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Harry Potter with Chinese Characteristics

Harry Potter with Chinese Characteristics Chinese bogus books are commonly treated as matters of copyright infringement. Usingthe example of two of the Harry Potter fakes that were published in the PRCin 2002, it is argued that there are sufficient grounds to consider these fakes aspieces of art in themselves. As fakes, they simultaneously employ two strategies:they use the value of the original (as a commercial tool to increase readership),but at the same time, they want to break out of this narrow frame in order to berecognized as a fake, that is, as an original that only appears as a counterfeit. Onthis basis, it becomes obvious that these Harry Potter texts mirror recenttrends of both popular culture and elite discussions. Using theOrientalism/Occidentalism framework, this article shows how the different notions of“China” and “the West” employed can be seenas indications for the “Chineseness” of the text: the West isnothing but an image to convey a message on the state of affairs in China. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png China Information: A Journal on Contemporary China Studies SAGE

Harry Potter with Chinese Characteristics

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References (48)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © by SAGE Publications
ISSN
0920-203X
eISSN
1741-590X
DOI
10.1177/0920203X06066502
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Chinese bogus books are commonly treated as matters of copyright infringement. Usingthe example of two of the Harry Potter fakes that were published in the PRCin 2002, it is argued that there are sufficient grounds to consider these fakes aspieces of art in themselves. As fakes, they simultaneously employ two strategies:they use the value of the original (as a commercial tool to increase readership),but at the same time, they want to break out of this narrow frame in order to berecognized as a fake, that is, as an original that only appears as a counterfeit. Onthis basis, it becomes obvious that these Harry Potter texts mirror recenttrends of both popular culture and elite discussions. Using theOrientalism/Occidentalism framework, this article shows how the different notions of“China” and “the West” employed can be seenas indications for the “Chineseness” of the text: the West isnothing but an image to convey a message on the state of affairs in China.

Journal

China Information: A Journal on Contemporary China StudiesSAGE

Published: Jul 1, 2006

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