The functionality of the Daily Prophet: an analysis between the fictional newspaper and the real newspapers during the context of the military dictatorship in Brazil Catherine Fátima Santos Melo1
ABSTRACT This article seeks to present and discover similarities as well as function, features and organization of fictional newspapers, represented by the figure of the Daily Prophet, in the Harry Potter books, with real brazilian newspapers during the context of the brazilian military dictatorship and the conflict occurred in the plot, also very similar to a dictatorship. Keywords: Harry Potter, Daily Prophet, Dictatorship, Newspaper, Fiction, Reality, literature
Introduction:
Several newspapers are currently circulating in the world, and as in reality, within the context of fictional works we faced with production, whether it be newspapers or magazines, leaflets, pamphlets and fanzines. The production of print media in fiction seeks to characterize the credible basis of the plot for the development. In addition, it is under this context that the literary work Harry Potter seeks to bring into his universe the fictional journalistic production.
The great difference that perhaps as other productions with newspapers inserted in their contexts try to report events occurred, well saying, in a universe as close as possible,
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Catherine Fátima Santos Melo is graduated in Social Communication – Journalism by the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil – UFC.
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while in the saga of the young wizard have a reality coexisting parallel to ours, the universe of the wizards.
The modes of production, methods of investigation and conduct of journalists are very similar to reality; however are the facts reported every day in the Daily Prophet, the great news of the wizards. From magical acids, revolts to fantastic creatures and especially reporting a third witch war during the Harry Potter character period at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Prophet stands out for making a reality that initially seems distant. In addition to reporting us all the news, the newspaper as well as the context of the pressures play a strong non-unrolling role of the plot, as we will see further on.
1.1 Graphic and general aspects of the Daily Prophet.
The newspaper is also featured in the first volume of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, bringing us together with important events through the vision of the characters in the plot. He reports on the murder of Harry's parents, the alleged attempted robbery of the Gringotts bank, and reports on the Philosopher's Stone. The Daily Prophet has been produced since at least 17432. In the book “Quidditch through the ages3�, when innovation in the game of Quidditch included the baskets in 1883, the event was already announced by the vehicle. His bestknown editor is Barnabas Cuffe, former pupil of potions by Professor Horace Slughorn while teaching at Hogwarts. One can also notice the great bond that the newspaper has with the wizard government, being fully incorporated by the magic ministry and taking sides in its political decisions. One of the newspaper's most controversial phases is when Lord Voldemort threatens to return and take control of the ministry during Cornelius Fudge's term; he uses it as an instrument of self-promotion of his management and seeks to reassure the population by covering up numerous signs of a return to power of darkness.
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Data taken from Harry Potter Wiki, Available at: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Profeta_Di%C3%A
ROWLING, J.K. Quidditch through the ages, Quidditch through the ages England, p. 1-56. 1 jul. 2001
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The graphic design of the newspaper draws attention and brings one of the most classic and iconic elements of the Harry Potter books: their moving images. The newspaper's photographic and typographic equipment has nineteenth-century technology, as wizards do not use electricity, or have access to the internet or other wonders of the modern world. Their existence remains hidden from the rest of the world, so to speak, of the so-called Muggle people4.
So the wizards themselves replaced technology by magic, creating their own instruments, based on common objects allied with magic. Photographic cameras have a seemingly common basic principle, but as they go through the process of revelation, a movement spell is executed, giving motion to the photographs. This undoubtedly makes the news even more vivid, since the view of the reader is not only a static action, but it can accompany the action being practiced. As for the typography, graphic elements, color, columns the newspaper does not follow the typical patterns of the real newspapers, but usually it follows a specific pattern according to each occasion. The physical aspect of the daily Prophet are known by the movies. So we deduce that every moment of history, the newspaper undergoes modifications according to the hierarchy of information and events. The very writing of the prophet undergoes profound modifications according to the threat of Voldemort's return to power.
In the first moment, we noticed the use of more classic layouts, making use of consecrated typographies during the 19th and 20th centuries. Columns, vaults, lines of text are romantically inspired. Traditional collage does not apply in design, it varies from page to page, sometimes modifying to give space to the photograph of the story. Advertising is also another striking feature of the newspaper's design; we have observed hundreds of ads of various kinds vying for space with stories and columns of wizarding reporters, advertisements for Quidditch costumes, cauldrons on offer, and potion articles. The everyday wizard is revealed, just like any other.
