CIOLFI, Luigina (2019). Magic as technological Utopia? Unpacking issues of interactivity and infrastructuring in the Potterverse. In: Cultural Politics in Harry Potter: Life, Death and Politics of Fear. Routledge.
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CHAPTER 15. Ciolfi[1].pdf - Accepted Version
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CHAPTER 15. Ciolfi[1].pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract
Magic in the Harry Potter universe operates through a complex system
of objects, mechanisms and rules. Magic underpins people’s
individual agency and the technological development of magical
artefacts (such as wands, charmed broomsticks and remembralls) and
systems (such as owl post and the Floo network), while Muggle
technology and its achievements are often ignored or despised.
Several authors have examined the workings of technology in the
Potterverse and how it contrasts with real-world technology.
Unsurprisingly, these magical forms of interaction have also inspired
the field of interaction design, with the mechanisms of channelling
and controlling magic often seen as a “technological utopia” where
interaction is natural, intuitive, fun and embedded into familiar and
tangible objects.
This chapter examines the relationship between everyday interactions
with digital technologies and the depiction of technology (both
magical and non-magical) in the Potterverse through the lens of
human-centred computing concepts such as seamfulness and
infrastructure. This focus differs from that of previous studies because
it analyses the magical infrastructure in the Potterverse as a sociotechnical
system where tools, resources and people are all part of a
complex ecology of interaction that includes breakdowns and failures.
The contrast between the hopeful view of magical technologies as
technomyths and the reality of imperfect and “messy” infrastructure is
also discussed in light of recent developments in the field of
Ubiquitous Computing.
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