This collection examines the ways fictional heroism in the twenty-first century challenges the idealized forms of a somewhat simplistic masculinity associated with genres like the epic, romance and classic adventure story. The collection's three sections address broad issues related to genre, Harry Potter's development as the central heroic character and the question of who qualifies as a hero in the Harry Potter series.

Taking up the various conceptions of heroism that are conjured in the Harry Potter series, this collection examines the ways fictional heroism in the twenty-first century challenges the idealized forms of a somewhat simplistic masculinity associated with genres like the epic, romance and classic adventure story. The collection's three sections address broad issues related to genre, Harry Potter's development as the central heroic character and the question of who qualifies as a hero in the Harry Potter series. Among the topics are Harry Potter as both epic and postmodern hero, the series as a modern-day example of psychomachia, the series' indebtedness to the Gothic tradition, Harry's development in the first six film adaptations, Harry Potter and the idea of the English gentleman, Hermione Granger's explicitly female version of heroism, adult role models in Harry Potter, and the complex depictions of heroism exhibited by the series' minor characters. Together, the essays suggest that the Harry Potter novels rely on established generic, moral and popular codes to develop new and genuine ways of expressing what a globalized world has applauded as ethically exemplary models of heroism based on responsibility, courage, humility and kindness.

Cartea The Hero Paradigm in Fantasy Novels este una interdisciplinară și se înscrie în perimetrul studiilor culturale literare, cu descinderi în mitologie, antropologie culturală, şi studiile filmului. Tipologia eroului este analizată aşa cum apare în mitologie şi basm, înainte de a fi investigate romanele fantastice scrise de J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis și J.K. Rowling, romane de secol XX ale căror rădăcini se regăsesc în cele două genuri precedente ale modului literaturii fantastice. Aceleaşi romane au fost ecranizate, trecând din modul lecturii în cel al vizualului şi chiar în cel al virtualului (al jocurilor video/pe computer). Cartea argumentează că eroii par să se afle în cădere liberă de-a lungul secolelor, ajungându-se la o epocă posteroică în secolul al XX-lea. Însă literatura fantastică și filmele bazate pe astfel de romane par să înlocuiască mitologia și eroismul tipic acesteia, reușind să insufle un nou interes în paradigma eroică.

Heroic Leadership is a celebration of our greatest heroes, from legends such as Mahatma Gandhi to the legions of unsung heroes who transform our world quietly behind the scenes. The authors argue that all great heroes are also great leaders. The term ‘heroic leadership’ is coined to describe how heroism and leadership are intertwined, and how our most cherished heroes are also our most transforming leaders. This book offers a new conceptual framework for understanding heroism and heroic leadership, drawing from theories of great leadership and heroic action. Ten categories of heroism are described: Trending Heroes, Transitory Heroes, Transparent Heroes, Transitional Heroes, Tragic Heroes, Transposed Heroes, Transitional Heroes, Traditional Heroes, Transforming Heroes, and Transcendent Heroes. The authors describe the lives of 100 exceptional individuals whose accomplishments place them into one of these ten hero categories. These 100 hero profiles offer supporting evidence for a new integration of theories of leadership and theories of heroism.

The study combines theories of myth, popular culture, structuralism and poststructuralism to explain the enormous appeal of »Star Wars« and »Harry Potter«. Although much research already exists on both stories individually, this book is the first to explicitly bring them together in order to explore their set-up and the ways in which their structures help produce ideologies on gender and ethnicity. Hereby, the comparison yields central insights into the workings of modern myth and uncovers structure as integral to the success of the popular genre. It addresses academic audiences and all those wishing to approach the tales from a fresh angle.

