Harry Potter: National Hero and National Heroic Epic
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In: International Research in Children's Literature, Vol. 4, No. 1, 07.2011, p. 15-28.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Harry Potter
T2 - National Hero and National Heroic Epic
AU - Köhler, Ulrike Kristina
PY - 2011/7
Y1 - 2011/7
N2 - Joanne K. Rowling's teenage wizard has enchanted readers all over the globe and Harry Potter can truly be called an international hero. However, as I will argue, he is also very much an English national hero, complying with the national auto-image of the English gentleman as well as with the idea of Christian masculinity, another English auto-image holding that outdoor activity is more character-building than book learning. I will also show that the series can be read as a national heroic epic in two respects. First, Harry Potter, alias Robin Hood, has to fight the Norman yoke, an English myth haunting the nation since the Norman invasion in 1066. The series displays as a national model an apparently paternalistic Anglo-Saxon feudal society marked by tolerance and liberty as opposed to foreign rule. Second, by establishing parallels to events which took place in Nazi Germany, the series takes up the idea of fighting it, which is a popular topos in British (children's) literature which serves to reinforce a positive self-image.
AB - Joanne K. Rowling's teenage wizard has enchanted readers all over the globe and Harry Potter can truly be called an international hero. However, as I will argue, he is also very much an English national hero, complying with the national auto-image of the English gentleman as well as with the idea of Christian masculinity, another English auto-image holding that outdoor activity is more character-building than book learning. I will also show that the series can be read as a national heroic epic in two respects. First, Harry Potter, alias Robin Hood, has to fight the Norman yoke, an English myth haunting the nation since the Norman invasion in 1066. The series displays as a national model an apparently paternalistic Anglo-Saxon feudal society marked by tolerance and liberty as opposed to foreign rule. Second, by establishing parallels to events which took place in Nazi Germany, the series takes up the idea of fighting it, which is a popular topos in British (children's) literature which serves to reinforce a positive self-image.
KW - English
KW - Harry Potter series
KW - National heroic epic
KW - English gentleman
KW - Fighting Nazi Germany
KW - Harry Potter series
KW - National heroic epic
KW - Norman yoke
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864335704&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3366/ircl.2011.0004
DO - 10.3366/ircl.2011.0004
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 4
SP - 15
EP - 28
JO - International Research in Children's Literature
JF - International Research in Children's Literature
SN - 1755-6198
IS - 1
ER -