The Orbis

Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Opinion

This column will strike some as a departure from the normal fare that fills this space. Instead of tackling issues such as censorship by professors or why Ron Paul's popularity is predicated on category mistakes, this month I'm turning my attention to a more literary issue. Indeed, this may be the defining literary issue of our generation. I'm speaking of course, of the news that broke Oct. 20. Dumbledore is gay. J. K. Rowling revealed the news at a reading of her latest book. "Does Dumbledore ever find true love?" a young fan asked. "He's gay," she replied, explaining that his one true love, the dark wizard Grindelwald, was also his sworn enemy.

The reactions to this shocking news were immediate and varied. Some posited this was merely a publicity stunt to drum up sales of older books, in order to find clues to verify this claim. Others thought it might be a not-so-subtle dig at fundamentalist Christian groups who frequently consider her books to promote dangerously real witchcraft and general satanic behavior. Still others claimed this proclamation was part of what she had called the "prolonged argument for tolerance" that constituted her book.

However, the question that seems to be most interesting is one that hasn't gotten much attention. That is: who the hell is J. K. Rowling to declare this in the first place?

Make no mistake. What offends me isn't that she deigned Dumbledore to be gay. The issue is she takes her creative powers to extend beyond the creative moment. She assumes her role is both author and interpreter. She isn't adding to the text here. She is telling the public has been in the text all along, and the only reason it hasn't been seen before is because interpretations have been inadequate. To be sure, there are allusions and inklings in the Harry Potter canon.

There are clues, suggestions and ambiguities, but there is no explicit certainty this aspect in a major character's life. To declare one interpretation of the work be canonical, and use her position as author to legitimize these claims, Rowling is precluding from consideration alternate interpretations which may have Dumbledore as straight, or at least of a strongly ambiguous orientation.

What this story makes prominent is a pertinent and contentious literary question of the author's authority in determining interpretation.

No one denies Rowling created the character, setting and narrative that could lead to this conclusion. What is in doubt is her position to make this claim of Dumbledore being gay with the authority other than that of any literary critic.

Continued...

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