Constructions of Good and Evil in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Books: A linguistic analysis

This book investigates ideologies in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter by analysing discursive constructions of good and evil. The main approach is a critical discourse analysis, based on and driven by a corpus linguistic investigation of all seven Harry Potter books. The first part of the analysis is the corpus linguistic investigation of the assembled corpora. The key concepts and keywords of the books are determined, followed by an investigation of their main themes. Secondly, gender roles and the discursive construction of men and women are analysed. This includes a small excursion into literary studies as parallels are drawn to women’s roles in English literature. The third part is an investigation of prejudice, racism and class ideologies based on ancestry. It outlines how the group of muggles, people without magic, the group of witches and wizards, as well as other humanlike groups, such as house-elves and goblins, construct themselves and how they discriminate against each other. The different reactions to the execution of power imbalances by the oppressed as well as by the privileged groups are outlined and analysed.

Irmtraud Maria Wolfbauer was born in 1981 in Graz, Austria. She studied English and computer science, works as a teacher and has two adorable sons.