Harry Potter – National Hero and National Heroic Epic

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-28
Author(s):  
Ulrike Kristina Köhler

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.

Author(s):  
David A. Hinton

The trend away from ornamented brooches, rings, and swords that demonstrates changing social pressures and expression during the eleventh century was maintained in the first half of the twelfth. The Anglo-Norman aristocracy had considerable wealth for its castles and churches, but the spending power of the Anglo-Saxon majority was very much diminished by the impositions that followed the Conquest. Social relations among the former were based primarily on land, and although sentiments of personal loyalty were defined by oaths of fealty, there is no record of gift-giving from lord to retainer other than the increasingly formalized bestowal of arms. Towns were growing both in size and number, but only a few merchants were really rich, and the peasantry in the countryside was increasing in number but had decreasing opportunity for individual advancement. Excavations at castles and other baronial residences generally yield the evidence of martial appearance and activity that would be expected, like spurs, and slightly more evidence of wealth, with coins a little more profligately lost, than at other sites. There are also luxuries like gilt strips, from caskets of bone or wood, and evidence of leisure activities, such as gaming-pieces; chess was being introduced into western Europe, and appealed to the aristocracy because it was a complicated pastime that only the educated would have time to learn and indulge in. Furthermore, it could be played by both sexes, though ladies were expected to show their inferior skill and intelligence by losing to the men; it echoed feudal society and its courts; and it could be played for stakes. An occasional urban chess-piece find, not always well dated, shows that a few burgesses might seek to emulate the aristocracy. Other predominantly castle finds include small bone and copper-alloy pins with decorated heads that have been interpreted as hairpins, as at Castle Acre, attesting a female presence, but other personal ornaments are infrequent. Some pictures in manuscripts suggest that in the early twelfth century the highest ranks of the aristocracy were wearing brooches. These were probably conventional representations, however, as there are no valuable brooches or finger-rings in the archaeological record, as there had been earlier.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bell Canon

Abstract Can the prestige of a language be an argument for the translation of a sacred text? Conversely, if a language is perceived as substandard, is that an argument against translation? In the history of the English Bible, scholars and theologians have argued both for and against a vernacular scripture, but the debate has not always been based on religious beliefs. Following the Norman Invasion of 1066, the translation debate shifted from the religious to the linguistic. In other words, the argument against translation became based on the perception that English was “too rude” to properly convey the complex nature of Holy Scripture. Reformers like William Tyndale protested this view, arguing that the linguistic argument against a Bible in the vernacular really masked an almost maniacal desire on the part of the ecclesiastical establishment to control the message. This paper takes a closer look at historical arguments for and against an English Bible from the Anglo-Saxon period through the Tyndale Bible.


Archaeologia ◽  
1945 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 107-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Wormald

A recent beautiful publication by Mr. Mynors of the MSS. in the Cathedral Library at Durham has raised an important point in the history of English illuminated MSS. Up to now there has been a tendency to regard the Norman Conquest as constituting a complete break with the past accompanied by the introduction of a new style of illumination. There is, of course, no doubt that in many spheres of life the Norman occupation of England did do away with many characteristics of Anglo-Saxon England. But this is not the whole story. A change in one department of life does not mean a revolution in another. In the realm of literature, for instance, Professor Chambers has shown that the Conquest did not interrupt the writing and development of vernacular prose. Mr. Mynors's book produces ample evidence to confirm a suspicion long held by some, but not uttered, that much of the ornament used by illuminators of English MSS. during the first fifty years after the Conquest is directly descended from motives in use in England long before the Norman invasion. To Mr. Mynors's evidence from Durham, examples of illuminated MSS. from Canterbury may be added in order to show that the famous outline drawing style of the English MSS. of the tenth and eleventh centuries had healthy descendants in the early years of the twelfth century. The best place to see this continuity is in the illuminated initials of these MSS. In order to do so it is necessary to examine the development of initial ornament in England during the tenth and eleventh centuries.


