Popular Culture Texts and Young People: Making Meaning, Honouring Resistance, and Becoming Harry Potter

This article introduces the use of cultural studies methodologies as a way to make meaning and generate new identity conclusions with young people and their families.

Julie Tilsen is a therapist, consultant, and trainer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where she counsels students, serves as faculty advisor to student organisations, and teaches in the Family Therapy Program at the University of Winnipeg. She can be reached by email: julie@2stories.com.

David Nylund is a social worker in Sacramento, California, USA, and is the clinical director of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Centre. He is also an associate professor of social work at California State University, Sacramento. He can be reached by email: dknylund@csus.edu.

Keywords: popular culture, media, masculinity, audience reception, narrative therapy, narrative practice, Harry Potter, Grand Theft Auto