The Harry Potter series has brought a revolutionary change in literature. J.K. Rowling introduced us to complex themes, morally cryptic characters, and socially aware storytelling. The impact of Harry Potter on young adult literature has shown us that any genre’s work can act as an outbreak to bring something new to the readers. It has raised the popularity of the YA generation and inspired a new generation of authors carving the YA fantasy genre. Children’s book sales were raised after the publishing of the Harry Potter series, unleashing a new imprint. If we further explore the series we would find more interesting effects of Harry Potter in young adult literature and on the landscape of literature.
The Harry Potter series has introduced a new generation of writers with a new angle of writing. Using complex themes and narrative storytelling. As a result, we find a whole new evolutionary result in the post-Harry Potter literature. The new writers show interest in experimenting with their plots and doing the unexpected. More writers became interested in writing in the YA fantasy genre. Harry Potter paved the way for the new writers to voice out their thoughts and ideas. The post-Harry Potter YA genre literature’s protagonists broke out of the traditional characteristics and became a part of imperfect heroes.
Defining the Young Adult Genre Pre-Harry Potter:
Before Harry Potter came into the picture, the YA literature was very much different than now. Pre-Harry Potter YA literature was mainly focused on realism, tackling issues on adolescence, identity, and personal struggles in an effortless and often gritty manner. Authors like S.E. Hinton and Judy Blume were the ones who led the creation of realistic and coming-of-age stories that focused on the emotional and social challenges of a teenager.
S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is one of the oldest examples of YA literature. The Outsider is known for the realistic, gritty storytelling of teenage life. Where two teenage groups explore identity, class conflict, and bromance.
Judy Blume’s Novels also deal with these kinds of issues like first love, puberty, and sexuality in a way that the readers may relate to and be sensitive about them. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970)” and ” Forever (1975)” are the novels that serve as pre-Harry Potter’s YA literature.
The targeted readers of pre-Harry Potter YA literature can relate themselves to real-life problems, and among them, it was appreciated. But it was mostly dark-themed and related to problems that were a regular thing for the readers. As a result, not many readers were interested in this type of literature. The publishers noticed that this type of literature is not getting the full attention to become a blockbuster. Even though it has an educational theme, the themes are very narrow and less diverse, which makes it less hyper. The readers are bound to only one concept, and at some time, they get bored. As a result, one reader does not feel attracted to reading that book again. Harry Potter was a book that spread worldwide, but pre-Harry Potter books were successful internationally, though they didn’t get that much attention and were dropped in some years.
Harry Potter’s Role in Popularizing YA:
Harry Potter has such a unique style of fantasy genre writing that we can categorize it anywhere, and it will fit perfectly. The long narrative style of storytelling helped it to get the reader’s emotional attachment. Readers can relate to the characters and get the vibe of something new. This type of writing captured the attention of the readers worldwide. Many readers were interested in YA literature after reading Harry Potter. Harry Potter was the pillar for other new-generation writers. Later, many writers of the YA generation followed the theme of Harry Potter, and it became a successful book series that captured the adoration of many book lovers. After 2012 a survey occurred over the YA literature revolution. This survey showed that after Harry Potter, the number of readers and writers of YA literature has incredibly increased.
Harry Potter was like a bridge to readers of all ages. It was valued by both children and adults. The magical theme of Harry Potter attracted a huge number of children readers who loved the concept of magic and mystical creatures. The dark themes of depression, murder, mentioning of killing, and adventurous themes attracted adult readers. In the series, J.K. Rowling tried to mix up complex theories with the children’s concept of imaginary things, and we can say this was a marvelous success. After Harry Potter’s success, people were attracted to YA literature, and publishers showed interest in investing in YA literature’s writing. This shows what an incredible dominance and effect Harry Potter has over YA literature. Children, young and adults were all attracted to the amazing writing style of Harry Potter, which gave YA literature a huge boost among publishers. Harry Potter’s series success paved the way for a new generation of readers and brought an evolution in children’s books towards a more complex and narrative style.
The Enlargement of YA Literature After Harry Potter:
The Harry Potter book series had an overwhelming influence on YA book sales; more than 500 million book copies were sold worldwide. It has been converted into over 80 languages globally. Many people were attracted to YA literature. As a result, many series were released about YA literature after Harry Potter. Harry Potter has boosted the sales of young adult literature following a unique way of challenging traditional themes and borderlines. Harry Potter crosses many genres and makes an outstanding and all-purpose series that captures every reader’s heart no matter what age or genre they love.
Twilight, The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc., are the latest examples of YA literature’s popularity. Here the authors used the supernatural genre to create a new world. They mixed sci-fi into YA literature as well so new generation readers can adopt the books quicker. Twilight was also a book that used supernatural creatures and made an outstanding entry in YA literature. It was admired by many readers, and later, it had movies over the books. Twilight might only be a young adult book that was loved by the youngsters of this generation.
Divergent is a science fiction book that is fully based on a theme where a girl who is different from everyone is the main focus of the book.
Harry Potter’s influence in restoring young adult literature is undeniable. It gave a new landscape to the writers and readers. Readers accepted the diversity of its writing style wholeheartedly. They loved the long storytelling narrative style and character arcs which brought them success. It helped to show the ways to some more incredible blockbuster sagas such as Twilight, The Hunger Games Divergent, etc.
The Harry Potter series has shown new skylines to the new young adult genre authors who were struggling with their writing pieces. So surely, we can say Harry Potter is the mainspring of Young Adult literature. This literature changed the whole young adult concept and built its creative style in literature. It has inspired children’s literature to be engaged with dark themes, moral ambiguity, and mature content. The impact of Harry Potter on YA book sales and trends is unbeatable and its influence still can be seen in the YA literature market.
