Magic Realism, Occult Imaginaries, And Environmental Tensions: A Deep Critique Of The Harry Potter Series

Abstract

Magic Realism is a genre that has gained immense success, thanks to writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie. It emerged as a response to escapism, which people craved from their sedentary and stressful lives, yet it remained deeply rooted in observations of reality. As Gabriel Garcia Marquez famously said, "Life is not what one lived, but rather what one remembers, and how it is remembered to tell the tale." (Magic Wiki). Magical realism, occasionally called marvellous realism or fabulism, is a mode of literature—also reflected in painting, film, and theatre—that combines detailed observation of the real world with magical elements presented as ordinary. Matthew Strecher defines it as "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe” (Magic Wiki). There is often confusion regarding the term's broad applicability and the categorisation of many writers as magical realists. This fusion of the real and magical is seen infused in J.K. Rowling’s works. Though her writing is primarily fantasy, it retains traits of magic realism as readers struggle to separate reality from fiction. Subtle imageries of occultism—spirit contact, divination, and sorcery—spread throughout the series refer to groups governed by supernatural rules under a leader’s authority. Historically, occultist works have portrayed serpents negatively, associating them with venom and fear. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a hidden monster at Hogwarts was created and controlled by Voldemort, a character synonymous with the Devil in dark arts, signalling the element of occult within the narrative. The objective of this paper is to develop these foundational insights in order to offer a comprehensive critique of Harry Potter’s magic realism and occult symbolism combined with environmental and socio-gender perspective, arguing for the series’ deep contemporary relevance.