Document Type
Article
Abstract
Beginning with the common assertion that both the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series have had a positive effect on the reading practices of children, teenagers and adults, this article examines Bibliomania in relation to the Harry Potter and Twilight series in order to interrogate the validity of such an argument. It is easy to find articles, blogs and Amazon.com book reviews that marvel at each of the series’ ability to foster a passion for reading in previously resistant readers, but such a statement erases distinctions between the effects each series has on readers and fails to examine what kind of reader each series encourages.
Key to this examination is a critical exploration of "Bibliomania," a term coined in the eighteenth century that encompasses both the obsessive need to collect books and the effects of becoming too caught up in reading. Arguments about Bibliomania mirror fears about the effects of contemporary media, indicating a fear of change. Yet, if these series are only creating a new sort of "bibliomania," what results is the same passive interaction that readers already have with such dreaded media as the television. However, the two series produce disparate sorts of reading experiences. While a first reading of any of the texts in the Harry Potter series may be bibliomanic in nature, the texts definitely have the potential to become more subtly nuanced upon rereading them, whereas the Twilight series merely supports reading for plot, and subsequent readings only reinforce such a bibliomanic haze.
Repository Citation
Hollis, Erin. "On Getting Lost in a Good Book: Bibliomania and the Harry Potter and Twilight Series." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 11, no. 3, 2011, pp. 1–15. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol11/iss3/5