HUMOROUS NAMES IN J. K. ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER BOOKS

In the Harry Potter books, J. K. Rowling uses new spellings and different names to establish the fact that she is taking readers to a world that runs parallel to their own, but is quite different.

She uses creative naming to provide instant characterization and to help her readers remember who is who.

When she names her charms and potions, she is like modern manufacturers who name their products so as to create built-in advertising claims as with Allerest allergy medicine, Diehard batteries, and Holsum bread.

In relation to plot development, Rowling uses her newly created names, especially the names of her charms, to keep her plot moving at a fast pace.

She also uses newly created names for foreshadowing and for revealing the depth of her characters’ emotions.

But most of all, she uses creative naming for comic relief. Just as Shakespeare provided comic relief in the darkest of his tragedies, Rowling does the same thing in her Harry Potter series.

One example of Rowling’s word play occurs in The Chamber of Secrets, which centers around the identification of a mysterious student from the past named Tom Riddle. Ginny was given his diary, and throughout the year has been communicating with him, although she did not know who he was. When she is drawn into his evil plans, Harry gets the diary and finds himself communicating with its original owner. It belonged to TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, which is an anagram for I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.

Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints:

https://www.public.asu.edu/~dnilsen/