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In the language of the Harry Potter series, "Muggle" is one that has no magical powers and is unaware of the existence of wizards. Some know the existence of people who practice magic, but do not possess magical essence, are called "abortions."
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1.2 Creation and Graphical Development
The Daily Prophet is a creation of author J.K Rowling, but its graphic design displayed on films and printed graphics related to the series was conceived by two designers. Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima worked together from the concept of the newspaper to their physical impression. The elaboration of the news, layout and publicity was the responsibility of the duo who, together, made headlines about the daily life and conceived everything as if the world of the wizarding world really proved its existence, making several references to Brazil along the pages of Newspaper. In 2010, MinaLima Design was founded, a company responsible for the general production of graphics elements of the Harry Potter series in general.
According to Bob Mccabe, in his encyclopedia entitled Harry Potter: From the pages to the screen director David Yates' choice was grounded in famous newspaper styles for design construction in that period. "When the Ministry of Magic takes control in The Order of the Phoenix, for example, David Yates asked us to look at the graphic style of Soviet publications," recalls Miraphora Mina. "We also consulted the newspapers of the 1940s."
During the obscure period of Lord Voldemort's evident return, the big headlines are prominent in the newspaper. Huge and glaring typographies call attention to the various escapes in Azkaban, the witchcraft arrest, the claims of the ministry, the main controlling organ and stockholder of the newspaper are prominent almost every day during their educational reforms at Hogwarts.
2 - Functionality and characteristics
The newspaper plays a role similar to the newspapers of reality. It is always abreast of what happens in the wizarding world and is capable of great coverages with a team of journalists always alert for any eventualities. Two issues of the prophet circulate, but usually during normal expedients, only one is more common. 4
The morning edition, "The Morning Prophet" and the most extraordinary edition, "the evening prophet." Its subject grid also has a division very similar to that of traditional periodicals. Quidditch, actions of the Bank of Gringots, experts in various areas of the knowledge of magic write columns on important facts of the area of interest of the wizards. Among its columnists is the figure of the journalist Rita Skeeter. With the column entitled "Me, Myself and I", she comments mainly on the events with the witches celebrities and reminds us of the social columnists of the so-called "Brown Press"5.
One of the greatest highlights in the daily Prophet, with Rita's performance was the coverage of the 77th Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament that same year. Every day, during the days of the tournament, newsletters containing the script of the quizzes and curiosities about the participants were published in the newspaper. However, there is the highlight for the part of the column of Skeeter that divulged false and fanciful information in search of an audience for the newspaper and for the sale of the copies.
To circulate every day in the homes and establishments of wizards, the Prophet with the help of magical equipment and instruments much less technological. His writing is based at Diagon Alley, the wizarding center of the nervous industry. The number of employees of the newspaper and its circulation is uncertain. His impression is of nineteenth-century bewitched presses, located on the lower floor of the editorial building. The delivery of the newspaper is made by mail-owl, costing five sicles6 to be paid the same in a leather bag that the accredited birds bring prey to the leg.
Known by his possible centuries of tradition in the news spread, the prophet undergoes changes in almost every period of different administrations. The media phenomenon can be observed since the circulation of the newspaper is quite broad.
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Brown Press is a pejorative term used to refer to media (mainly newspapers, but also magazines and radio and TV stations) that are considered sensationalist, that is, that seek high audiences and sell through exaggerated disclosure of events and events, without Commitment to authenticity. 6
Sicle is one of the coins of the wizarding world. The other currencies are called Galleons and Nuques.
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2.1 – Layout and inspiration Much of the seen in their headlines, the often quite classic Romanesque style layout was prevalent in the newspaper in the so-called "lull" news period. The political situation was stable and everything was moving in order. The Romanesque model is one of the most classic in the newspaper. We can see it in the beginnings of various newspapers and in the production of periodicals from around the world, practically arisen with typography and the manual press. According to typographic history7, we characterize:
The typological tendency is always simplification, seeking greater readability. The coherent optical spacing is also very important for a pleasing visual of texts. Based on studies done by Francis Thibedeau in the mid-eighteenth century in France, the main families of printing presses were established. They are: Ancient Roman, created by the French in the eighteenth century, inspired by Roman monumental writing, gives the reader an unconscious visual rest, reaching the highest visibility of all families, and modern Romana, created by the Italians in the eighteenth century, presents An evolution of the classical, aesthetically pleasing Romans, brought about a sensible improvement in the readability of the letters.
