Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone: A Systemic Functional Analysis

Chyi Ann Ong,Genevieve F. Dipolog-Ubanan

doi:10.5539/ells.v12n1p56

Abstract

Gender-stereotyped roles of female and male characters are common in literature. Seeing that Harry Potter series has gained much popularity especially among children and teenagers, this qualitative paper attempts to investigate to what extent the author, Rowling (1997), confirms or challenges the gender stereotypes in the portrayal of the main male and female characters through her lexical (words) and grammatical (nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs) choices. Halliday&rsquo;s transitivity system is used to examine the lexis and structures that Rowling chose to describe the characters in her novel. Several scenes which contain descriptions about the main male and female characters were analyzed. Analysis of the excerpts from the novel showed that both the male and female main characters are portrayed with either feminine or masculine roles.

Highlights

Socialization is one of the essential processes where children acquire certain roles and behaviors, including gender roles
According to Berk (2003, p. 520), gender stereotypes are “widely-held beliefs about characteristics deemed appropriate for males and females”, which reflect gender roles in everyday behavior
According to Stephens’ schema, males are supposed to be physically strong; Harry, was depicted as “small and skinny” in Scenario 1 Line 1 (S1L1), and was often oppressed by his aunt’s family, as shown from his glasses that were held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose (S1L5-7) and Aunt Petunia cut his hair so short he was almost bald (S2L2&3)

Summary

Introduction

Socialization is one of the essential processes where children acquire certain roles and behaviors, including gender roles. To which children are exposed every day, plays an important role as well in spreading beliefs of the roles that they are expected to play in the society. 3) stated that “gender role includes the behaviors and attitudes considered appropriate for males or females in a particular culture.”. From these statements, one can deduce that gender stereotypes consist of multiple domains, including personality traits, physical characteristics, occupations, role behaviors, social relations, attitudes and interests (Berk, 2003; Block, 1973; Golombok & Fivush, 1994). Golombok and Fivush (1994, p. 3) stated that “gender role includes the behaviors and attitudes considered appropriate for males or females in a particular culture.” From these statements, one can deduce that gender stereotypes consist of multiple domains, including personality traits, physical characteristics, occupations, role behaviors, social relations, attitudes and interests (Berk, 2003; Block, 1973; Golombok & Fivush, 1994). Golombok and Fivush (1994) further commented that these different aspects of gender stereotypes are interrelated: a female is expected to have certain personalities (gentle, sensitive, emotional), possess certain physical characteristics (weak, graceful), and hold certain nurturing-type of occupation (nurse, kindergarten teacher)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion