This bachelor's thesis examines three books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The aim is to increase understanding for what Harry Potter could contribute in terms of morality in religious studies, and how the story about Harry Potter, as a popular literary phenomenon, can be helpful for this. Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development is central to this essay. I have used an hermeneutic method for the analysis of the Harry Potter books. The result shows that the main character, Harry Potter, can be seen as kind of a role model when it comes to moral development. Pupils may benefit by reading this book series because it can open their eyes to life questions and moral values. Identity formation, loyalty and fellowship are issues that the reader will be able to recognize and relate to in the Harry Potter books. Therefore it is relevant to use the Harry Potter books in teaching of religion. Life questions and moral values are also stressed in the syllabus for religious studies in junior high school. Furthermore the character Harry Potter does follow the moral development theory developed by Kohlberg, though it seems like the various stages are not separated, but rather integrated with each other. Harry Potter changes both intellectually and emotionally according to the magical world of Hogwarts school of wizardry and witchcraft.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-42912 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Johansson, Elin |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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