Harry Potter has so far been looked at as a school story, a crime novel, a modern fairy tale, and as juvenile fantasy fiction - all of these literary traditions, which Rowling quotes and modifies to a certain degree. The theme of the love story, however, has so far only been touched on the periphery and that only in critical approaches analysing the series as a preadolescent novel or as an example of modern gender construction.
This lack of attention is rather surprising. After all, the topics of love and erotic experiences play a crucial role both in critical reviews of the novels as well as in readers' responses. In my presentation I will therefore discuss how - and, more importantly, why - the Harry Potter-novels follow certain conventions of the love story.
After giving a short overview of the literary tradition of the love story, I will analyse how Rowling integrates cliché characters (the sexy French woman, the foolish lover), how she uses names that indicate potential erotic involvement, paints stereotypical landscapes and how she describes highly conventional episodes. One can safely argue that Rowling implies certain narrative strategies following the love story in order to create emotional meaning, motivate plot/ conflicts, as well as evoke identification and empathy.
In Harry Potter the love story also accommodates its worldwide readership: So far matchmaking in Harry Potter focuses on intercultural relationships, and thus integrates relevant storylines like globalisation and multiculturalism. Besides, by adding a fantastic, ironic or humorous perspective - and thus an extra dimension for adult readers who are rarely interested in preadolescent matchmaking - Rowling skilfully plays with the material of the traditional love story without, however, deconstructing the macrostructure of the genre. She makes clever use of a highly conventional, yet emotionally involving topic that is extremely popular in shipping debates, fan art as well as fan (slash) fiction. By narrating the story from their own perspective, fan writers modify Harry Potter according to their prior interest.
A great discrepancy in readers' reactions, however, is obvious. Parents and pedagogues have (re)started a highly controversial discussion about the role of love and sex in juvenile literature. Are those built in in order to address a media-oriented premature readership? Or does Rowling simply follow a literary tradition? A close look at fan publications and critical reviews will illustrate these contrasts in the readers' responses.
Another interesting aspect can be seen in the influence of modern media, which has created specific visual aesthetics. Especially in film adaptations aspects of love and emotional commitment are often highlighted as they serve as easily visualised storylines. In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, to name but one example, Ron and Hermione start holding hands and exchanging deep looks, whereas in the book even in the fifth novel Ron's and Hermione's evolving attraction is only carefully anticipated. However, I would also like to show in my presentation how these film aesthetics find their way into the actual novels and how not only the book influences the film but also vice versa.
To illustrate my arguments, additional literary examples (e. g. popular juvenile literature, stereotypical series) will be looked at. Short episodes taken from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and other films (e.g. The Lord of the Rings) will be shown to demonstrate contrasts between textual information and visual aesthetics (depending on copyright regulations).