São tempos sdombrios, não há como negar: Harry Potter e o Terceiro Reich

Abstract

The Harry Potter saga, written by the British author JK Rowling, tells the story of an orphan boy, who had an unhappy and normal childhood, raised by his aunt and uncle. At eleven, the protagonist who names the saga discovers he is a wizard, just like his deceased parents. As Harry discovers the wonders of the wizarding world, he also finds out its flaws. The Wizarding society has a structure of its own – its school, government structure, and also its own prejudices. Such prejudices directly allude to the segregationist policies in Europe occupied by the Nazi regime (1933-1945). Having said that, this work aims to analyze how the Harry Potter literary saga mirrors the dark events of the Third Reich, such as the presence of dictator characters, aspects of a totalitarian government in the wizarding world, as well as resistance movements to this totalitarianism. This proposal fits into Comparative Literature, as it seeks to draw possible comparisons between the literary text and historical events. The considerations of Nitrini (2015), Carvalhal (2003) and Wellek (1994) will be used as theoretical support for discussions of a comparative nature. First, we will place the saga within the possible definitions proposed by Roas (2014) on the area of fantastic literature and those by Rodrigues (2018), concerning verisimilitude. Then, a historical study of this period will be carried out based on the work of historians such as Evans (2014; 2016), Fest (1976), and Rollemberg (2016). Finally, possible correlations between the Third Reich and episodes that occurred in the literary saga will be pointed out. It was possible to identify that both the literary saga and the historical period studied went through a totalitarian era under the rule of dictators, which stigmatized minorities. There were also groups of resistance in both Harry Potter and Nazi Germany, which also have similarities to each other.