“ Harry Potter” as a Literary and Cultural

“ Harry Potter” as a Literary and Cultural Phenomenon”

The aim of the project — to study and compare opinions on the Harry Potter series as a cultural phenomenon The object — the peculiarities of J. Rowling’s masterpiece that make it a cultural phenomenon The subject — the realization of these peculiarities Hypothesis: the attitude to the phenomenon of “Harry Potter” depends on a reader’s cultural background Methods of research : interview, questionnaire, analysis, analogy, synthesis, comparison

Plan 1. Introduction The Harry Potter series as a world best-seller. 2. What makes “Harry Potter” a literary and cultural phenomenon: • . National peculiarities and distinctive features of English tales reflected in “Harry Potter” books. • . J. Rowling’s legacy as a writer. • . The writer’s biography and its impact on the success of the book. 3. Debates over the key to the success of “Harry Potter”: the unique character of the book or the well-planned advertising campaign? 4. Religious debates over Harry Potter series 4. The Harry Potter series in Russia 5. The questionnaire: comparative analysis of Russian and foreign readers’ and viewers’ attitude to the Harry Potter series 6. Conclusion Is “Harry Potter” a curse or a blessing for readers’ minds? 7. Bibliography

The Harry Potter Series • The series has sold more than 450 million copies and been translated into 74 languages. • The Guinness Book of World Records named JK Rowling the most successful children writer in history, • The Potter brand is estimated to be worth $15 billion by trade publication Advertising Age, while Forbes estimates Rowling is worth well over $1 billion. • For her literary work JK Rowling has received many awards — Nestle Smarties Gold Award (three times), British Book Awards, Children’s Book Award (twice), The Booksellers Association/The Bookseller Author of the Year Award (twice), Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book Award (twice) • JK Rowling was honored with the Order of the British Empire in 2000. •

Harry Potter truly revived reading • The [New South Wales Sidney] Education Department’s Deputy Director-General (Schools), Alan Laughlin, said the popularization of literature – especially the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon – was partly responsible for the lift in literacy because it had taken reading out of the “egghead” realm. • The National Endowment for the Arts released “Reading at Risk” last year. This is a study which shows adult reading rates have dropped ten percentage points in the last decade, with the steepest slump among those eighteen to twenty-four years old. More critically, the [Harry Potter] books enchanted struggling readers as well – kids like seventeen year old Mike Cossairt of Stafford, Va. , who credits Harry Potter for his discovery of pleasure reading and its effects.

Almost six out of ten children (59 percent) think the books have helped them improve their reading skills. And 48 percent say Rowling’s creation is the reason they read more. Colin Harrison, Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nottingham, who contributed to the research, said: “The sheer pervasiveness of JK Rowling’s books means Harry Potter will certainly have impacted on children’s literacy levels. ”

Parents are also noting what kids are saying about Harry Potter , and have overwhelmingly said they see positive results from their child(ren) reading the books. Out of 260 parents surveyed, 85 percent said their child wanted to read more frequently and 76 percent noted that this had helped their child in school. 485 1576 4.

The Harry Potter books encourage people not only to read but also write. The “Harry Potter” books are not just good literature but a treasury of wordplay and invention. Some magic features come into real life. Quidditch is being played all across the United States as well as some other countries.

Knowing a book has been turned into a movie also makes a large tome like the fourth Harry Potter book less intimidating, and has people doing still more reading for pleasure. People either read the book before the movie comes out to prepare, or read the book afterwards to fill in the rest of the story. Of course, there are several who say they don’t need to read the book once they’ve seen the movie, but most are curious to know the inspiration. In the case of Harry Potter , book sales soared after the first film was released.

Many tale characters and stories are English by origin. Lewis Carroll, James Barrie, Clive Lewis, Hugh Lofting, Gerald Durrel, John Tolkien and many others are the masters of children proze.

