Deconstructing Disney’s divas: a critique of the singing princess as filmic trope
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Date
2016
Authors
Potgieter, Liske
Potgieter, Zelda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
This article contributes to the discourse of the body
and the voice in feminist psychoanalytic film theory
by exploring the currently under-theorised notion
of the singing body in particular, as this notion finds
manifestation in Disney’s Singing Princess as filmic
trope. Analyses of vocal musical coding follow her
trajectory across 13 Disney princess films to reveal
deeper insight into what she sings, how she sings, and
why she sings. In this manner, it is argued, the Singing
Princess gradually emerges from her genealogical roots
as innamorata, a position of vocal corporealisation
and diegetic confinement, to one wherein her voice
assumes a position of authority over the narrative,
and from one of absolute submissiveness and naïve
obedience to a greatly enriched experience of her
own subjectivity.
Description
Keywords
Singing princess, Vocal music, Filmic trope, Disney films, Disney princess films, Vocal corporealisation, Walt Disney
Citation
Potgieter, L., & Potgieter, Z. (2016). Deconstructing Disney’s divas: a critique of the singing princess as filmic trope. Acta Academica, 48(2), 48-75.