarts’.....................................................................97 1.2.2 Magical Education: Knowledge as Revelation of Secret, Elite Information…………………………………………………………………………….98 1.2.3 Magic as Exclusionary Knowledge: Secrecy and the Elite Status of Magic………………………………………………………………………………….105 1.2.4 Hogwarts Pedagogy: The Invisible Rules of Magic……………………110 1.3 Magic is Might: The Wizard/Muggle Hierarchy as Common Sense…………119 1.3.1 Inferiority and Ignorance……………………………………………….119 1.3.2 Muggles as Ontological Inferiors: The Inevitable Underclass…………121 1.3.3 What to do with Muggles”: Epistemic Violence and Necessary Benevolence…………………………………………………………………..130 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….138 CHAPTER 2 The Magical Market: Individual Autonomy as Homo Economicus……………141 Introduction: Chapter Outline…………………………………………………141 2.1 Diagon Alley: The Magical Commodity and Contingent Autonomy………146 2.1.1 The Marketplace as the Site of Empowerment…………………………146 2.1.2 The Wand as Plot Coupon/Commodity: Autonomy as Buying Power…150 8 2.1.3 Homo Economicus as External Rational: Regulation of Autonomy and Value……………………………………………………………………….159 2.2. The Broomstick: Market Construction of Desire, and Personal Responsibility……………………………………………………………………..168 2.2.1 Consumer Culture, Child Consumers, and Desire……………………168 2.2.2 The Broomstick as Desirable: The Importance of School Sports Culture……………………………………………………………………………...172 2.2.3 Desire and Personal Responsibility……………………………………180 2.3. Sentient Magical Commodities: The Invisible Hand of Magic………………186 2.3.1 The Notion of the Invisible Hand in Neoliberal Governmentality……186 2.3.2 The Wand as Sentient: Object as Actor and Dialectical Relationship…191 2.3.3 The Juridical Aspect of Magic: Evil, Judgment, and Restorative Justice………………………………………………………………………………..197 2.3.4 The Thingness of the Object, and the Invisible Status Quo……………205 2.4. The Love Potion and the Normalisation of Consent Violation………………208 2.4.1 Magic, Manipulation, and Competitive Self-Interest…………………208