CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL IDENTITIES THROUGH HAGRID'S NON-STANDARD ENGLISH IN THE BOOK HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

Abstract

This study examines the construction of social identity through the use of non-standard English in the speech of Rubeus Hagrid in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It aims to analyze how Hagrid’s non-standard English contributes to the construction of his social identities across different social contexts. The research employs a qualitative descriptive method within a sociolinguistic framework. The data consist of Hagrid’s utterances containing non-standard English forms, which are identified and analyzed using Krapp’s theory of eye dialect, theories of language variation proposed by Trudgill and Wardhaugh, Coupland’s perspective on language and identity, and Bucholtz and Hall’s theory of identity construction.

The findings reveal that Hagrid consistently uses various non-standard English forms, including phonological reductions, non-standard lexical items, and non-standard grammatical structures that characterize his speech throughout the novel. These linguistic features function not only as markers of dialect variation but also as resources for constructing social identities. The analysis identifies seven social identities constructed through Hagrid’s utterances, namely Emerging Teacher Identity, Responsible Teacher Identity, Protective Teacher Identity, Powerless Identity, Marginalized Identity, Resilient Identity, and Law-Abiding Identity. The findings demonstrate that Hagrid’s identities are dynamic and context-dependent, emerging through different social roles, experiences, and interactions within the narrative.

This study concludes that non-standard English in literary discourse serves not only as a marker of linguistic identity but also as a means of constructing and negotiating social identities. The findings contribute to sociolinguistic studies by demonstrating the close relationship between language variation and identity construction in fictional discourse.