Looking at the newspaper in practice (Pic.1) we can see the great types worked out according to the big headline, in this case, the alleged robbery of a safe in Gringotts.
Picture 1 – The Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone
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Website: Typography / typology. Text: Fabrício Rocha, João Carlos Amador Júnior, Larissa Jansen and Rafael, Accessed on 02/18/12, available at http://vsites.unb.br/fac/ncint/pg/galeria/tipografia.htm
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But after the news that Lord Voldemort has returned, the wizarding world faces a new and real threat. Politics is destabilizing, a period of tension begins that calls for changes, not only in Hogwarts academic environment, but especially in the ministry. The reform of the newspaper does not only seek to improve its image, it means change in its content and approach. It begins the period of repression and terror, in which the newspaper is dominated and starts to advertise against the greater enemy of such a government, Harry Potter and its allies. To do so, the standardized model manifests itself richly in the headlines. Huge lyrics print the newspaper as well as the great news about World War II in the 1940s. During a brief analysis of the history of journalism in the war, Pedro Cardoso8 describes the criteria of news production, the influence of the media in news production and on the silent propaganda of war In wartime, the pressure on journalists on the ground is constant. The hunger for news becomes voracious, forcing reporters to find, as quickly as possible and in the most unimaginable corners, events that are likely to arouse interest. This need for immediate consumption of facts (or pseudo-facts) is often the cause of abuse of journalistic ethics. (...) Since World War I, when propaganda emerged as a means of manipulating the masses, up to the present wars, the way in which control of information and journalistic activity was carried out was meticulously scrutinized. World War II, Vietnam and the Malvinas War have become a means of learning new techniques and perfecting existing ones. (...) With the Vietnam War, for example, it became clear that by allowing the media to access all war scenarios and to report what they wanted and how they wanted it could create very dangerous situations "For the parties involved in the conflict.
With the need to draw attention and the increasing speed of news circulation, the prophet undergoes drastic changes in his editorial line and even his team and sponsors.
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CARDOSO,Pedro. Jornalismo de Guerra,a missĂŁo. Universidade do Porto. Acesso em 19/02/12, Avaliable in http://www.ipv.pt/forumedia/4/13.htm
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In addition, with the Standart model, the prophet plays a decisive role in the war witch course. Initially, he takes sides with the wizards who fight against Voldemort, but with the weak administration of the ministry he succumbs and becomes a propagandistic instrument of the forces of darkness, which we will see later.
Picture 2 - New phase of the prophet, on the day of Voldemort's first public appearance, after his return in "The Order of the Phoenix"
3 - Beginning of the period of dictatorship and control of the press
The most tense moment in the Daily Prophet's story certainly was when the news that Lord Voldemort had returned. Such a return was not expected, and there was not enough strength prepared in the wizarding world to face such a situation. The then minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge finds himself under pressure to take measures to protect the population and to put order in the growing chaos of the politics that was installed in the sectors of the ministry. With constant fear and pressure, he makes a decision that will shake his whole government and the actions of both sides of the war against the forces of darkness. It controls all the media and begins to shift the focus of news in the newspaper. The period of dictatorship begins. The newspaper begins to focus on another type of news, hide and even distort the truth. To the attacks that happened, others ended up leading to the authorship of the attacks. 8
The ex-detainee of Azkaban, supposed Muggle killer, Sirius Black, ends up being blamed for a series of events that would mark the return of Voldemort. One of the first initiatives in its return to the active, Voldemort puts allies working with the ministry, after finally taking control of the magical media.
What draws attention to the facts that occur in the history of Harry Potter is verisimilitude with the real. J.K Rowling has put elements in his history present in the dictatorships of history and explored them from the perspective of the fictional narrative.
