“Harry Potter and Oxford – a Mirror to British Culture“

Joanne K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series defined an era of young adult literature, both in Britain and the world. With half a billion books sold, eleven movies filmed, and a stage play produced, it is no doubt one of the most successful fantasy franchises to have ever been written. To many, it spoke about the experience of life growing up in the British schooling system, with the addition of a wonderful world of fantasy. This is reflected in the filming locations of the movies – many were at Oxford University. From Christ Church College to Duke Humphrey’s Library, the Divinity School to New College, parts of Hogwarts can be found in the very real City of Oxford. This talk will go through these locations, how they are presented in the series, and the real and exciting history behind them. In part these wonderful and vivid locations helped tap into a sense of whimsy that makes the wizarding world feel so comfortable. It also makes it mirror a particular form of British conservatism, one that many contemporary Britons hold without noticing as presented in the books, showing dynamics so deeply embedded in British culture that it is hard to conceive having a world without them.

Nicholas Hague is a third-year historian at Balliol College in the University of Oxford. He has read the Harry Potter books in both English and Russian, and watched the films several times.

As President of the Harry Potter Society at Oxford, he has seen the various parts of the fan community at the university, and helped organise recreational events. While there is less interest in the series than there used to be, events still manage to be communal and fun. He spends much of his spare time thinking about discussing and analysing media.