JK Rowling inherited them. Specialists give the following peculiarities distinguishing English tales from tales of other nations • The main character is a kid • The character comes to his creator himself • Authors usually weren’t professional writers • Appealing to the children and adults at the same time • One of the central problems is relationships between the children and adults • The variety of the linguistic hooks and word game • Parody • Deviation from the rule of “happy end”

J. K. Rowling’s book follows all the rules and national traditions of English tales. The Potter tales teach ethical truths that chime for adults as well. Another feature is dividing the world in two parts – “friendly” and “strange”, real and magic ones. The series can also be read as a national heroic epic. At the same time J. K. Rowling has created her own magic world with its own rules and laws.

Why does Harry Potter have such a broad range of appeal? Firstly Harry Potter seems to have a little something for everyone: romance, action, adventure, magic, friendship, the school experiences, different kinds of families, sports, and humor. There is also a dash of mystery and horror, mixed with a few fantastic animals. Rowling has blended all the above elements to make a rather believable story, especially for those who wish an alternate world existed.

The second factor of the phenomenon is the author’s life story. It was an incredible transformation of a lonely single mother into a powerful inspirational businesswoman. The experts in Rowling’s biography are sure that if Rowling doesn’t have such a story it should have been invented. In the foundation of the author’s life lays the same Cinderella archetype as in the Harry Potter series. Rowling’s and Harry’s lifelines are similar: they both eventually turn from nobody to rich and famous ones.

The factor of J. K. Rowling herself is so important for one more reason. She is connected with the British feature as a tradition of a lady-writer. There is no European country which has given so many great names in the literature to the world as England has. We can name Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Joanna Rowling at last.

The third factor of the success can be called a marketing company and derivative production, including Chris Columbus movies, computer and role games, T-shirts, posters with the main characters’ images, attributes and so on.

Harry Potter has truly influenced the literate world by bringing people of all ages back to reading. He has garnered much attention by expanding people’s imaginations in print and film, bringing a world to life. He also tells a good story using a variety of elements to capture a wide range of interests. Harry Potter is a phenomenon to education and reading.

Religious debates. • Many christian conservatives attack the Harry Potter adventure books as violent, death-obsessed and Satanic. Many people have branded the Harry Potter books anti-Christian and pro witchcraft and want the schools and libraries to ban them. • Pro-Harry Potter Christians find it right to describe the world where good and evil are not always obvious.

The Harry Potter series in Russia • The years of Potter-mania have brought about various literary plagiaries and parodies under funny titles, such as Porry Hatter, Tanya Grotter, Science to Win, Anti. Harry. Potter, Larin Peter, Barry Trotter, etc. • Paid circulations of books about Harry Potter are extremely enormous; thus, the Russian version of the last book was published with the circulation of 1. 8 million (!) copies, which is a total record for Russia! Besides, publishers also planned printing of additional copies.

Critics differ on why Russians like Harry, who fights evil with spells and flying brooms. Some say his popularity reflects a fascination with Western culture, though Russia’s obsession with all things Western has waned considerably since the early 1990 s. Others say Rowling’s books echo Russia’s rich tradition of fantasy literature, but with a lighter, more wholesome theme.

Have you read the books? How many? Foreign students 14 -18 years old Russian students 12 -15 89%4% 7% % yes, all books yes, some books no Russian students 16 —

Have you watched all the movies? 84%16% % yes no Foreign students 14 -18 years old Russian students 12 -15 Russian students 16 —

Have you read any fiction about Harry Potter? 79%21% % yes no Foreign students 14 -18 years old Russian students 12 -15 Russian students 16 —

Do you watch fan-video about Harry Potter? 100% % yes no 64%36% % yes no 93%7% % yes no Foreign students 14 -18 years old Russian students 12 -15 Russian students 16 —

Would you like to read the prehistory and the sequel of the story? 99%1% % yes no I don’t care 36% 11%53% % yes no I don’t care 84%6% 10% % yes no I don’t care Foreign students 14 -18 years old Russian students 12 -15 Russian students 16 —

Do you think that our children will read Harry Potter? Would you like them to do it? Foreign students: • Yes, I certainly would want my children to grow up with HP! • Yes. I’ll make them read it if I have to. They need to know what real imagination is. • I don’t think they will : / But I will definitely watch the movies with my child and if it decides to read the books I’ll be really happy • I think that will be up to them to choose what they wanna read

Russian students: • They will do it with great pleasure. • May be, but I’m not quite sure they’ll enjoy it. • No, I think it’s useless. • Of course, they will. I think Harry Potter and The Lord of Rings will be studied at school soon. In 10 years Harry Potter will become classic. • I’d like them to do it. I’ll read it to them.

