The Harry Potter series has enchanted audiences all around the globe. The immense success of the Harry Potter stories has inspired all sorts of parodies, fan fiction, and even outright forgeries. In this double-feature talk, Dr Christopher J. Foster (SOAS) introduces his collection of Chinese Harry Potter "forgeries". He discusses how and why he sought out these works, and surveys the great lengths that forgers sometimes went to pass off their products as part of J.K. Rowling’s canon. Not all forgeries are alike, and Chris demonstrates the great range of deceptions that can take place, from pirated printings and unofficial translations, to misappropriated fan-fiction, plagiarism of other fantasy series, or outright made-up stories. JunProf. Dr Lena Henningsen (University of Freiburg) delves deeper into the conceptual implications of these works for our understanding of authenticity. Through a close reading of Harry Potter and the China Doll, Harry Potter and Baozoulong, and Harry Potter and the Chinese Foreign Exchange Student at Hogwarts, Lena explicates the meaning of “fake” and its relation to fan culture in specific.
