Fantastic Beasts and the Fear of Fascism
Author
Simonsen, Christina Dam
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-03
Pages
50
Abstract
Denne opgave undersøger, hvordan Benito Mussolini opnåede magt i Italien i 1920’erne, og forklarer kort, hvad fascisme er, med afsæt i flere teoretikere, der har skrevet om både fascisme og Mussolini. Redegørelsen omfatter hans barndom, ungdom og politiske karriere frem til udnævnelsen som premierminister, fordi fokus er på vejen til at blive leder af det fascistiske parti. På den baggrund analyseres J.K. Rowlings karakter Gellert Grindelwald, skabt i 1990’erne, for at vurdere, om han kan være inspireret af Mussolini. Analysen ser på ligheder i personlighed, vejen til indflydelse og retorik over for tilhængere. Opgaven drøfter også, om Grindelwald som fiktiv figur kan fungere som en advarsel mod ledere med fascistiske træk i nutiden. Derudover inddrages Lord Voldemort, som ofte sammenlignes med Adolf Hitler; der gives en kort redegørelse for Hitler for at kvalificere denne sammenligning. Opgaven peger på, at det er almindeligt i film og litteratur at lade karakterer spejle virkelige personer, og gennemgår eksempler på figurer, der er blevet sammenlignet med Mussolini—even når de blev skabt før hans fødsel—for at belyse, hvordan sådanne paralleller opstår.
This thesis examines how Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy in the 1920s and briefly explains fascism, drawing on several scholars who have written about both fascism and Mussolini. It covers his childhood, youth, and political career up to his appointment as prime minister, because the focus is on his path to leading the Fascist Party. On this basis, the thesis analyzes J.K. Rowling’s character Gellert Grindelwald, created in the 1990s, to assess whether he may be inspired by Mussolini. The analysis looks at similarities in personality, routes to influence, and the rhetoric used to address followers. It also discusses whether a fictional figure like Grindelwald can serve as a warning about leaders with fascist traits today. In addition, the thesis considers Lord Voldemort, who is often compared to Adolf Hitler, and provides a brief overview of Hitler to support that comparison. Finally, it notes that film and literature often mirror real people in their characters and reviews examples of figures compared to Mussolini—even when they were created before his birth—to show how such parallels are drawn.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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