KulturphAnomen Harry Potter : Multiadressiertheit und InternationalitAt eines nationalen Literatur- und Medienevents

The hype about J.K. Rowling's sensationally successful series has quietened down.

From a certain distance, the many aspects of an event like the Harry Potter craze cannot be fully appreciated, but one can pursue the question how it came about that a literary work of several thousand pages was able to find a global readership although the cultural setting of this epic world is more specifically national than almost any other in world literature.

A look at the public discourse, particularly around the time the last volume was released, sheds light on conceptions and expectations of literature.

Above all, the texts themselves are examined, different readings are sounded out, and links are pursued to really existing phenomena, literary motives, characters, traditions and narrative styles. "Harry Potter" surpasses all boundaries: those of language, markets, target groups, literary genres and traditions.

At the same time the multifaceted vision which the "Harry Potter" series necessitates signifies the need for a revision at least of conventional literary studies.