JKR's nod to oral tradition

[Ali <Ali@zymurgy.org>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48450



The recent quest to predict lines and phrases which may reoccur in 
OoP has led me to post on a topic that has long been bubbling away in 
my mind.

IIRC, JKR has in the past been criticised for her unimaginative and 
repetitive phrases. I have always disliked the criticism, although 
noted the fact that repetitive imagery has indeed occurred.  Rather 
than blast her lack of creativity, I have thought that this 
repetition is a nod to certain classical epics which, if they were 
not originally told, were certainly pieced together in the oral 
tradition. I am thinking of Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey", 
although the suggestion might be equally true of other oral-derived 
epics which I am unfamiliar with.

Homer repeated many sentences again and again, and used certain 
epithets to distinguish his characters. An example of an epithet 
would be "swift-footed" Achilles or a phrase, "urged them on in a 
great voice".  Homer uses these again and again to emphasis the 
personality or distinguishing traits of certain characters. To me, 
JKR's repeated imagery of Snape's bat like quality is not dissimilar, 
nor is some of her repeated use of phrases. Dumbledore often speaks 
gently eg "If I thought I could help you" said Dumbledore gently p. 
603 GoF UK hardback edition or "You can't blame them" said Dumbledore 
gently p.13 PS paperback edition.

JKR studied "classics" as part of her degree, and is clearly well 
versed in mythology, so I would be surprised if she was unfamiliar 
with Homer, or more particularly the power of enforced imagery. I 
believe that her use of repetition is deliberate and enhances the 
imagery that she has so vividly created in our heads.

Ali