Humor In Harry Potter

With the end of the twentieth century, Harry Potter series brings a storm in the literary field. This series has been translated into 42 languages, attracting millions of Harry Potter fans ranging from children to adults. The writer of these novels J.K. Rowling has made her one of the wealthiest women in the world through publication of her books. The tremendous influence this series brings to literature is beyond imagination. With the purpose of exploring the reason of success of these magic fictions, after surveying lots of materials for this dissertation, it appears that one element needs to be considered: the humorous writing style of Harry Potter books. So, this dissertation explores the definition of humor, the cause of humor, and the ways to achieve humor. The meaning of humor is discussed from its literal definition and some scholars'study through centuries. Because humor exists in the incongruity of the life, then the forming of incongruity is the paramount condition of humor. As for the ways to achieve humor, contents of language and using rhetorical devices mainly lead to incongruity.Analyzing humor in this series can be achieved by applying humor theories to the detailed analysis of humor in the books. The Incongruity theory is the main theory which means anything that does not fit our logical expectations or our normal view of things, and it provides a pillar to the construction of the thesis. Under this general theory, over a hundred examples are picked from the four former Harry Potter books to be analyzed in different categories: the incongruity in the plot, irony, hyperbole, metaphor, pun, and black humor. Through analyzing these examples, we can see the author J.K Rowling's great sense of humor is based on powerful creativity and luxuriant imagination.