3.1 - Parallel with the reality: Real dictatorship and fictional dictatorship
To better clarify the comparison between the real and the fictional; let us first understand what happened to the Brazilian press9 during the period of dictatorship, from 1964 to 1985. During the military regime in Brazil, set up after the coup of 64, many journalists were developing their work in order to resist the regime and break with the dictatorship. During the military regime several alternative newspapers appeared of opposition to the government. The mainstream press was censured by the dictatorship, or it was in tune with the government, while the small alternative newspapers denounced the abuses of torture and violation of human rights in Brazil. The alternative press was written by journalists of popular movement or of political orientation of left, to a large extent, dismissed of the great vehicles. The alternative newspapers were instruments of resistance and public space during the opening period. But the large print vehicles had combative journalists. In December 1969, Veja magazine had Raimundo Pereira, Élio Gaspari, Dirceu Brizola, Bernardo Kucinski, whose writing was dismantled after the publication of two reports on the torture of political prisoners.
Like the Brazilian social and political context, Harry Potter's world had its strength of resistance to pressure from the government and its military propaganda media. The leading, alternative, resistance-led newspapers play their part in trying to warn what was really happening and were instrumental in uniting and organizing forces opposed to the
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REBOUÇAS,Fernando. Jornalismo na Ditadura Militar, Portal Infoescola, Acess in: 14/10/12. Avaliable in: http://www.infoescola.com/historia-do-brasil/jornalismo-na-ditadura-militar/
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dominant power. In Brazil, we can highlight the newspapers Movimento (1975), Ex (1973), Unity and Struggle (1972) and, perhaps most notable, O Pasquim (1969) were the voice of those who wanted the liberation of the brute force of the government.
Increasing further the similarities of what happened in Brazil, in Harry Potter, the name of the weekly that oppose the ideas spread by the Daily Prophet is concurrently, The Quibbler. Commanded by Xenophilus Lovegood, its editor-in-chief and owner of the pamphlet, The Quibbler carried a collection of fanciful, dubious news, and consequently ignored and ridiculed by most wizards.
The situation changed when Harry announced that he saw Voldemort return in his bodily form and that he murdered Hogwarts pupil Cedric Diggory during a Triwizard Tournament assignment. Discredited by the majority of the population, who was incited to discredit him through the Daily Prophet's subjects, and still overwhelmed by the forces of the Ministry of Magic at Hogwarts, Harry receives the support of Xenophilius and gives interview in one of the most salable editions of the Quibbler , Revealing all the still obscure events of the night Voldemort returned.
As a publication considered foolish and irreverent, The Quibbler happens to be the main printed vehicle of resistance to the government and begins publishing materials supporting the forces resistant to Voldemort. It is also worth mentioning other media, such as “Patronus Radio”10, who have come together to spread messages of resistance and support to the population scared by the attacks of dark forces.
Predictably, The Quibbler begins to suffer attacks in reprisal of its publications. The situation is further complicated when Xenophilus' daughter Luna Lovegood is kidnapped by Death Eaters, Voldemort's armed force, and to rescue her, the capture of Harry Potter is demanded by the kidnappers. The headquarters of the Quibbler is destroyed in an attack when Harry manages to escape of an attack after going to visit Xenophilius for details on the legend of the Deathly Hallows.
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A radio broadcast made by Dumbledore’s Army for broadcasting news from the wizarding world in a coded form
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With the brazilian O Pasquim11, the story is somewhat similar. Launched in 1969, soon the newspaper took over one of the main voices against the dictatorship. The editor12 of O Pasquim was the cartoonist Jaguar. In addition to light interviews and relaxed texts, O pasquim published cartoons and comic strips by cartoonists such as Ziraldo, Henfil and Millôr Fernandes. At first, O Pasquim's own team believed the newspaper would be a failure and would not last long. The Pasquim was one of the main focuses of resistance to the military dictatorship and was almost closed by the authorities. According to the cartoonist Fortuna, O Pasquim was not only closed for adopting the mockery as a strategy to combat the government. Despite the constant persecution of censorship and imprisonment of its collaborators, O Pasquim was extremely popular during the 1970s. With the decline of the military dictatorship, the newspaper that fought so hard lost its strongest stimulus: to denounce the military dictatorship.
The members of the newspaper also suffered censorship and repression of the Brazilian military. Vetting almost all of its contents by the censorship sector, based on the decree AI-5, the military arrested all members of the newspaper and omitted their capture, forcing them to publish excuses in the newspaper justifying their absence.
