The analysis undertaken here was carried out with the intent of identifying how non-human animals are represented in the Harry Potter series of seven novels by author J. K. Rowling in order to try to prove that such representations outline posthumanist conceptions of animality and, consequently, of humanity.

As theoretical ground for this reading, writings from thinkers such as Giorgio Agamben, Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Lévinas, Michel Foucault and J. M. Coetzee were selected in order to try to map a range of possibile understandings of what has been called "the question of the animal" — which also includes reflections on ethics and compassion towards this animal Other. The Harry Potter series was analysed by means of identifying literary moments crucial to the narrative that also resonate with the posthumanist theory highlighted from such authors. It was concluded that the novels present us to a posthumanist pespective of human/animal relations, which enables a Lévinasian ethics which would welcome any Other, be it human or animal.

Keywords: Posthumanism, Animality, Harry Potter, Otherness

Full paper by José Rodolfo da Silva is attached as pdf.