The Magic of Harry Potter in China
Even though it was written about 20 years ago, Harry Potter is one of the most popular stories worldwide. With a 7-novel series being adapted into 8 films and transformed into 4 theme parks, Harry Potter can be truly regarded as a successful fantasy novel series. The stories themselves are imaginative: powerful wizards, magic wands, creatures, and a mysterious wizarding school. Although some people argue that Harry Potter may not be able to intrigue the Chinese audience as it was based on an entirely different cultural background, Harry Potter is actually appealing to Chinese readers, especially Chinese students, from a social perspective. The novels reflected problems of the British education system that can be found in the Chinese system as well, a resonance that enables Harry Potter to overcome the cultural barrier and become a symbol of cultural globalization.
Back in the early 1990s, Western novels were unable to make a significant presence in China (China Daily 2001). Chinese teenagers at that time preferred Japanese anime over western novels because Japanese anime often has an imaginative and carefree context that provides a form of escapism to the audience (BBC 2016). Suffering from heavy academic pressure in their daily life, Chinese teenagers can relieve their pressure by watching anime and escaping to a world of the unknown. However, the dominance of Japanese anime in the Chinese market changed when Harry Potter was introduced to China in the late 1990s. Similar to Japanese animes, Harry Potter also provides an imaginative and magical world full of new possibilities. The fantasy novel series tells the story of a young boy’s experiences as a wizard at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During his study there, Harry comes to realize his responsibility to fight against Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to control the magical world and subjugate all wizards and non-magical people. The plot revolves around the school life and education system at Hogwarts, featuring the experiences of the main characters such as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
The story of what it is like to study at a mysterious magical school undoubtedly piques Chinese student readers’ interest. What makes the story even better is that it is also critical to the problems within both the British schools and the Chinese schools. For example, the suppression from school officials exists in both cultures, but instead of asking students to accept these restrictions, Harry Potter encourages them to fight against the authority. In a particular scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Hermione sneak into Professor Dolores Umbridge’s office to get in touch with someone outside the school. Unluckily, they are caught by Umbridge, who also happens to be the most suppressive school official in the book. Umbridge never cares for her students and only does what she thinks is best, making her a perfect symbol of all suppressive school officials. She threatens to torture Harry and Hermione if they refuse to explain their actions. Yet, instead of caving in to the will of the villain, Harry and Hermione trick Umbridge by using false information to lure her into the Forbidden Forest, where Umbridge is captured and taken away by a group of centaurs. This is an excellent exhibition of students’ defiance to the school authority, and a great encouragement to Chinese students who want to fight against their “Chinese Umbridges” who often have a strict set of rules that forbids students to have long or dyed hair, wear dresses or skirts. Even though it is unlikely for Chinese students to find a group of centaurs that can take away their suppressive teachers for good, there are many other ways for them to show their defiance. Limericks and sarcastic cartoons were created to satirize these officials, and students would write complaints to the Education Bureau. Evidently, the depictions of suppressive school authority spark a common topic between British and Chinese culture, and the idea to fight against authority in the suppressive education system was able to overcome the language barrier, translate well within both countries, and bring a special sense of unity between Chinese and British students. This partly explains the popularity of Harry Potter in China and why it is more culturally globalized than people would expect.
Cultural globalization, as can be seen in Harry Potter, embodies the ideals and values that resonate across cultures and make people understand and relate to each other. If the common goal against the suppressive school officials can unite the Chinese and British students, the mutual dissatisfaction towards the high requirement for academic excellence in the education system can make their bond even tighter. Even in the Wizarding world, students worry about Ordinary Wizarding Level exams in fifth grade and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (Yes, it is the actual name of the test) in seventh grade. Courses such as transfiguration, charms, and defense against the dark arts may seem more interesting than maths and science in the real world, but the students at Hogwarts might disagree with you; even witches and wizards can’t escape the exam stress that’s becoming more and more severe (The Guardian 2015). A descriptive passage in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban furthered this idea: “The exams were nearly upon them, and instead of lazing around outside, the students were forced to remain inside the castle, trying to bully their brains into concentrating while enticing wafts of summer air drifted in through the windows’’ (Rowling 2014) The word “bully” is by no means an exaggeration. It vividly reflects students’ dreadful feelings of tests. In Harry Potter, getting high grades in O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s is the only way for students’ to secure their chances to find profitable and decent jobs. Yet, J. K. Rowling also breaks the rules she set by making Harry Potter a successful Auror. While this occupation deals with the defense against dark magic and consists of the smartest students, Harry is able to prove his ability during his fight against Lord Voldemort and gets employed without a very high grade or finishing his last year at Hogwarts. To some extent, Rowling writes about Harry’s occupation to prove that grades are not the only things that matter, whether at Hogwarts or in the British education system.