Now available in paper, The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter is the first book-length analysis of J. K. Rowling's work from a broad range of perspectives within literature, folklore, psychology, sociology, and popular culture. A significant portion of the book explores the Harry Potter series' literary ancestors, including magic and fantasy works by Ursula K. LeGuin, Monica Furlong, Jill Murphy, and others, as well as previous works about the British boarding school experience. Other chapters explore the moral and ethical dimensions of Harry's world, including objections to the series raised within some religious circles. In her new epilogue, Lana A. Whited brings this volume up to date by covering Rowling's latest book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

“As the first part of the title indicates, my interest in looking at intertextuality and transformation still maintains a prominent place throughout this book as well. If we believe that ‘no text is an island,’ then we will understand that the relationships between and within texts across the years become a fascinating place for academic inquiry. I included the word ‘boundaries’ into the title because we never get tired of voicing our opinions about texts which traverse relegated boundaries, such as genre or medium. Not only am I interested in discussing what these changes across boundaries mean socially, historically, and culturally, but also what they mean geographically, which accounts for the second part of my title. “I am very excited that this book will be placing even more emphasis on children’s literature in an international scene than my first book did, in the sense that I have added more scholars on an international level. I hesitate to list the nationalities of all of the contributors here because quite a few have themselves crossed international boundaries in different ways, by either studying abroad or finding permanent residency in foreign countries. Nevertheless, the writers have lived extensively in or identify as being from Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United States of America, and Wales.” —Introduction

This reference work is an important resource in the growing field of heroism studies. It presents concepts, research, and events key to understanding heroism, heroic leadership, heroism development, heroism science, and their relevant applications to businesses, organizations, clinical psychology, human wellness, human growth potential, public health, social justice, social activism, and the humanities. The encyclopedia emphasizes five key realms of theory and application: Business and organization, focusing on management effectiveness, emotional intelligence, empowerment, ethics, transformational leadership, product branding, motivation, employee wellness, entrepreneurship, and whistleblowers; clinical-health psychology and public health, focusing on stress and trauma, maltreatment, emotional distress, bullying, psychopathy, depression, anxiety, family disfunction, chronic illness, and healthcare workers’ wellbeing; human growth and positive psychology, discussing altruism, authenticity, character strengths, compassion, elevation, emotional agility, eudaimonia, morality, empathy, flourishing, flow, self-efficacy, joy, kindness, prospection, moral development, courage, and resilience; social justice and activism, highlighting anti-racism, anti-bullying, civil disobedience, civil rights heroes, climate change, environmental heroes, enslavement heroes, human rights heroism, humanitarian heroes, inclusivity, LGBTQ+ heroism, #metoo movement heroism, racism, sustainability, and women’s suffrage heroes; and humanities, relating to the mythic hero’s journey, bliss, boon, crossing the threshold, epic heroes, fairy tales, fiction, language and rhetoric, narratives, mythology, hero monomyth, humanities and heroism, religious heroes, and tragic heroes.

Which Scottish anti-slavery campaigner lost a son in a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the American Civil War? Was the enemy of Scotland's first 'freedom fighter' not England, but ancient Rome? What was the laboratory accident that led to one of the greatest discoveries in modern medicine? How did the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 influence the legal foundation of the greatest superpower the world has ever seen? Which singing superstar overcame a learning difficulty to become a worldwide inspiration?The answers to these and many other questions can be found in Great Scottish Heroes, covering 2,000 years of Scottish history and encompassing outstanding leaders in a broad range of pursuits, including the arts, exploration, medicine, sport, religion and politics. Even a brief list of Scottish inventions shows the nation's influence upon our world: television, penicillin, the steam engine, the telephone, the vacuum flask, to name only a few.Scotland has for centuries produced a great number of exceptional, heroic individuals out of all proportion to its small population and geographical size. This concise but wide-ranging book offers biographies of fifty Scottish heroes and heroines, but in truth there are a hundred others, and more, who would qualify for inclusion.These men and women helped to shape the world, and continue to do so today. Great Scottish Heroes shows how they achieved such remarkable success. If you are a Scot by birth, descent, or adoption, this book will make you even prouder of your countrymen. If you are not Scottish, you will wish you were.

Three essays about Harry Potter which show that J K Rowling has much in common with Dickens and that the books promote traditional family values.