Abstract of Paper to be Presented at Accio 2005

Harry Potter through the looking-glass: wordplay and the use of language in the works of J. K. Rowling and Lewis Carroll

Elena Anastasaki

In both the Harry Potter series and the Alice books (Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking-glass) language and wordplay have had a very important role in the creation of a magical world parallel to our own. For this paper I propose to do a comparative study of this aspect of Rowling's and Carroll's works and to show that this use of language, common to both, is the reason why their works appeal equally to children and to adults.

More specifically, I am going to analyse the different ways in which language is used to create an unsettling effect, which gives substance and consistency to the magical worlds created by Carroll and Rowling.

The following connections will be analysed. In the work of both Carroll and Rowling, names, their meaning and the things they reveal (or hide) are very important. Naming is the creation act par excellence; it is knowing but also conjuring; in this light, the reluctance to name could be seen as the will to destroy what is not named (Cf. the reluctance to name lord Voldemort).

In fact, words are acts in their own right in the magical worlds. The performative quality of some expressions is vastly extended and amplified (the word and what it designates become one). Language is used by both authors as a means of creation: words materialise and bring to life the magical world (Cf. spells or peculiar creatures such as the Mock Turtle). To achieve this effect, language draws its power by being taken literally. Linguistic conventions and their associated social conventions are also being challenged and, as their 'nonsense' is revealed, the reader's perception of the language is unsettled. It would seem that part of our language is 'dead' and it has to come back to life. Ironically, to bring language to life (and give it the power to become an action in itself) Rowling is using a 'dead' language (latin) and Carroll is using an 'abstract language' (mathematics and logic). The magical worlds are simply based on a different logic than our own and this is reflected in the language.

Puzzles are another common element in the works of both authors. They serve to illustrate the opposition of logic versus imagination, which is one of the main themes in both the Harry Potter series and the Alice books. In order for a puzzle to be solved, one has to think unconventionally and to deviate from the common paths of logic.

Seeing life from a different point of view is essential to magic, and for Rowling, as for Carroll, a fresh perception of language is the means to bring magic into the world.

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