Well, that depends on the writer's tone. For example, the appropriation of a symbol can inspire converse reasoning if the work is a satire; an allegory that's a social commentary on business ethics in the US might have David being crushed by Goliath, or a novel built around classical fantasy creatures might have the magician guide be a bumbling idiot and the unicorn be the princess be the savior, and the prince and "hero" be the "damsel in distress" character. (if that makes no sense, think of The Last Unicorn).
Even Baz Luhrmann (sp?), who is the king of "do it because it's pretty", has an ulterior motive when he uses pastiche in his "Red Curtain" trilogy. He wants to remind you that you are watching a movie. The Shakespearian dialogue juxtaposed with modern sets, costumes, and props, the spaghetti-western cuts, the modern pop songs and cultural anachronisms... they're supposed to jar you out of your cinematic stupor, not contribute to it.
Okay, time for the short answer: you'd rely on the cultural symbol's original reading, unless there was a "pretty red arrow" type of marker that lets you know, "Hello! Is being used for a specific reason, but not the original intent!" JKR has no "red arrows" and thus she's messing up the symbolic order in ways not even absurdism attempted. May someone's god bless her for getting kids involved in reading actual books again, but Harry Potter is far from the skintight narratives The Chronicles of Narnia and The Dark Is Rising sequence present.
Re: The amazingly unbeta'd multimedia megahit!
Even Baz Luhrmann (sp?), who is the king of "do it because it's pretty", has an ulterior motive when he uses pastiche in his "Red Curtain" trilogy. He wants to remind you that you are watching a movie. The Shakespearian dialogue juxtaposed with modern sets, costumes, and props, the spaghetti-western cuts, the modern pop songs and cultural anachronisms... they're supposed to jar you out of your cinematic stupor, not contribute to it.
Okay, time for the short answer: you'd rely on the cultural symbol's original reading, unless there was a "pretty red arrow" type of marker that lets you know, "Hello! Is being used for a specific reason, but not the original intent!" JKR has no "red arrows" and thus she's messing up the symbolic order in ways not even absurdism attempted. May someone's god bless her for getting kids involved in reading actual books again, but Harry Potter is far from the skintight narratives The Chronicles of Narnia and The Dark Is Rising sequence present.