What Genre is Harry Potter?

And to make things even more complicated, as the series developed it changed, to a certain extend, genres. Here an overview of the ones that can be applied to the books and a, rough, categorization of the books in genres. Have fun and, if you are of a different opinion, feel free to voice this in a comment ;-)

That one is clearly defined by the length of the books and the kind of language used in them. Whilst there are some songs and poems throughout the books, they are predominantly written in prose and of truly epic length ;-)

Despite the fact that the series is read by children and adults alike, yes, at least the first books are clearly in the genre 'Children's Literature' whilst the later ones are more 'Young-Adult Fiction', aiming more at teenagers than at children. Apparently it came as a total surprise to J.K. Rowlings, the author, that the books were also such a hit with older readers.

The whole series, less the last book, centers around a school year at Harry's boarding school and is mostly taking place there. Typical topics are exams, bullying, the development of friendships – and enemy-ships, school houses and competitions and so on. The 'School Story' aspect is a very important one and has contributed hugely to the success of the series, as it allows children and adults alike to identify with the characters. In the end, most of us have gone to some sort of school - and some of us even to boarding schools.

The books might start with Harry being a bit older then one year in the first chapter, but the main story starts when he is approaching his 11^th birthday and goes until he is 17. There is also a concluding last chapter that tells us a bit of Harry's life as an adult, such as the >names of his kids< that he had married Ginny Weasley and a few more details. But the main plot is really about Harry growing up from a child with a complicated past into a young man that has to face his fate.

Some of you may differ here, but in my opinion, Harry Potter doesn't belong in any of the following genres:

Romance

Yes, there are some romantic aspects in the series, such as the relationship between Harry and Ginny that develops over the course of the series, but this is not the main aspect of the series, merely a byline. For being truly 'Romance', a book has to have the relationship as the main focus and the main focus in Harry Potter is not his romantic relationship with Ginny Weasley, it is his rather unromantic relationship with Lord Voldemort and the resulting, epic battle between good and evil.

Adventure

The genre 'Adventure' is defined as having events that take the protagonist out of his normal life and put him in a different context, where he has to live through one or more adventures and then returns home.

At first look that seems to apply to Harry Potter, as he hears on his 11^th birthday that he is a wizard and will start soon a different life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But this 'new life' becomes soon the main focus, the normality, for the protagonist and different to other novels in the 'Adventure' genre, the protagonist doesn't return at the end to his old life, but remains in this new reality which now has become 'his world'.

You can see this difference if you compare Harry Potter to Peter Pan. At the end of that story Wendy, and her brothers John and Michael, go back to their home in London, after the many adventures they have lived through in Neverland. They don't stay forever in Neverland. On the other hand, Harry Potter most definitively stays forever in the hidden wizarding world and doesn't return to the Muggle World for good.

Children's Literature > Young Adult Fiction

If you see the cut-off point between children and young adults at around thirteen, I would say that the series changes genre with the 5^th book, 'Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix'. From then on the books become darker in tone and more adult in their story lines.

School Story > Coming of Age Only

The last book, 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows', is the only one that doesn't take place during a school year. It ends the 'School Story' genre and concentrates on the final 'Coming of Age' of the main protagonists, Harry, Hermione and Ron.

Summary

Harry Potter is a series of novels whose books belong to one or more of the following literature genres: Fiction (Fantasy), Coming of Age, School Story, Children's Literature and Young-Adult Fiction. And yes, I am certain that it will be soon counted also as 'Classical Literature'!