Excellent essay, Claire, you've made me want to go write H/G again. You've reminded me of things I'd either forgotten or never noticed in the first place -- Hermione comforting Ginny post-Dementor (awww), Ginny intervening during the Hermione/Luna fight at the Hog's Head (*ignores inner Hermione/Luna shipper for purposes of essay*), Ginny watching Crookshanks (true lesbians always bond over cats, you know).
Also: And while we’re on the subject of the Yule Ball, Ginny’s statement about Neville asking her “after Hermione said no” is rather ambiguous. The general reading of it is that this means after Hermione said no to Neville – and I have no doubt that is the preferred interpretation – but it’s a little moment to consider when thinking about this pairing. I never thought of this before, but you're so totally right omg.
One could argue you're stretching the subtext argument a bit, but I disagree -- I honestly don't believe JKR intentionally inserted any same-sex subtext into the books, with the *possible* exception of Remus/Sirius, but that's irrelevant, because reader-response theory dictates that it doesn't matter what the author intended, since it's all about how individual readers choose to interpret it. And I think you've illustrated that concept beautifully here, pulling out totally believable arguments for why this pairing is valid in canon that work very well if you go into it with an open mind. I hope this essay converts many more readers to come. :)
Anyway, great job.
Though the Hermione/Parvati shipper in me requires me to point out that Hermione didn't tell Parvati she was going to the ball with Viktor for the same reason she didn't tell Ron -- she wanted to have the full jealousy-making effect when they walked in that door together. (Note how freaked out Parvati is when she finally sees them together, ahem. *g*)
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Date: 2004-09-18 09:11 am (UTC)Also: And while we’re on the subject of the Yule Ball, Ginny’s statement about Neville asking her “after Hermione said no” is rather ambiguous. The general reading of it is that this means after Hermione said no to Neville – and I have no doubt that is the preferred interpretation – but it’s a little moment to consider when thinking about this pairing. I never thought of this before, but you're so totally right omg.
One could argue you're stretching the subtext argument a bit, but I disagree -- I honestly don't believe JKR intentionally inserted any same-sex subtext into the books, with the *possible* exception of Remus/Sirius, but that's irrelevant, because reader-response theory dictates that it doesn't matter what the author intended, since it's all about how individual readers choose to interpret it. And I think you've illustrated that concept beautifully here, pulling out totally believable arguments for why this pairing is valid in canon that work very well if you go into it with an open mind. I hope this essay converts many more readers to come. :)
Anyway, great job.
Though the Hermione/Parvati shipper in me requires me to point out that Hermione didn't tell Parvati she was going to the ball with Viktor for the same reason she didn't tell Ron -- she wanted to have the full jealousy-making effect when they walked in that door together. (Note how freaked out Parvati is when she finally sees them together, ahem. *g*)
Also, thanks for the rec. *hugs*