Episode #94: Why Fairy Tales Matter
For our pre-Beedle the Bard release episode, we couldn’t think of a better person to talk to than Travis Prinzi, from the Hogs Head. As you may (or may not) know, Travis is an expert on fairy tales and he spoke to us about why Fairy Tales Matter and why they shouldn’t be dismissed. We also spoke about the concept of having a fairy tale within a fairy tale: specifically Beedle the Bard in Harry Potter. Travis had a whole lot of interesting information and we can’t wait for you to hear what he had to say.
Travis has a book coming out in several weeks titled: Harry Potter and Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds. It is now available fore pre-order, so make sure you check it out!!
We also discussed the results of our Beedle the Bard Contest, which we wrote about in the last blog post.
And make sure you check out the information on helping out the HPEF while making holiday purchases (including Beedle the Bard!) at Barnes and Noble during the beginning of December.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or dowload it directly as an mp3.
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Tags: Azkatraz 2009, Barnes and Noble Book Fair, Beedle the Bard, Fairy Tales and Harry Potter, Harry Potter and Imagination, Travis Prinzi
November 30th, 2008 at 9:40 am
[...] Greg and Penny interviewed me for Episode #94 of HP Progs, and it’s up! [...]
November 30th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Great episode, I love it when there’s such deep insightful talk about Harry Potter, and it’s good hearing Travis’s thoughts as well. (Not that I don’t also like it when it’s just fun.) I really look forward to Tales of Beedle the Bard now, considering it’s only a few days away. I have actually been meaning to look at the Tales as fairy tales with morals and themes, possibly miniature versions of those seen in the actual series (except maybe the “moral ambiguity”). And I hope Dumbledore’s commentary is more than just funny whimsical little scribbles.
It’s true that when I first discovered the Harry Potter podcasts, I preferred the top-hp-site ones, but now it’s great to hear intellectual, analytical talk about the books, looking at them as actual pieces of literature in addition to a source of fandomness. HP Progs and The Hog’s Head really bring out a lot of the greater qualities in Harry Potter.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Nice episode. It’s interesting to think of Fairy Tales as what they really were. The original Tales were teaching tools and reflected the values of the culture at hand. By hearing these “Wizard” fairy tales we get a greater insight into the world of Harry Potter.
I’m glad Travis Tweeted about this cast or I’d have missed it!
November 30th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Thanks for the podcast, lots of interesting issues raised, I enjoyed it very much.
JKR has said she wanted to write a book that she would enjoy reading herself. In that sense it naturally reflects her own way of seing the world.
I am sure as I can be that there was no ‘agenda’ or desire to ‘change the world’ on her part.
In so far as there have been positive effects flowing from the books, I would guess that JKR is really surprised and pleased about that. And now that she can stand back from the books, I suppose that it must be easier for her to see the consistent moral/ethical strands in amongst the many many other strands that thread their way through the seven books.
November 30th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Thanks to all for kind comments!
I am sure as I can be that there was no ‘agenda’ or desire to ‘change the world’ on her part.
She did indeed say that she was writing the story that she would want to read (the Inklings said the same thing). Still, she also called the series “an extended argument for tolerance.” So it’s hard to argue that there was some kind of accidental moral vision that happened to make its way in there. I think she intended her moral vision to be there. She just wasn’t sitting down to write with precisely this type of mindset: “Today I’m going to teach about love, and I’m going to create characters X, Y, and Z and make the plot to go this way and that to teach that lesson.”
There’s an important thing to remember about J.K. Rowling. Despite the amount that she talks about her stories, she’s writing in a tradition that likes to keep the key interpretive/imaginative elements to her stories a secret. Rowling gives a whole lot of non-answers, and she’s exceedingly clever at dodging questions. Despite the overwhelming evidence for an alchemical framework for the series, she’s only referenced alchemy once in an interview. So I don’t think we can sum up her whole purpose for the series by her quote that she was writing the kind of story that she would want to read, as if that’s her only possible commentary on the matter. There’s likely a lot more to it than that, as even she admits (“extended argument for tolerance”).
December 1st, 2008 at 1:25 am
[...] HP Progs gives us the perfect lead in for the release of Tales of Beedle the Bard by interviewing Travis Prinzi, webmaster of The Hog’s Head.org, froend of this blog, and author of Harry Potter and Imagination (now available for pre-order here and the Table Of Contents for which brilliant book can be found here). The discussion in the comment boxes at HP Progs took an interesting turn when Travis urged a reader to consider the possibility that Ms. Rowling’s work does have an intrinsic moral message. [...]
December 1st, 2008 at 4:32 am
Travis – thanks for drawing the distinction between accidental and intentional inclusion of a moral vision – I am totally persuaded and I look forward to reading your book.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Doris – just goes to show what Twitter can do for ya!
I have such a hard time keeping up with Twitter sometimes. I’m glad you saw my Tweet and enjoyed the podcast.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I REALLY hope you can come Travis! Penny’s totally right, you presentations are always wonderful and so well researched and presented.
Hope you can make it!
December 1st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I love it when Travis is involved with the show because he is *so* much better at responding to comments than we are!!
December 1st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Great show, guys. Very interesting & intriguing. Liked your thoughts on the trailer, too. Just enough Gambon criticism without going overboard.
The discussion on fairy tales was especially good, & I think you all were pretty insightful on it, even Greg.
As with most things, I pretty much hold to the same view that Travis does. That JKR certainly had certain things in mind & a certain story to tell but not in the sense of intentionally writing a certain morality or of being evangelistic about it.
Also especially like Travis’ comments on the fundamentalism of tolerance or the intolerance of tolerance.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Hello All HP fans!
Great episode Greg, Penny and Travis!
FYI Daniel Radcliffe was on Inside the Actors Studio this week!
Keep up the Potter-rific Podcasting!
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:06 am
I’m not really sure if i’m really disagreeing with what has been said, but I think that Rowling simply treats here magical world as a very real one.
Naturally projects her own real life wishes and hopes into her characters just as she may project her own feelings and behaviors onto them.
In that sense she is not injecting morals from a logical standpoint but rather from an emotional one.
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
Shimon,
I think Travis hit on what you’re thinking when he said, it’s not as if JKR sits down & plans out each day how to write morals into her works but that she does have a moral & ethical framework that she uses & that it flows out of who she is, as you have so clearly pointed out.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Awesome episode guys!! I love hearing some of the discussions we had before DH!!
Arka, personnaly, I think that there will be some meaningful things hidden among the funny bits of DD commentary.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I am looking forward to Tales of Beedle the Bard come Dec. 4, 2008. I have it pre-ordered already. I hope J.K. Rowling explains some things in this book that will give us insight into the other two houses she vaguely talked about ie. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:38 pm
[...] HP Progs Episode #94: Why Fairy Tales Matter; Hogwarts Professor: Twelve Questions About Beedle the [...]
January 12th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Wow, love it, really great stuff, only just found this, looks like I’ve got a bit of catching up to do with episodes.
Thank you very much for that, really enjoyed it.
August 30th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
simply excellent, keep up the good work!