Dumbledore’s Army and inquisitorial squad: totalitarism and resistance in Harry Potter

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the discursive strategies of two groups in the Harry Potter (HP) saga, Dumbledore’s Army and the Inquisitorial Squad, represented by two women, Hermione Granger and Dolores Umbridge, as, respectively, a unofficial spokespersons of the resistance and another official of the State (semiotized by the Ministry of Magic). Based on the clash between these two social voices, the concepts of “ideological sign”, “statement” and “centrifu­gal and centripetal forces” will be considered, based on the Bakhtinian theoretical-methodological studies, as reflective foundations about the responsiveness and responsibility of students in face of the ministerial discourse, marked by conservatism, typical of authoritarian governments, in the great time of history, personified, in the fictional work, by a specific teacher, entitled “High Inquisi­tor”. The relevance of the proposed discussion turns to the dialogical relationship of reflextion, re­fraction and double refraction between fiction and reality, as understood by the Bakhtinian Circle, especially on how much fantastic literature, with its specific aesthetic finish, is founded on social soil and comes back to life, as an expression of a historical mark. The results reveal how much the valuation for resistance, based on determination, is considered “good” and totalitarianism, “evil” in the narrative, in addition to reflecting on systems of government and education, given the sceno­graphic configuration of the work as an occurrence and event aesthetic, where the actions take place (at Hogwart School).