Unfortunately, the modern Chinese education system does not believe in Rowling’s statement, and Chinese Students are asked to work as hard as they can to get high GPAs because that is the only determinant of their college application. Unlike U.S. colleges that consider students’ activities and volunteering experiences aside from grades, the best colleges in China only enroll the brightest students in the country, and companies are more willing to accept graduates from these best colleges. However, Harry Potter echoes Chinese students’ desire to prove their abilities and potentials without having to have high grades in classes. In response to this, some Chinese students may choose to enter society and start to work after graduating from high school, comparable with Harry who did not take his N.E.W.Ts or complete his last year’s study at Hogwarts. Similar actions that were taken by students in China and Britain actually show the same problematic, grade-focused education system and calls for reform by asking schools to accept students according to their personal development. This problem with education once again connects people from two different cultural backgrounds, and Harry Potter speaks not only for the British students but the Chinese students as well. This cultural globalization of Harry Potter also explains its popularity among Chinese student readers.
Arguably, in order to become global, Harry Potter has sacrificed some of its local, British elements, and this can be evidently seen in the film version. In order to create more drama and dynamics in the plot to attract audiences worldwide, the details of British school life were largely ignored in the movies. Because the story was set in a magical world and does not have distinct local marks other than the British accent, the audience may have a misconception that the story can take place in any English-speaking country. From one perspective, it may seem like a good thing, as it proves Harry Potter can apply to different cultures; However, the British demeanor, sarcasm, and sense of humor will be sorrowfully missed, as they used to be the highlights in the novels. For example, during a conversation between Harry and his least favorite professor, Harry is asked to answer the question by saying “Yes sir”. However, Harry replies: “There is no need to call me sir, professor” (Rowling 2013). This laughable scene is able to feature the British sarcasm within the school context. Fortunately, the novels are able to preserve the specificity of British school life, along with its merits and flaws, enabling the story to resonate with the readers across the globe.
The successful resonance with readers makes Harry Potter quite a phenomenon in China. If you meet a Chinese student and ask him or her about their impression of Britain, chances are they will say “Big Ben” or Harry Potter. This novel series is just like a business card for the UK and will continue to be popular among Chinese student readers for its imaginative world, sense of escapism, and sharp criticism towards the problematic education system. It has been 13 years since the last novel of the Harry Potter series was published. Since then, Harry Potter continues to outperform all other foreign novels in the Chinese market. Although this shows the remarkable influence of Harry Potter, there are questions that need to be addressed: If the problems addressed in Harry Potter no longer exist in the Chinese education system, will the story still be relatable to the Chinese readers? If so, what other cross-cultural ideas in Harry Potter will appeal to the Chinese readers?
Works Cited:
- “Secrets Emerge Followed by Revelations, Situation of Chinese Children’s Literature.” China Daily, “http://www.china.org.cn/english/2001/Jul/16607.htm#:~:text=Secrets%20emerge%2C%20followed%20by%20revelations,situation%20of%20Chinese%20children's%20literature.
- “Your Name: Japanese Body-Swap Fantasy Is China Cinema Hit.” BBC News, BBC, 19 Dec. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38246184.
- Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury, 2014.
- “Channel Your Inner Hermione with the Best Harry Potter Exam Quotes Ever.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 May 2015, www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/may/13/best-harry-potter-exam-quotes-ever-jk-rowling.
- Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bloomsbury Publishing Inc, 2013.
