BEYOND THE TWIN CORES: THE MOTIF OF DOPPELGANGER IN J.K. ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER SERIES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MURAT ARSLAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE AUGUST 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez Caro Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Margaret J.M. Sönmez (METU, ELIT) Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez Caro (METU, ELIT) Assist. Prof. Dr. Kuğu Tekin (Atılım University, IDE) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Murat Arslan Signature : iii ABSTRACT BEYOND THE TWIN CORES: THE MOTIF OF DOPPELGANGER IN J.K. ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER SERIES Arslan, Murat M.A., Department of English Literature Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez Caro August 2015, 125 pages The aim of this thesis is to analyze the doppelganger motif Harry Potter series which is written by J.K. Rowling and belongs to both fantasy literature and children’s literature. It begins with an overview of the uncanny, the fantastic and the interpretations of the double / doppelganger. The doppelganger motif originates from the duality of ancient times but the earlier form of the double is mostly a good visual twin. Later, especially in Gothic fiction, it appears as an evil twin who haunts and pursues the self. Sigmund Freud argues that the double turns into an uncanny omen of death. In the series, it is observed that Voldemort’s return from Harry’ past corresponds to Freud’s uncanny; Voldemort’s haunting and pursuing Harry is an uncanny omen of death. However, there are many similarities between Harry and Voldemort such as the bond of the twin cores, their family background and the ability to speak Parseltongue. Above all, a part of Voldemort, in the form of a Horcrux, resides in Harry. Voldemort represents both the external evil and the evil within Harry. Like many other Gothic examples of the self, Harry wants to restore the order in himself. By killing the doppelganger and awarding Harry with a rebirth, Rowling keeps the tradition of death in relation to the motif of doppelganger and provides the suppression of the evil both in human and in society. This study shows that the doppelganger motif iv is created by the polarization and mergence of the self and the doppelganger and it keeps the Gothic tradition by destroying the evil. Keywords: Fantasy literature, children’s literature, doppelganger, the Uncanny, Harry Potter v ÖZ “İKİZ ÇEKİRDEKLER[İN]” ÖTESİNDE: J.K. ROWLING’İN HARRY POTTER SERİSİNDE KÖTÜ İKİZ MOTİFİ Arslan, Murat Yüksek Lisans, İngiliz Edebiyatı Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez Caro Ağustos 2015, 125 sayfa Bu tezin amacı, J.K.Rowling tarafından yazılmış olan ve hem fantastik edebiyat hem de çocuk edebiyatına ait Harry Potter serisindeki kötü ikiz motifini analiz etmektir. Tez, tekinsizin, fantastiğin ve (kötü) ikizin motifinin yorumlamalarının genel bir değerlendirmesi ile başlar. Kötü ikiz motifi eski çağlardaki ikililik motifinden gelmektedir ama ikizin ilk şekli iyi görsel ikizdir. Daha sonra, özellikle Gotik edebiyatta, ikiz modeli benliğe dadanan ve onu takip eden kötü ikiz halini alır. Sigmund Freud, ikizin tekinsiz bir ölüm alametine dönüştüğünü savunur. Seride de Voldemort’un Harry’nin hayatına dönüşünün Freud’un tekinsiziyle örtüştüğü gözlemlenmektedir. Voldemort’un Harry’e dadanması ve takip etmesi, tekinsiz bir ölüm alametidir. Fakat Harry ve Voldemort arasında ikiz çekirdeklerin bağı, aile geçmişleri ve Çataldil konuşma gibi pekçok benzerlik bulunmaktadır. En önemlisi, Voldemort’un bir parçası “Hortkuluk” olarak Harry’nin bedeninde yaşamaktadır. Voldemort hem dışarıdaki hem de Harry’nin içindeki kötülüğü temsil etmektedir. Çoğu diğer benlik örneği gibi, Harry kendi içindeki düzeni sağlamak ister. Kötü ikiz, öldürüp Harry’I yeniden dogma ile ödüllendirerek, Rowling kötü ikiz motifi ile ilgili ölüm geleneğini sürdürüp hem insanın içindeki hem de toplumdaki kötüyü bastırır. Bu çalışma kötü ikiz modelinin benlik ve kötü ikizin kutuplaşma ve birleşmesi ile oluşturulduğunu ve kötüyü yok