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Gunder
Anna Gunder
anna.gunder@telia.com
As if by magic: On Harry Potter as novel and computer game
Computer games inspired directly or indirectly by novels have become a fairly common phenomenon. You can not only read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, listen to the audio book version and watch the film, but also play the game. In this paper I present a comparative analysis of the computer game Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and the novel
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.[i] Differences and similarities regarding the media structure (i.e. structural organization, navigation, linking, storage and presentation) of the two works are presented. Furthermore, I discuss how the computer game handles the narrative structure of the novel, i.e. how the game deals with the novel's artistic devices and
narrative technique. Naturally, the film is also discussed to some extent. In the analysis, perspectives are combined from three main theoretical traditions, namely traditional narratological methods, hypertext theory and ludology. In my opinion, computer games like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone share certain traits with narratives and therefore it is
fruitful to combine ludology and narratology in descriptions of this type of games. Vital to the analysis are the concepts omnidiscourse, omnistory, performed discourse, and performed story, which together make it possible to study multisequential works without restricting the analysis to individual readings or playing rounds (i.e. performed discourses and performed
stories).[ii] As a result, features and effects due to multisequentiality and ergodicity can more easily be observed and described. Central to the study presented in this paper is also the nomenclature for a linkology that I propose in my doctoral thesis. Together with a number of other concepts, the terms linkarium, ancoral text, nonancoral text, adlink and exlink aim to
facilitate discussions on how links and linking function structurally (from a user perspective) in different kinds of works.[iii]
Anna Gunder is a doctoral student and a member of the research project IT, Narrative Fiction, and the Literary System run by The Section for Sociology of Literature at The Department of Literature, Uppsala University. She has published an article on the narrative technique in Michael Joyce's afternoon ("BerŠttelsens spel: berŠttarteknik och ergodicitet i Michael Joyce's
afternoon, a story," Human IT 3:3, 1999, 27-127) and another article titled "Forming the Text, Performing the Work - Aspects of Media, Navigation, and Linking", Human IT 5:2-3, 2001, 81-206.
[i] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, EA Games 2001.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (London: Bloomsbury,
1997).
[ii] Anna Gunder, "BerŠttelsens spel: berŠttarteknik och ergodicitet i
Michael Joyces afternoon, a story", Human IT 3:3, 1999, 27-127.
[iii] Anna Gunder, "Forming the Text, Performing the Work - Aspects of
Media, Navigation, and Linking", Human IT 5:2-3, 2001, 81-206.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, EA Games 2001.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (London: Bloomsbury,
1997).
[1] Anna Gunder, "BerŠttelsens spel: berŠttarteknik och ergodicitet i
Michael Joyces afternoon, a story", Human IT 3:3, 1999, 27-127.
[1] Anna Gunder, "Forming the Text, Performing the Work - Aspects of Media,
Navigation, and Linking", Human IT 5:2-3, 2001, 81-206.
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