1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Young

The whole subject of forests, especially forests in the Middle Ages, is overlaid with a great deal of romanticism. The picture of a heavily-wooded England with primeval forests dotted here and there with villages connected by meandering tracks to relieve their isolation is fixed. Only a handful of Robin Hood bands lived within the depths of the forest itself. The present concern for man's destruction of his environment has caused this idyllic picture to be contrasted with the denuded landscape of large areas today, and the pathetic remnants of Sherwood Forest can be used as a cautionary lesson on industrialization since the eighteenth century. In fact, that lesson needs to be extended backward in time and the picture of the untouched medieval forest abandoned, for the reality was that men in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries made heavy use of the forests and encroached upon them just as man had done since he first came to the island or, more emphatically, since the Anglo-Saxon invaders began to make drastic changes in forested areas by their farming practices. However, after the Norman Conquest, the policies adopted for the royal forests did serve as some protection for the trees, even though the Norman kings no more had this as their purpose than had their predecessors. The thesis of this article is that the medieval English kings from the Normans on were conservationists in spite of themselves, even in the face of continuous demands from their own barons for disafforestment. Royal forest regulations enforced within the extensive areas under forest law protected the trees from complete destruction and slowed the inevitable encroachment of field upon forest.


Author(s):  
Jorge Luis Bueno Alonso

Gr/edigne Gudhafoc and d/et Gr/ege Deor: Una revisión del tema de las Bestias de la Guerra (57-65h) en las traducciones de la Batalla de Brunanburi.La entrada correspondiente al año 937 de la Crónica Anglosajona narra los hechos que tuvieron lugar en dicha fecha mediante una interpolación poética que constituye una de las piezas más importantes de la poesía heroica del inglés antiguo: La Batalla de Brunanburh. Los versos contenidos en esta entrada son importantes pues su condición y disposición poética nos permite clasifi carlos como poesía heroica del inglés antiguo tanto en la forma (unidades métricas) como en el contenido (imaginería, dicción). Este poema, como tantos otros dentro de la literatura del inglés antiguo (Bueno 2003), usa los hechos históricos como mecanismo narrativo para construir la historia interna del poema experimentando cono los temas (estilo, dicción, imaginería) de la poesía heroica: estilo aliterativo, vocabulario formulaico, el tema de las “bestias de la guerra”, frases sacadas del corpus heroico anglosajón, etc, etc. Parece evidente que estos temas se tendrán que tener en cuenta cuidadosamente cuando se traduzca el texto a otras lenguas. En un trabajo anterior revisé tres grupos diferentes de traducciones y de traductores que consideraron el poema a) de modo aislado, b) en el contexto de la Crónica Anglosajona, y c) como excusa para la creación poética. En este artículo quiero centrarme únicamente en textos de la categoría a) y dentro de ellos analizaré exclusivamente el llamado tema de las “bestias de la guerra” (57-65a), un asunto de gran interés desde el punto de vista de los estudios en traducción poética. Este artículo tiene como objetivo revisar el poema y ver cómo se ha analizado este tema en algunas traducciones importantes, tanto al inglés (Treharne 2004, Hamer 1970, Rodrigues 1996, Crossley-Holland 1982 as revised and edited by Barber 2008) como al español (Lerate & Lerate 2000, Bravo 1998, Bueno 2007). Como complemento se discutirá de modo breve una poco conocida versión del texto en asturiano (Santori 1999).Abstract:The annal for the year 937 of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle narrates the events which took place with a poem that constitutes one of the main pieces of Anglo-Saxon heroic epic poetry: The Battle of Brunanburh. The verses contained in this annal are important because those lines fall into the rhythmical units of OE verse and have diction and imagery associated with heroic poetry. This poem, as many others in OE literature (Bueno 2003), uses history as a narrative device to build the inner story of the text experimenting with the topics (style, diction, imagery) of heroic poetry: alliterative style, formulaic vocabulary, the beasts-of-battle topos, phrases taken from the stock of the heroic corpus, etc. It seems most evident that a careful consideration of these topics has to be made when translating the text into other languages. In a previous work I revised three different groups of translations –and translators– that considered the poem a) in isolation, b) in the context of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, or c) as an excuse for poetic inspiration. In this article I want to concentrate only in texts from category a), and within them, I will exclusively revise the so-called beasts-of-battle topos (57-56a), a very interesting topic from the point of view of poetic translation studies. My aim will be then to revisit how this topos (57-65a) has been dealt with in several important English (Treharne 2004, Hamer 1970, Rodrigues 1996, Crossley-Holland 1982 as revised and edited by Barber 2008) and Spanish (Lerate & Lerate 2000, Bravo 1998, Bueno 2007) translations. As a complement, a version in Asturian (Santori 1999) will be briefl y discussed. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Courbières ◽  
Sabine Roux