Another quite obvious variant is the existence of a student movement on both sides. In Brazil, the student movement13 was celebrated as a protest of young people against a traditional politics, but mainly as a demand for new freedoms. Young radicalism can be well expressed in the motto "forbidden to forbid." This movement, in Brazil, associated with a more organized fight against the regime: the most radical protests, especially the university ones, were intensified against the dictatorship. On the other hand, the "hard line" provided the most sophisticated instruments and planned stricter actions against an opposition. 11
In portuguese, “The Quibbler” was translated as “O pasquim” getting all the contexts and similarities. Newspaper “O Pasquim “ durante a ditadura militar brasileira, extraído do blog Imprensa e Luta armada. Acess in em: 14/10/12. Avaliable in: http://imprensaelutaarmada.blogspot.com.br/2010/07/jornal-o-pasquim-durante-ditadura.html 12 12
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O AI-5. Website Fundação Getúlio Vargas (CPDOCS), Avaliable in: http://cpdoc.fgv.br/producao/dossies/FatosImagens/AI5
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At Hogwarts, the student movement founded by Harry, Ron and Hermione called Dumbledore's Army and seeks to train the young students of the school in combat to face the dangers posed by the menace of Voldemort's death eaters. What was only a punctual force proved be decisive for the battle against the dark forces as they joined the forces of young wizards with the members of the Old Guard of the Order of the Phoenix to defend Hogwarts Castle.
4 - The role of the media in the course of events.
The function of newspapers, both of reality and of fiction, as they influence the course of events is remarkable. In Harry Potter, we can see that the wizard's newspaper reflects the current policy represented by the controversial and undercover figure of his Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. The population, already frightened by the threat of dark forces is reassured by being initially deceived by the newspaper in the first moment, being led to believe that there was no such threat. After the great revelation by Harry in the Quibbler, and the series of events in which Dumbledore's death was the main trigger for the warning that Voldemort would return, The Daily Prophet can no longer deny what he wanted so much to hide.
From its routine news, the newspaper goes on to broadcast warning messages to the population and display intense anti-war propaganda of the witch community. Something comparable to the leaflets of World War II, of bombing warnings and alert for the population to protect itself.
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Picture 3 – Second War Propaganda asking people joingment
Picture 4 – Ministry of Magic’s pamphlet talking about blood purity and warning the population about your risks
The similarity between the two lines of thought reveals the influence and the political and social organization by the graphic production present in reality and fiction. According to the information they received, both sides of the dualistic clash between light and darkness made their decisions in the final battle.
During the Brazilian military dictatorship, despite the censoring of the newspapers, with political opening and the defeat of the military of power, with the amnesty period, the obscure facts of the prisons came to light, and the "cover" in the eyes of the population fell to reveal the real situation of Brazil.
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Final considerations It is astonishing to note many similarities with reality within a work as vast as Harry Potter. We realize that fiction in this case breaks paradigms by proving to be as real in the dramatic situations of the dictatorship as in war. The political theme is well explored, and we can see what happens through the media, especially The Daily Prophet, which serves as a window on the events and directions of the battle against evil.
Possessing all the creative, productive and technical elements of calculation and editorial and political criteria of calculation, the Daily Prophet confuses itself practically with the newspapers of reality, just missing, to exist.
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Attachments
Some Daily Prophet Covers
The Quibbler edition with Harry Potter exclusive interview.
The brazilian “O Pasquim� mocks the lack of its main directors
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Bibliographic references: ROWLING, J.k. Harry Potter: e a Pedra Filosofal. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2000. 264 p. ROWLING, J.k. Harry Potter: e o prisioneiro de Azkaban. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2000. 348 p. ROWLING, J.k. Harry Potter: e a Ordem da Fênix. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2003. 702 p. ROWLING, J.k. Harry Potter: e as Relíquias da Morte. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2007. 590 p. MCCABE, Bob. Harry Potter: das páginas para a tela. Rio de Janeiro: Panini Comics, 2011. 532 p. KUCINSKI, Bernardo. Jornalistas e Revolucionários. São Paulo: Edusp, 1991.
Links: http://educacao.uol.com.br/historia-brasil/censura-ditadura-militar.jhtm http://noticias.uol.com.br/album/111025jornais_album.htm#fotoNav=12 http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Pasquim http://www.infoescola.com/historia-do-brasil/jornalismo-na-ditadura-militar/ http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/MinaLima_Design http://cpdoc.fgv.br/producao/dossies/FatosImagens/AI5 http://pt-br.harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Profeta_Di%C3%A1rio
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