ederek Gotik geleneği sürdürdüğünü gösterir. vi Anahtar kelimeler: Fantastik edebiyat, çocuk edebiyatı, kötü ikiz, tekinsiz, Harry Potter vii To My Family viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to my thesis supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez Caro for her continuous support and trust not only through this study, but also through my education period at METU. Without her endless optimism, valuable advice and encouragement, this study would hardly have been completed. I would like to offer my special thanks to Assist. Prof. Dr. Margaret J. M. Sönmez and Assist. Prof. Dr. Kuğu Tekin. I have greatly benefited from their insightful comments, valuable suggestions and guidance. I owe special thanks to Prof. Hilde Staels from Gent University / KU Leuven. It is in her courses that I became familiar with the motif of doppelganger and took inspiration from. It is also her encouragement that paved the way for writing this thesis. I would like the express my deepest gratitude to my parents Gönül-Ali Arslan and my sisters Özlem, Pınar and Elif, who have supported me in all respects. It is their lifelong trust in me that encouraged me throughout my educational life. I am also indebted to my cousin Burçak Keküllüoğlu. She has believed in me with full heart since my first day at METU. I owe my gratitude to my dear friends Pınar Çelik, Arın Polatcan, Sena Çalmaz Güneş and Hakan Özdemir, who have always trusted in me and supported me in my academic goals. My sincere thanks also go to Ceren Korkmaz, Sibel Şentürk and Sinem Pirinçci, who made me feel their support not only through this thesis but also through my graduate studies. In addition, I would like to thank Merve Aydoğdu, Gül Deniz Hoş, Harika Başpınar, Şafak Altunsoy, Mustafa Kara and Gülten Silindir for their never-ending support and precious advices. I am also grateful to Özlem Asker and Ezgi Tanışır for their friendship and unconditional support. Last but not least, special thanks to my friends Sara Nocente, Cansu Kılıç and Henrietta Sörensson who frequently contacted me in my stressful times and made me feel their support from afar. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ............................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................ ix TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1 1.1. The Freudian “Uncanny” and its relation to “the double”.......................... 1 1.2. The Freudıan “Uncanny” in fiction............................................................. 6 1.3. Todorov’s Approach to “Uncanny” in accordance with the Fantastic…... 8 1.4. Rosemary Jackson and Fantasy……………………………………….... 12 2. THE DOPPELGANGER / DOUBLE MOTIF................................................ 19 2.1. Freud and the Double .............................................................................. 19 2.2. The Definition of Doppelgänger…........................................................... 23 2.2.1. The Doppelganger and the Otherness / Evilness............................ 26 2.2.2. The Otherness in the Fantastic ………………………………….. 27 2.3. The Origin and Variations of Doppelganger …………………………….30 2.3.1. Doppelganger in Gothic Fiction…………..................................... 33 2.3.2. Doppelganger Motifs in Literature ………...……………………. 35 3. THE BONDING OF THE SELF AND THE DOPPELGANGER IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES……………………………………………………41 3.1. The Harry Potter Series in Fantasy and Children’s Literature …………. 41 3.2. The Self as a Child and the Doppelganger as a Parasite.......................... 42 3.3. Opening the “Chamber of Secrets” …………………………………….. 51 3.4. The Revelation of Inner Fears of the Self……………………………….. 60 4. THE MERGENCE OF THE SELF AND THE DOPPELGANGER ……….. 64 x 4.1. The Connection of the Self to the Doppelganger ..................................... 64 4.2. The Evil and the Possession of the Self……............................................ 74 5. THE DEATH OF THE DOPPELGANGER ……............................................ 84 5.1. Familiarizing the Doppelganger..............................................................