Korea Spellbound by Harry Potter Fever

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Korea Spellbound by Harry Potter Fever

With its previous volumes estimated to have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide, the final installment of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," at last made its global debut at 8 a.m. Saturday (KST).
Korean online bookstores Yes24 and Interpark started sending out English versions when the global release was reached, and Kyobo Book Centre and other offline shops in the country began selling copies as soon as their doors opened Saturday.

The seventh and last Harry Potter book is setting new sales records all over the world. Britain's largest book seller W. H. Smith reported that it was selling 15 books per second, beating the record of 13 per second held by the sixth title in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."


A child reads "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" at a bookstore in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on Sunday, when the seventh and final book in the series by J.K. Rowling hit bookstores worldwide. /Yonhap




Korean fans were eager to snap up the book. Kyobo Book Centre said it sold over 3,000 English copies on the first day, while online retailer Yes24 recorded about 8,000 pre-sales, 2.5 times more than the previous average of 3,000. A Korean translation is due from publisher Moonhak Soochup in November.

One publisher said that Potter-mania was expected to be so overwhelming that local publishers had decided against releasing any other foreign novels on the same weekend. The Harry Potter books have made a considerable dent in the sales of other books, he said, both foreign and Korean.

But while the adventures of the world's favorite teenage wizard have encouraged today's multimedia children to read and energized the market for children's books, the series' wild popularity has also prompted concerns about possible negative effects of "Harry Potter fever."

In the latest edition of the literary journal Platform, Professor Sung Eun-ai of the department of English Language and Literature at Dankook University examined the cultural implications of Harry Potter.

A large portion of the sales of the series is generated by adults who believe that the fantasy novels positively affect children's reading habits, Sung wrote. Harry's popularity could be a reaction to the competition and stress of school life, she added.

Professor Sung said it would be difficult to expect children and teenagers weaned on Harry Potter to grow into readers of Korean literature which does not follow the conventions of popular English novels. She stressed that it is urgent that Korea develop its own independent, home-grown cultural content.

(englishnews@chosun.com )
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[DaJungKi]

Thanks for the news. Gahmsahamnida~

I definitely agree with Professor Sung's sentiments. HP is not a bad book series by any means, but we need to think about the implications of its huge popularity. The concerns she addressed in the article are realistic and should be kept in mind.

[EdwinLastNameVasquez]

Professor Sung is telling the truth. We as North Americans tend to push our culture towards the world and expect them to fall victim to our faults. We need to step back a bit and allow these countries set a standard for themselves rather then set it for them.

[jolin]

^The book was written by a woman from England and published by a company based in London not North America, but I get your point.

If they are worried about their young readers, they need to put some programs in motion that will help the nation grow "its own independent, home-grown cultural content". Every country on the planet will be caught in Harry Potter fever when the book comes out there, but the mania will fade and possibly never come back since it is the last book. They should take the time to take some action before the next book mania comes again.