Anna Zsubori

Since the creation of the franchise in 2000, Disney Princesses have become a ‘phenomenon’ receiving international attention, admiration as well as criticism from both consumers and scholars. Although audience research has seen growing recognition recently, the investigation of audiences in Central and Eastern Europe and those of Disney animated features is greatly neglected by academics. Within the framework of audience research and by employing Disney Princess animations as the object of study, Anna Zsubori’s book examines the verbal and visual identity constructions of tweens in illiberal Hungary.

Through Hungarian tweens’ ambivalent and sometimes even contradictory ideas of identity, this research reveals the heterogeneity of both the ‘Princess Phenomenon’, by highlighting that its local negotiation is profoundly impacted by cultural and societal characteristics, and of the diverse audiences, who are multifarious in their understandings that often incorporate antithetical and dynamic discourses. Combining textual, thematic and semiotic, analyses of the conversations, tweens’ drawings and building blocks, and broader contextual examinations of the sessions with Hungarian children, this book offers original contributions on both theoretical and methodological levels. Its findings demonstrate the novelty of this project, and its relevance to audience, communication, cultural, feminist media, film and tweenhood studies, and sociology.

Praise:

“In this absorbing and thought-provoking text, Zsubori deftly explores the complex position that Disney Princesses inhabit within the lives of Central and Eastern European tweens. Exploring the inbetweenness of age, geography, and culture, this book offers a nuanced reading of Hungarian tweens as intelligent and critical viewers of Disney media, drawing on rich empirical data to give voice to this under-researched group. Through its interdisciplinary approach Zsubori contributes to our understanding of the limits of Western theories in non-Western contexts, and what it means to do gender-specific field work in an anti-gender environment.”

— Victoria Cann, University of East Anglia

“The Walt Disney Company is one of the oldest and most complex global entertainment empires today, engaging with and influencing our lives in various ways regardless of age, race, gender, or geographical location. This book provides a powerful lens inviting the reader to look at Disney not only at the global, macro level, but also the micro-level: in our daily lives, around the family dinner table, in the classroom setting and elsewhere. While the focus is on the Disney Princess phenomenon, and tweens negotiating self-representation and identity in the small Central European nation of Hungary, the insights and conclusions are, in many ways, rather universal, often surprising and paradoxical. The reader will not only see the Disney Princess Franchise but the Disney Company from a more nuanced and informed perspective after reading this influential and well-researched book.”

— Katalin Lustyik, Ithaca College

“What unfolds when a Princess from the West claims her throne in Eastern and Central Europe? Is she a colonial ruler or a feminist icon? Anna Zsubori's insightful book explores the interpretation of Disney Princesses by Hungarian tweens, examining reception of their gender roles and racial identities within the context of Hungary's increasingly patriarchal, racially intolerant, and illiberal society. This exploration delves into the "in-betweenness" of Hungarian tweens, a concept that captures not just their transitional age but also Hungary's delicate balance between East and West.”

— Irena Reifová, Charles University

About the Author:

Anna Zsubori is a media sociologist and film studies scholar, presently a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Loughborough University. She specialises in conducting audience research with marginalised and vulnerable participants in Central and Eastern Europe. Her research explores the heterogeneity of Hungarian tween audiences through the participants’ ambivalent and sometimes even contradictory ideas about their identity, while her latest project, funded by the British Academy, examines social media usage among Hungarian LGBTQ+ citizens. Dr Zsubori’s articles have been published in prestigious journals such as the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Feminist Media Studies, Journal of Children and Media and Studies in Eastern European Cinema.

Module Reading Lists:

Please do consider requesting a copy of Disney Princesses and Tween Identity: The Franchise in Illiberal Hungary for your university library. It should be relevant to reading lists for various gender, media and film modules/studies, including:

• Audiences, Users and Producers
  
• Children, Culture and Cinema
  
• Culture and Media
  
• Cultural Studies
  
• Disney Studies
  
• Feminist Approaches to Media Analysis
  
• Feminist Media Studies
  
• Film Studies
  
• Gender and Representation
  
• Gender, Identity and Media
  
• Global Audiences
  
• Media Audiences
  
• Media, Identity and Diversity
  
• Popular Media
  
• Researching the Audience
  
• Society and Representation
  
• Texts and Audiences
  
• Tweenhood Studies
  
• Youth Culture and the Media
  

Availability:

Disney Princesses and Tween Identity: The Franchise in Illiberal Hungary is now from Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield) for £92 (Hardcover) and £38 (Ebook). For more information, please visit: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793647115/Disney-Princesses-and-Tween-Identity-The-Franchise-in-Illiberal-Hungary