The Politics of Fantasy: Magic, Children's Literature, and Fandom in Putin's Russia

Synopsis

What happened when J. K. Rowling’s mega-blockbuster—born in the United Kingdom and launched to global heights by Hollywood and the full force of Western marketing—came knocking on President Putin’s door? The arrival of boy wizard and international star Harry Potter in a recently neoliberal Russia was enormously influential, but neither smooth nor uncontested. The franchise quickly became a lens that focused Russian ambitions and fears during an era characterized by both the hegemony of globalized popular culture and a nationalized conservative backlash. With crisp, engaging prose, Eliot Borenstein leaps from Harry Potter into an exploration of the culture wars and moral panics sparked in Russia by Western-inspired children’s literature, extending back into the Soviet period and through the invasion of Ukraine. As cultural products pitched ostensibly to children, the Harry Potter books and films became the perfect objects for criticism, translation, adaptation, parody, attack, mimicry, and meme-making, allowing Russians to carve out their own space in the worldwide market of magical multiverses.

Copyright:

2025

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780299353506

Related ISBNs:

9780299353537

Publisher:

University of Wisconsin Press

Date of Addition:

08/19/25

Copyrighted By:

infringement, claiming that Captain Marvel was simply a cheap knock-off of Superman. The case proved unexpectedly complicated. Fawcett made an argument that should be familiar from what we have seen of Potter versus Grotter: Superman himself has numerous a

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies, Language Arts, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.