Fantasy Literature as a genre of Popular Culture. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings

This thesis is a study of fantasy literature as a genre of popular contemporary literature; a genre usually considered as low culture, especially within the academic world. Being a fan of this literary genre myself, I try not only to defend it through this paper but also to argue for a general cultural democracy. In my opinion both low culture and high culture belong to the general notion of culture; whether they are liked and preferred by few or by many people, they deserve to be respected.

My aim is to examine fantasy literature from many angles in order to figure out how it makes its appeal and why. To be specific and explain my argument the best way possible, I analyze specific works of fantasy literature as examples. The books I chose to work with are J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Furthermore Science Fiction is briefly discussed in order to look into the differences and similarities between these two genres and clarify the controversial distinction between them. Before proceeding to the main body of the paper, I consider necessary a brief introduction to the blurred and controversial notions of cultural studies and popular culture.