HARRY POTTER
and the Fairy Tale Tradition

Fairy tales are one of the most pervasive and recognizable types of stories all around the world.  From the tales of the oral tradition in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas to literary re-tellings of oral tales, to re-interpretations of classic tales, to original literary tales, to literature that, while not necessarily fairy tale in and of itself, incorporates elements of fairy tales, it is impossible to fully understand the effects of fairy tales in modern society.

The Harry Potter books are not the first instance of children's literature that is fairy tale or pseudo-fairy tale.  This tradition also includes C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time series, pretty much all of Road Dahl's books, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and many others too numerous to count.

At the same time, the Harry Potter books contain  elements of traditions other than fairy tales, which may be touched on in passing on these pages, but will not be explored in-depth.

That having been said, enjoy your stay at Harry Potter and the Fairy Tale Tradition.

Notes and Credits:

• In creating this web page, I have referred to Beecham's Sourcebooks' Exploring Harry Potter(which is neither official nor always accurate) and the Harry Potter board at IGN (on which you can find almost anything, if you look).
  
• Page references and quotes are from the UK edition of the Harry Potter books.
  
• This webpage was created as a project for FR133: Fairy Tales and Culture at Brown University (a wonderful class that everyone should take).  Most non-Harry Potter specific sources are texts for this class.
  
• Throughout the site, my voice will appear in this font, and Renny's will appear in this one
  

Hello!
My name is Renny, and I helped build this website.
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