The Harry Potter Epic – Utopian and Dystopian Motives

The article is devoted to the consideration of the relationship between utopian and dystopian (critical) moments in J. Rowling’s epic about Harry Potter. At the beginning of the article, the author describes, referring to researchers, the features of utopia and dystopia as special genres. Then it is noted that a work of art containing the twists and turns of the heroes’ destinies cannot be a static presentation of a good
or bad world, but includes a confrontation of positive and negative moments, the struggle of heroes to assert good. This is typical for utopian novels, including teenage and children’s utopias of the Soviet period. Further, the author shows utopian motives in J. Rowling’s novels: fi rst of all, the line of assertion of an exciting «continuous adventure» in which teenagers save the world and turn out to be stronger than adults in some way. The socio-cultural background of the events, full of contradictions and imperfections, is dystopian and subject to criticism: the «magic community» is split and at odds with each other. In the end, the author
emphasizes that utopian motives lead the author to the assertion of the ideal of love.