Ebony Elizabeth Thomas publishes new anthology, Harry Potter and the Other

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, SOE professor and expert on children’s literature, youth media, and fan culture, dives deep into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to explore how the popular series depicts race, justice, and difference. In collaboration with co-editor Sarah Park Dahlen, the duo have drawn contributions from 19 scholars who demonstrate that a deeper reading reveals multiple ruptures in popular understandings of the liberatory potential of the Potter series. Harry Potter and the Other (University Press of Mississippi) includes essays that examine the failed wizarding justice system, the counterproductive portrayal of Nagini as an Asian woman, the liberation of Dobby the elf, and more, adding meaningful contributions to existing scholarship on the Harry Potter series. 

As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone approaches, Harry Potter and the Other provides provides insights into the way that race and difference have shaped this story, its world, its author, and the generations who have come of age during the era of the Wizarding World.