An Analysis on the Literary Origins of Harry Potter小说《哈利_波特》文学渊源分析

1、An Analysis on the Literary Origins of Harry Potter小说哈利·波特文学渊源分析本科生毕业论文（设计）任务书毕业论文（设计）题目： An Analysis on the Literary Origins of Harry Potter 学生姓名： 专业： 英语双学位 学号： 0911250532 内容摘要（主要应解决的问题、难点）：论文的主要内容是对由英国女作家J.K.罗琳创作的系列小说哈利·波特的文学渊源进行分析，通过介绍小说及主要人物，从小说的文化背景以及小说主要的文学体裁，来对小说哈利·波特的文学渊源进行整体分

2、析。主要应解决的问题是小说文化渊源的分析。论文主要从小说中所含的希腊神话，基督教文化以及巫术文化来进行分析阐述。方法主要是搜集相关文献、研究，对比中文翻译和英文原版，通过其写作文化背景和文学体裁来分析其文学渊源。难点集中在对小说的文化渊源的分析。主要任务：2012年2月18日前提交论文指导书，开题报告和论文提纲2012年2月18日-2月25日撰写并提交文献综述；2012年2月26日-3月17日撰写并提交论文初稿；准备接受中期检查；2012年3月18日-3月31日修改初稿，并提交二稿；2012年4月1日-4月14日修改论文二、三稿；2012年5月1日论文定稿2012年5月15日准备论文答辩201

3、1年5月25日提交论文打印需提交的文档（毕业论文等）：1) 本科生毕业论文（设计）任务书2) 本科生毕业论文（设计）正本3) 本科生毕业论文（设计）开题申请表发出任务书日期： 完成期限： 指导教师： 系负责人： AbstractThe essay focused on the analysis of the literary origins of the novel Harry Potter which written by English writer J. K. Rowling. It is conspicuous that the series novel had made a grea

4、t success in the world. The aim of the research is, by analyzing the literary origins of Harry Potter to find the reason that the novels success. Whats more, through the analysis, we can find out something deep about the European culture and have a better understanding of it. Since Harry Potter almo

5、st had influenced a generation of people, it is necessary for us to dig out the profound background the novel based on, and thus to help Chinese literary circle to create better literature.Key Words: literary origins, Greek mythology, Christian culture, magic world摘 要本文主要针对由英国作家J.K. Rowling创作的小说哈利&#

6、183;波特系列进行文学渊源上的分析。 这一系列小说在全球范围内获得了巨大成功。本文旨在通过对小说哈利·波特的文学渊源分析，找出小说在世界范围内成功的原因。并且通过对小说的分析，可以找出作品中有关欧洲文化更深层次的内容，而且还可以对文化有更深层次的理解。由于小说哈利·波特几乎影响了一代人，这就使得我们更需要去挖掘小说身后的文化底蕴，来借此帮助中国文学界创作出更好的文学作品。关键词：文学渊源；希腊神话；基督文化；魔法世界iContentsAbstractI摘 要IIIntroduction11. Literature Review32. The Literary Origin

7、s42.1 Analyses of Cultural Background42.1.1 Greek Mythology42.1.2 Christian Culture62.1.3 Witchcraft Culture72.2 Campus Literature82.3 Critical Realism Literature93. Conclusion10References11IntroductionHarry Potter which written by the British author J. K. Rowling is a series of seven fantasy novels

8、. The seven books described a whole magic world in which the hero Harry Potter learned knowledge, grew up, fought against the evilness and eventually got true friendship and love. The novels revolve around Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard at the age of eleven. Each of the bo

9、oks tells the story about one year in Harrys life from Harrys first year in Hogwarts to his seventh grade. Campus life is just a part of Harrys life in Hogwarts, except that, Harry has an archenemy whose name is Lord Voldemort to deal with. The death of Harrys parents was caused by Voldemort and thu

10、s somehow Voldemort lost his human body, but Lord Voldemort still lived with one piece of his soul and tried to get his human body back by manipulating people and killing people year after year. Harry is the only survivor from that disaster and thus he was adopted by the Dursleys. Every end of each

11、book is the fighting between Harry and Lord Voldemort. The fighting between Harry and Lord Voldemort is just a fighting between good and evil which infuses the reader that justice will always prevail over evil and love will cure every wounds. Harry Potter has two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermio

12、ne Granger. Ron comes from a pure blood family and also a member of the Gryffindor house. According to J. K. Rowling, Ron was among the characters she created "the very first day" In the interview of Rowling on BBC（2007）, Ron is inspired by Rowling's best friend Sean Harris, but she ha

13、s clearly stated that she "never set out to describe Sean in Ron, but Ron has a Sean-ish turn of phrase." Like Harris is to Rowling, Ron is always there when Harry needs him. The character of Ron fits many of the stereotypes expected of the sidekick; he is often used as comic relief and is

14、 loyal to the hero Harry, and lacks much of the talent Harry possesses, like magical power and so on and so forth. However, he has demonstrated bravery several times.Hermione comes from a Muggle family and she is also a student in Gryffindor. She is an overachiever who excels academically, and is de

