240134 UE Animationsfilm queer/feministisch gelesen (2019W)

There is a long tradition – academic and otherwise – of feminist critique against Disney's animated feature films. As a result, the brand Disney "[...] has become synonymous with a certain conservative, patriarchal, heterosexual ideology which is loosely associated with American cultural imperialism." (Byrne and McQuillan 1-2 ) In Disney-movies, the heteroromantic plot line (typically culminating in a wedding or a marriage-like union in the end) is not only a central structural element of the narrative, but also reiterates heterosexuality/romance as unquestioned and "natural" norm. Despite the Disney-tradition of heteronormative animation queer theorists stress the subversive potential of cartoon and animation (see Griffin, 2004; Giffney, 2009; Halberstam, 2011;). Sean Griffin (2004) writes: "[a]nimation, an art form generally conceived as made for children, has always had a history of queerness"(103). This course analyses animation from queer and feminist perspectives, examining questions of gender and sexuality in the films.