Narratological-stylistic Analyses Of Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had been released amidst unprecedented hype with thirteen million copies published and distributed around the world (2007). It is a children-oriented, powerful and thought-provoking literary work and has become the favorite of both children and adult readers throughout the world and is worthy of study. J. K. Rowling, the author of the book, exhibits superb skills in narratology and stylistics, especially in creation of characters,use of temporal techniques and third- person limited point of view in the novel. This paper is a comprehensive analysis of the novel from the narratological-stylistic perspective.In this novel, Rowling makes a good command of narration by adopting temporal techniques to regulate the rhythm of narration. As a result, the writing is solid and witty: tens of millions of young readers are following Rowling through her five-, seven-, and even nine- hundred- page elaborations on the theme of bravery and betrayal.Narratological stylistics offers a comprehensive perspective to literary reading. The narratological stylistics is proposed by Jia Xiaoqing in her dissertation:Narratological Stylistics—Theoretical Construction and Application. The theory has proved particularly appealing to literary critics who are interested in narratological techniques and linguistic features that constitute the formal profiles of narrative texts. The general framework of narratological stylistics framework includes the five structural elements, namely Character, Space, Event, Spatial Form and Point of View. Under the title of Character, we mainly talk about characters'concretization and presentation and the naming pattern. Under the title of event, we primarily discuss temporal techniques, the three divisions of which, namely order, duration and frequency, are discussed respectively. Under the title of Point of View, we mainly talk about combination of perceptual point of view with stylistic analysis and combinations about emotion or ideology-laden points of view. Perceptual point of view can be analyzed from pattern of transitivity, deixis, representations of thought and perception. Combinations about emotion or ideology-laden points of view help uncover psychological or ideological inclination. Since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is written from Harry Potter's perspective, we spend more space in discussing the third-person limited point of view.Rowling adopts the third person limited point of view–Harry Potter. On the one hand, it is an omniscient point of view, in which the writer describes characters'words and actions freely and wholly. On the other hand, the narrator can confine herself to what the single character has experienced, thought and felt which can arouse readers'sympathy and commitment. Accordingly, the author achieves vivid characterization, realizes her desired distance between narrator and character or readers and reveals the theme of love and self-improvement.