15、scribed by Rowling as a "very logical, upright and good" character. Rowling also adds that Hermione's parents, two Muggle dentists (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2001:43). They are a bit bemused by their daughter but very proud of her as well. They know the wizarding world very w

16、ell and have visited Diagon Alley with Hermione. Hermione's most prominent traits are her cleverness and prodigious intellect. She is levelheaded and smart; whats more, she is very good in logic. She is often bossy but very dutiful and loyal to her friends, that is, a person who can be counted o

17、n. Rowling stated that Hermione is a person that "never strays off the path; she always keeps her attention focused on the job that must be done."(Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2000:278)The series of novel have been translated into approximately 70 languages as it affected profo

18、undly around the world. Admittedly, the success of the books has a close relationship with the novels unique characteristic. The vivid language and fascinating plots gained a lot of readers favor around the world. Whats more, the setting of the magic background in the novel also contributes to the g

19、reat success. This essay focuses on the novels literary origins which expound the setting of the magic background in the novel. The beginning of the essay gives a brief introduction about the novels born, main contents and main characters which can help readers to review the whole novel and get a be

20、tter understanding of the essay. Since the novel has a whole magic world as the storys background and the number of characters is huge, the essay chose and introduced four main characters who played significant roles during the progress of the whole story. Then the essay expounds the literary origin

21、s of the novel which include cultural background and literary genre. The perfect literary origins which include Greek mythology, Christian culture and witchcraft culture had contributed to the success of the whole novel. In addition, the literary origin of Harry Potter just found its unique way to m

22、ake the whole novel different from the other current magic novels and thus gets a brand new mode of wizard world to readers. The literary genre is also another important factor which gained worldwide reputation .The conclusion summarized the hallmarks of the literary origins.1. Literature ReviewIt i

23、s generally accepted that the series of Harry Potter is popular around the world among teenagers. The books have been translated into approximately 70 languages and affected profoundly around the world. Admittedly, the success of the books has a close relationship with the novels literary characteri

24、stics. The vivid language and fascinating plots gained a lot of readers favor around the world. Besides, the literary figures which are easily accepted by readers had also made a great contribution to the success of the novel.The current research about the literary origins of Harry Potter is quite d

25、ifferent from each other. Most of the critics thought that the popularity of Harry Potter is a common phenomenon. At first, some British and American critics had positive comments on the novel. It is said that Harry Potter has a great affection as same as the masterpieces by classic childrens author

26、 Clive Staples Lewis. Nevertheless, with the third book of the series came out, that is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the comments on the novel changed a lot which can be classified into four main opinions. First, it is thought that the novel was good for children to read and made people

27、 realize the value of childrens literature. Second, some of the critics hold the opposite view that the novel was not good enough, and the reasons were different. Third, conservative American Christians believed that the books should be taken from the library because the content of the novel had a l

28、ot of description of witchcrafts, and which opposed the Christianity. Fourth, critics argued that whether the novel should be compared with the classic childrens literary. Admittedly, most of the critics thought Harry Potter is worth researching and studying because of the perfect combination of kin

29、ds of literary subjects. The author herself even has extensive reading and been affected with the traditional literature which make the novel successful. The common research on this novels literary figures includes its cultural background and literary characteristics. Most of the critics hold the vi

30、ew that the Greek mythology and Christian culture in this novel is just appropriate, and it can be found that the token of Greek figures also reflected though each character which make the novel readable.The success of Harry Potter has a close relationship with the literary figures. In other words,

31、the literary figures make the novel profound and readable. 2. The Literary Origins2.1 Analyses of Cultural BackgroundThe cultural background of Harry Potter is based on several kinds of cultures and mythologies. To some extent, readers can find literary quotations everywhere in the novel, such as, t

32、he Sphinx in the maze of the Triwizard Tournament comes from the Greek mythology, but Rowling turned Sphinx into a womans face with a lions body who can ask the player questions. There are other literary quotations in the novel which help to develop the plot and set the mysterious background, and th

33、at is why every chapter in Harry Potter always get a lot of readers attention.It is exquisite for Rowling to set these cultures together in the novel which make a great contribution to the increasing mysterious color to the whole story. In the novel, readers can easily find that Rowling gives out ch

34、ronological magical affairs just as the history in normal world and this history came out as a kind of class, like the History of Magic, and sometimes the history also gives the protagonists clue or hint to pursue something, such as Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione found out the history of the

35、 four origins who have built Hogwarts in a thick history book, which tells them about the Chamber of Secret is exists in Hogwarts, and the plot comes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret.2.1.1 Greek MythologyAs one of the roots of the European civilization, Greek mythology is one of the impor

36、tant factors for the background setting of the novel. Rowling cited huge numbers of figures and stories from the Greek mythology which fully fused in the whole development of the story. For example, there is a conspicuous creature whose name is Fluffy was based on a creature named Kerberos from Gree

37、k and Roman mythology. Fluffy is a giant three-headed dog raised by the gamekeeper of Hogwarts Rubeus Hagrid. Fluffy first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone as a guardian to guard the trapdoor leading to the underground chamber where the Philosophers Stone was hidden. The only known