What do your parents think about Harry Potter? Foreign students • They don´t like it, my dad thinks it´s a silly story • They have accepted the fact that their daughter is a lost case of Potterhead-ism • They both like it very much. My mum read the first 4 books to me and afterwards she read the rest herself and we forced my dad to read them too. • They think it’s okay, but they’re a little sceptic • My Mom think’s it’s fine, but never really paid attention to it. My dad never enjoyed the movies, he likes real-life stuff, not fantasy. • My mom loves the series. She doesn’t understand how J. K. could write such a magical novel, with such life and vivid detail. Her words, not mine. My dad, though, enjoys the movies but hasn’t read the books. He prefers historical fiction.

Russian students: • I think they like it, but not as much as I do • That it is a childish book. Just as most of the people • They like the film but haven’t read the books. • They think Harry Potter is a bad person and he makes a lot of harm. • My mother adores it too. • My parents think HP is a terrific person. • My parents read harry potter even faster then I did

What did you feel when the last film had been released? Foreign students • I thought: damn. . Is this really the end? • I was sad, because i knew that this was the time when my childhood is gone • Sad, breakdown, time flies, couldn’t believe. • Like my childhood had ended • I was very happy for the last one, but when i watched it i was depressed because i realized that it’s over • It was epic but they took too many liberties from the book

Russian students • I was sad, because it was the last film — the last thing in my childhood • Sad, because there wouldn’t be anymore harry potter things to look forward to • Like my childhood has been taken from me (I was overwhelmed)but I thought it could be better • I was incredibly happy and upset at the same time • I felt that I lost something • When the last film was released i was excited but also sad that it was ending but i was so happy and thrilled to see it

Do you find Harry Potter a phenomenon? Why? Foreign students • Yes because it’s a whole world besides ours and it’s amazing how JK rowling thought it al out. • Definitely! J. K. Rowling brought a whole generation to read! She created a new world and enthused so many people with her story. I’m sure this phenomenon will live on! • Yes, because it’s so original and such a huge, amazing universe and is so well written. • Yes, because it has every ingredient to be a phenomenon. It’s well written, teaches us something, affected (and to this day still affects) so many lives, the list goes on and on. And I don’t think there are enough words to describe the phenomenon that harry potter was, and will always be. It just is, i’m damn sure it will never be forgotten =)

• Yes, harry potter is indeed a phenomenon because it has altered our lives and our generation. It’s like the lord of the rings: it will be never be forgotten and always be celebrated. • Yes because millions of people all over the world have seen the movies and/or read the books. It’s probably the biggest phenomenon of our times • Because it’s a part of history • Yes. It was a new world about magic and creatures and schools. When i was a kid i actually wondered if maybe there were places like this in the world. Its touching and sweet yet full fo adventure for children and aduults also. • I find it more than a phenomenon its magical

Russian students • Because it brought magic in our life, it made our generation better. Because we learnt how to love, to be devoted, not to betray people. . . We became better. • Yes It is, because it has a great «echo» in every country • Yes I find harry potter a phenomenon because it’s the kind of thing that you talk about and everybody knows it!Yes because all generations of people read and will read HP with pleasure. Some children want to be like Harry. This book teaches us a lot of things which will help in the life.

• It’s really amazing and I’m sure that the next generation will enjoy it as well as we do. • No, I prefer our russian heroes. • Yes, he is a real hero. • It is the best book for children. • It has a great influence on people. • No, because it’s not my favourite book and fil, . I prefer “The Lord of the Rings”

Our survey revealed that “Harry Potter” is a phenomenon as it’s popularity is widespread and people all over the world know something about it. There are several reasons of it: • The series has something for everyone • The advertising company • Rowling’s life story • The traditions inherited from writers of the past However, foreign students are more keen on Harry Potter than Russian and consider the books and movies as a very important part of their lives. It is probably so because the series has traditions and peculiarities of British literature that are not so close and familiar for us. Conclusion