Harry Potter as a classical

novel and a cultural reset

How Harry Potter changed the industry and the prospective of reading

'Classic'. A book which

people praise and don't
read.

– Mark Twen
 1 2 3

Meet high standards for

Something that continues Has an enduring
quality, identified by
literary tradition understanding by readers
impact on culture
from a wide range of
backgrounds and a strong
literary basis.
 Harry Potter as a part of literature
tradition

J. K. Rowling sets up a thematic element common to bildungsromans on the very first page:
a conflict between the protagonist and society.


"Emma" "Macbeth"
by Jane Austen by William Shakespeare's

What about influences?

"The Iliad"
"Tales of Old England"
by Gomer
by R. Kipling
Bible
Folklore
"And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death".
(1 Corinthians 15:26)
Harry Potter made children’s
literature an unstoppable
force 60

Before Harry Potter, children’s literature was often

considered an afterthought. Sales were falling.
Children, analysts would say wistfully, just weren’t
reading anymore. 40

After Harry Potter, children’s literature became a

category full of mega-sellers. In 2004, in the midst of
the Harry Potter phenomenon, sales of non-Potter kid
lit were increasing by 2 percent a year. Since then, the 20

children’s market as a whole has seen its sales increase

by a total of 52 percent (4 percent a year). For
comparison, the overall book market has gone up a
mere 33 percent since 2004. 0

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 The Harry Potter generation likes to read, for sure — millennials read more than any
other generation — and it also created a cultural landscape in which books for children
are major cultural forces, and a go-to well of ideas for Hollywood. Movie studios scour the
children’s bestseller lists for properties they can turn into the next Harry Potter: hence
Twilight and The Hunger Games and Divergent and all the rest.

"One reason why it is a

phenomenon is because it could
take them through so much of
their lives in a way most other
books for children and young
people can't"

– Dr Smith
Resources
Buzacott-Speer E. Publishing Insights From the Nielsen Children’s Book Summit //
https://www.bookweb.org/news/publishing-insights-nielsen-children’s-book-summit-34861

Constance G., Romano A. How Harry Potter changed the world

// https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/26/15856668/harry-potter-20th-anniversary-explained

Манжула О. В. ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОЙ МИФОЛОГИИ В РОМАНАХ ДЖ. К. РОУЛИНГ О

ГАРРИ ПОТТЕРЕ // https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/interpretatsiya-angliyskoy-mifologii-v-romanah-dzh-k-
rouling-o-garri-pottere

HARRY POTTER AND THE BILDUNGSROMAN GENRE: HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE
CHAPTER 1 // https://freeliteraturestuff.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/harry-potter-and-the-bildungsroman-genre-
harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-chapter-1/

CARPENTER D. How “Harry Potter” Has Influenced the Millennial Generation

// https://www.mugglenet.com/2016/02/how-harry-potter-has-influenced-the-millennial-generation/