38、 way to get past to Fluffy is to play music and thus to lull him to sleep. Fluffy has three heads and he is really creepy to scare all the people who saw him. In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville accidentally run into Fluffy while hiding from Peeves, who was a

39、ttempting to send them to caretaker Argus Filch for punishment. Fluffy is based on Kerberos who is the guardian of the gate of the underworld. Kerberos is called Cerberus who also has three heads and can be lulled to sleep with music by Orpheus. Because the story in Harry Potter and the Philosophers

40、 Stone described the life of Harry as a grade one student, and the sight from Harry to explore the mysterious castle of Hogwarts is also the sight of the readers, it is necessary for Rowling to set several mysterious creatures in the Hogwarts castle to add mystery of the magical world. The setting o

41、f Fluffy just pandered to the expectations for mysterious creatures of the readers, and thus the plot which Fluffy appears opened up another unknown magical world.Buckbeak is another typical creature based on the Greek mythology creature. Buckbeak is a hippogriffs and its first appearance is in Harr

42、y Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Buckbeak is introduced during one of Hagrids Care of Magical Creature classes. In the novel, Buckbeak is described as a very calm, powerful, proud creature, but is sensitive and demand respect. Harry successfully approaches Buckbeak and gained trust from Buckbea

43、k. Buckbeak is a hippogriff who supposed to be the offspring of a griffin and a mare. Based on the book A New Dictionary of Heraldry(1747), Griffin which comes from the Greek mythology is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally c

44、onsidered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The griffin was also thought of as king of the creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. After Harrys experience

45、in the first book and the second book, Rowling thought that there are not enough mysterious creatures in the magic world and it is necessary to add other creatures to help develop the plot. So with Hagrid becoming a teacher of Hogwarts, it is a good opportunity to introduce several creatures to the

46、magic world of Harry. The plot about Buckbeak is just fit the trait of griffin. In the novel, because of Draco Malfoys arrogant attitude towards Buckbeak, Malfoy was slashed on his are by Buckbeak. Pretending to be injured much more severely than he truly is, Draco persuades his father to use his po

47、litical power to sentence Buckbeak to death. Eventually, with the help from Harry, Buckbeak escaped with Harrys godfather Sirius Black. Besides, some characters in the novel are also based on the prototype of the Greek mythology figures. The headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore is based on almigh

48、ty god. Rowling stated she chose the name Dumbledore, which is an Early Modern English word for "bumblebee", because of Dumbledore's love of music: she imagined him walking around "humming to himself a lot". Rowling also said that she enjoys writing Dumbledore because he is t

49、he epitome of goodness and Dumbledore knows pretty much everything about the Harry Potter universe. Other character like Hagrid is based on Hermes, Harrys mother is based on Hectors loyal wife Andromache, and Professor Quirinus Quirrell is based on Janus who has two faces and always been duplicity (

50、Rowling Reveals Marriage' to Harry Potter at Reading 2007: 123). These creatures, characters and plots which based on the Greek mythology conspicuously demonstrated that Rowling is affected by the European civilization deeply. And the exquisite and delicate setting of these prototypes ingeniousl

51、y helped to make the whole story full of mystique.2.1.2 Christian CultureChristian culture is one of the core spirits of western civilization and it permeates western politics, economics, ideology and culture, especially literature. The spirit of Christian culture has been used widely into kinds of

52、literary works, and one of the typical expressions is that the thought of original sin and salvation is used as the topic of these literary works. As a pious Christian, Rowling presents readers the story that let people to introspect themselves. In Harry Potter, Rowling built up a magic world for th

53、e people who are trapped in the material desiring zone. In the world, Rowling answered the question that why people expected to have moral development in nineteenth century but it is just full of evilness in twentieth century by her own understanding. Rowling believed that evil is always exists and

54、never disappeared just like the Lord Voldemort. This is just the essence of Christian culture about the evil. Evil comes from the external environment as well as the weakness in humans heart and thus the two things worked together to create even worse thing. It is essential for human to resist the e

55、xternal materials lure and face their original sin. Based on the understanding of the sin, Rowling depicted the protagonist Harry Potter to fight the evil Lord Voldemort. Though the Christian hold the view that the spirit of Harry Potter is different from the Christian culture, Rowling still expound

56、 the sin and salvation through the whole story.Besides, some details of Harry Potter also reflect the Christian culture. The wand in the magic world is based on Mosess staff which been used to make miracles. In the novel, snakes always appear as evil which in the Bible is also the force of evil. The

57、 most conspicuous similarity is the plot that Harry willing to sacrifice for justice in the seventh book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows just like Jesus rose from dead: they both willing to sacrifice for justice, and both rise again, whats more, both of them gained power after death. Every deta

58、ils alluded to the spirit of Christian culture, and just because of the connections, the novel has more cultural resonances. 2.1.3 Witchcraft CultureWitchcraft, in historical, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of wit

59、chcraft. Historically, it was once widely believed in early modern Christian Europe that witches were in league with the Devil and used their powers to harm people and property. Particularly, since the middle of twentieth century, "bad" and "good" witchcraft are sometimes distinguished, the good witchcrafts often involving healing. In early sixteenth century, an ac