Wikis are digital community spaces that have attracted high traffic but virtually no study as socio-communicational platforms. These platforms offer individuals the possibility of engaging in unique writing activities by defining a distinct material configuration and imposing a protocol of enunciation. Wikis are platforms developed through the contributions of anyone, and constitute collaborative encyclopedias dedicated to a cultural topic. This article more specifically examines the Harry Potter Wiki, which is devoted to the literary universe of J.K. Rowling. Our semio-communicational analysis concerns the structure, the authors and the contents of the French and Anglo-Saxon versions of this wiki. First we explore the writing space in which get involved cultural objects that compose the world of Harry Potter. The semiotic content of this apparently unlimited space reveals an unpublished scriptural universe that articulates fictional regime and documentary regime. This tension brings us secondly to detail the space of normalization that configure these wikis. This principle of standardization is updated, both through the writing standards they define and by the pyramidal structure of intellectual authority that manage them.Our study seeks to qualify the "invisible borders" set up by the media device wiki in order to define these singular writing objects between documentary simulacra and documented fictions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
Nurbayani Nurbayani

The method of developing self-image in the context of psychological education is character building based on the concept of Islamic education based on unity and discipline. Integrated Dayah Integrated Law in an effort to develop its image emphasizes the integration of values, namely knowledge transformation, skills development, and value planting. The research instrument used was an open interview aimed at obtaining multiple perspectives on motivation to participate in religious activities. This is based on efforts to improve the quality of religious teachers as a top priority. The results showed that the imagery of the Integrated Dayah Ustad can be realized in the life of the dayah because it is influenced by the internal and external factors of the family, namely the influence outside the home or social institutions that support the community. However, the existence of dayah leaders who remain in their hearts, namely educating and passing on their knowledge and modeling them to other religious teachers, will show that the image of the Integrated Dayah ustaz still exists in contemporary society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
Michał Rogoż

In 2008-2018, the Polish market of young readers’ books was subject to various fluctuations related to economic determinants, demogra-phy and changing cultural trends or fashions. The dynamics of sales was determined by best-selling fantasy series coming mainly from the Anglo-Saxon literature. Although Harry Potter was not followed by an equally successful novel cycle, the main elements of its marketing strategy have been duplicated and continued. An important reinforce-ment of the message was the screening of a particular plot, and thus its multiplication in various media channels. Fantasy themes often re-ferring to the elements of horror, Gothic novels, and even dystopian thrillers dominated. Generic syncretism and even various formal ex-periments in the spirit of deconstruction have become characteristic of the contemporary youth book market. In contrast, the list of awards of the Polish section of the IBBY stands in opposition to this trend, which promoted, in the overwhelming majority, novels of morals na-ture, addressing difficult and controversial problems of adolescence, interpersonal relationships, otherness, etc. In this context, we can ob-serve a change in the values promoted and a transition from an edu-cative normative system to glorifying freedom and tolerance towards a wide range of behaviors and attitudes.


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