Document Type
Article
Abstract
As part of her wildly popular Harry Potter fantasy series, author J.K. Rowling created a setting of magical characters to populate magical towns, perform magical jobs, purchase magical products -- and play a magical game called Quidditch. This fast-paced team sport played on broomsticks is both a participant and a spectator sport, and forms a nucleus of leisure activity and discourse in the Harry Potter books. From preschoolers to professionals, wizards in Rowling's world incorporate this virtual sport into their everyday lives. Rowling's development of Quidditch -– some have suggested that Rowling's intense dislike of school hockey practices sparked the concept -– communicates psychological structure and sociocultural phenomenon simultaneously. In addition, real-world Harry Potter fans have extended their participation from passive reading of game descriptions in the books, beyond playing the commercially available board game and video game versions, to developing their own vernacular variations of the game of Quidditch. This manifestation of fan-based cultural production which engages players in a participatory dramatic experience transcends Rowling's creation and alters the author-audience dynamic. This case study of fan realization of a virtual sport provides a unique illustration of our cultural interpretation of the role of games in society and the way in which games help to reify cultural notions about self and society.
Repository Citation
Toles Patkin, Terri. "Constructing a New Game: J.K. Rowling’s Quidditch and Global Kid Culture." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 6, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1–14. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol6/iss1/5