Applying Norman Fairclough's Model on JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

Feminism and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in Children's World Literature

1. Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA): CDA aims to address social

issues by examining the linguistic aspects of social and cultural processes, focusing on power
relations and ideologies.
2. Language and Power: Language is not neutral; it re ects and in uences power
dynamics within society, shaping social identities, relationships, and systems of knowledge and
belief.
3. Discourse as Action and Representation: Discourse serves as both a way to act
upon the world and a re ection of the world and its situational variables, contributing to the
reproduction and transformation of society.
4. Reading Fiction as Social Practice: Fictional literature, like the Harry Potter
series, provides a platform for individuals, especially children, to engage with and understand
cultural meanings, shaping their perceptions of the world.
5. The Harry Potter Phenomenon: Since its publication, the Harry Potter series has
gained immense popularity worldwide, but scholarly analysis often overlooks its portrayal of
gender and agency among female characters.
6. Uncovering Hidden Aspects: Critical analysis aims to reveal unseen relations
and causes within society, providing resources for those disadvantaged by social change.
7. Importance of Exposing Hidden Aspects: Exposing hidden aspects is crucial for
understanding societal issues and empowering marginalized individuals.

De nitions of CDA
1. Fairclough’s De nition: Norman Fairclough de nes Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as
a method to systematically explore the complex relationships between discursive practices,
events, and texts, and broader social and cultural structures. It aims to uncover how these
linguistic elements are shaped by power relations and struggles over power, contributing to the
maintenance of hegemony.
2. Wodak and Meyer’s Depiction: Wodak and Meyer describe CDA as focused on
analyzing both transparent and opaque structural relationships of dominance, discrimination,
power, and control as expressed in language. The goal is to critically examine social inequality
as manifested and legitimized through language use.
3. Scollon’s De nition: Scollon de nes CDA as a program of social analysis that
critically examines discourse, or language in use, as a means of addressing social change. It
emphasizes the role of language in shaping and re ecting societal dynamics, with a focus on
promoting social transformation.

CDA Framework by Fairclough:

1. Fairclough’s Contribution: Fairclough is a prominent gure in Critical Discourse

Analysis (CDA), providing a foundational framework for future research. His model emphasizes
the dialectical relationship between language and social reality, focusing on texts, discursive
practices, and social structures.
2. Three-Dimensional Framework: Fairclough’s framework for text analysis
comprises three dimensions: textual, discursive, and social analysis. Textual analysis examines
formal properties like vocabulary and grammar, while discursive analysis delves into
intertextuality. Social analysis explores discourse as a social practice, revealing ideologies and
power relations embedded within society.
3. Textual Analysis: This dimension includes vocabulary and grammar analysis, as
well as an examination of text structure. Fairclough identi es linguistic elements such as
adjectives, verbs, and sentence length as indicators of underlying ideologies and power
relations.
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 4. Discursive Analysis: Fairclough distinguishes between manifest and constitutive
intertextuality, highlighting how texts reference and construct meaning from other texts.
5. Social Analysis: The social dimension considers discourse within broader social
practices, emphasizing the role of discourse in shaping and re ecting societal ideologies and
power dynamics. Fairclough argues that an understanding of social context enhances
discourse analysis by revealing the ideological import of linguistic choices.
6. Application to Harry Potter: The study aims to analyze the feminist language in
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” using Fairclough’s framework, demonstrating how
feminist themes are expressed linguistically throughout the novel.

Feminism in Children's Literature:

Gender stereotypes in uence characters in children's literature. Girls are often expected to be
polite and well-behaved, like the March sisters in "Little Women," while boys are portrayed as
adventurous and mischievous, like Tom Sawyer. John Stephens' essay highlights how society
expects males to conform to certain traits, and females to others, with male characteristics
often seen as superior. If female characters display male traits, they are pushed back into
traditional female roles. Annis Pratt's book suggests that in literature, girls are held back while
boys are allowed to grow and evolve, as seen in characters like Harry Potter.

The book "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" became very popular among kids. It explains
why many children and adults like the story and how it's used in schools. Also, it mentions
some people who don't like the book because they think it's too long or that it treats boys and
girls di erently.

Social Analysis
Feminism
Representation of Women
Critics think Harry Potter books focus more on boys, making them look smarter and braver
than girls. For example, Hermione spends a lot of time studying and giving advice, while boys
have more exciting adventures. This makes girls seem less active and more emotional in the
stories.

Beauty Myth
In Harry Potter, Hermione feels embarrassed about her appearance and uses magic to change
it. When transformed into a cat, she hides because she's ashamed, while Harry and Ron nd it
funny. This shows how girls often face more pressure about their looks than boys.

Sexuality
Sexuality is important in feminism, as it's a part of who you are. In Harry Potter, discrimination
happens based on blood purity, gender, and background. Hermione faces prejudice for being
both a girl and a "mudblood" - someone born to non-magical parents. This makes her work
harder to prove herself in the wizarding world.

Patriarchy
"Patriarchy" originally meant rule by a male head of a family but now refers to systems where
men mainly hold power.

Physical Oppression
Hermione gets teased for being smart in "Harry Potter," which makes Harry and Ron not like
her at rst. They prefer not to rely on her skills, and when she realizes this, she becomes upset
and hides. Later, they rescue her from danger, and this makes them accept her as part of their
group. This shows how Hermione conforms to traditional gender norms to be accepted.
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Social Oppression
In "Harry Potter," girls help boys without getting recognition. Female characters like Professor
McGonagall are seen as less powerful than males. Boys can deceive McGonagall but not
Dumbledore. When girls lie, they get caught, like Hermione did with McGonagall.

Identity
Self-Identity
Hermione tries to prove herself by making discoveries and breaking curses, but Harry often
gets the credit. Her intelligence is overlooked, and her e orts mostly bene t others, like Harry.

Public-identity
Hermione sometimes gets scared and needs help from others, which ts with traditional ideas
about girls. Even though she's smart and can solve problems, she feels like she has to act
more dependent sometimes. When she's praised for being brave, she cries, which shows how
she follows the stereotype of a delicate girl.

Female characters in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" are shown as being dominated
by male characters, re ecting a sexist portrayal. This can in uence children's perceptions and
normalize gender inequality, reinforcing patriarchal norms in society.
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