THE UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG
ENGL 7160/3-051: Topics in Cultures of Childhood: Disney, Folklore,
and Popular Culture
Term: Winter 2010
Time and Time Slot: T 6-9 pm
Room: 2C06
Office Hours: T 4-6 pm
Professor: Catherine Tosenberger
Office: 3C25B
Phone: 789-1472
Email: c.tosenberger@uwinnipeg.ca
COURSE DESCRIPTION
What do we talk about when we talk about Disney? And why does Disney have such a
hold over the North American imagination? This course will focus on the many forms of
Disney: the films, the corporation, the empire, the representation of America – and,
especially, the shaper and subject of folklore. First, we will discuss Disney’s use of folk
narratives, particularly European fairy tales, from the perspective of folkloristics and film
studies: we will study the manner in which the Disney versions of folk tales have
become the dominant versions, and the various cultural reasons behind that. We will also
be examining Disney’s role in folklore and popular culture. There are a host of
contemporary legends about Disney, which assure us that Walt Disney had himself
cryogenically frozen, or that pornographic images can be found hidden in the films, or
that the seven dwarves represent the seven stages of cocaine addiction(!). What can this
folklore tell us about the place Disney occupies in our culture? On a broader level, we
will use Disney to think through the ways in which folkloristics, film studies, and cultural
studies intersect. Folklorists sometimes describe themselves as “closer to the ground”
than cultural studies scholars; what does this mean, and how can we use these various
theoretical and methodological approaches to illuminate cultural texts?
REQUIRED TEXTS
Bell, Elizabeth, Linda Haas, and Laura Sells, eds. From Mouse to Mermaid: The
Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Indiana University Press, 1995.
Smoodin, Eric, ed. Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom. Routledge, 1994.
Wasko, Janet. Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy. Polity, 2001.
There will also be material online and on reserve at the library.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
If you do not have a guide to MLA style, please acquire one ASAP.
ASSIGNMENTS
Participation: 10 %
Discussion Questions: 20%
Film Case Study and Presentation (February 2): 20%
Final Paper Proposal and Bibliography: 10%
Final Paper: 40%
Participation: 10%
Participation is a key part of success in a graduate seminar. You are expected not only to
attend every class, but also to have read the material and be prepared to discuss it. If you
must miss a class, you must let me know in advance. This grade will factor in attendance
and the frequency and quality of your contributions to discussion.
Discussion Questions: 20%
Due: January 19, 26; February 2, 23; March 9, 16, 23
During the first week of class, you will sign up for one of seven possible Discussions.
Each student will prepare detailed discussion questions concerning the readings of one
class period, and will be in charge of discussion for that day; you are encouraged to
search out relevant film and television clips to share with the class. Submit your
questions to the class via email no later than the Friday before the class period in
question.
Film Case Study and Presentation: 20%
Due: February 2
It is a truism that “the Disney versions” of folktales have become, in popular culture, the
“real” versions of folktales. Choose one of the following films: Snow White, Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, or The
Princess and the Frog. Investigate the stories in the folklore record, and discuss the
Disney film in relation to the folk narratives. This is not a simple compare and contrast; I
want you to consider, in depth, the ways in which the Disney film has both appropriated
the folk texts and shaped the story in popular discourse. You will then make a brief (10
minutes or so) presentation of your arguments in class. 2000-3000 words.
Final Paper Proposal and Bibliography: 10%
Due: March 2
Submit a 250-word proposal for your final paper, and a bibliography of at least 15
sources. Briefly outline your working ideas and your proposed course of research. This
is a proposal, not a contract in blood – I fully expect that your ideas will change as you
research, but I want to see where you will start.
Final Paper: 40%
Due: March 30
You may write your final paper on any topic concerning Disney and folklore and/or
popular culture. 6000-8000 words.
GRADING SCALE
A+
A
AB+
B
90 - 100%
85 - 89%
80 - 84%
75 - 79%
70 - 74%
NOTES
GPA 4.50
GPA 4.25
GPA 4.0
GPA 3.5
GPA 3.0
C+
C
D
F
65 - 69%
60 - 64%
50 - 59%
Below 50%
GPA 2.5
GPA 2.0
GPA 1.0
GPA 0
1.
This course outline should be considered a guideline only. Time constraints and
other unforeseen factors may require that some of the above topics be omitted or
covered in less detail than indicated.
2.
Work submitted for evaluation must be either typed or text processed, double
spaced, in a 12-point standard font (such as Times New Roman or Arial), conform
to MLA citation style, and carefully proofread. All assignments must be
submitted in hard copy form, and they MUST be stapled: if papers are not
stapled, I will not accept them.
3.
Cellular phones MUST be turned off during classes.
4.
It is the student’s responsibility to retain a photocopy or digitized copy of ALL
assignments submitted for grading; in the event of loss or theft, a duplicate copy
is required.
5.
Students are advised to consult the 2009/2010 Calendar for the rules regarding
Academic Misconduct, including plagiarism and Appeals. Concerning
plagiarism, please note that as a general rule, an F in the course will be the
penalty, in line with recommendations by the English Departmental Review
Committee to the Senate Committee on Academic Misconduct, for plagiarism on
major assignments in English Department courses. Please note that in the graduate
program a Voluntary Withdrawal from a course by a full-time student potentially
involves withdrawal from the program unless provisions are made to make up a
course within the time designated for completion of the program. If students want
to withdraw from a course they need to provide the Departmental Graduate
Program Committee with a written letter of permission from their advisor
outlining the revised plan for completing their program.
6.
Services for Students with Disabilities:
Students with documented disabilities requiring academic accommodations for
tests/exams (e.g., private space) or during lectures/laboratories (e.g., access to
volunteer note-takers) are encouraged to contact Andrea Johnston, Coordinator of
Disability Services (DS) at 786-9771 or a.johnston@uwinnipeg.ca, to discuss
appropriate options. Specific information about DS is available on-line at
http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/services-disability. All information about
disability is confidential.
7.
Late Assignment Penalties: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on
the due date. If you require an extension, you MUST request it at least three days
before the due date, give me a very good reason for requesting the extension, and
specify a time (which must be acceptable to me) when you will submit the work.
No unexplained late assignments will be accepted after they are 7 days late.
Late assignments, excused or not, will not receive comments, only grades.
8.
The English Department wishes to ensure that your right to privacy regarding
handing in and getting back assignments is protected. Most assignments will be
handed in and handed back in class or at the Instructor’s office. If assignments
are to be handled in another way and you are concerned about others having
access to your work, you should attach to your assignment a self-addressed
envelope that can be sealed. If this is not done, it is assumed that you have
waived your concerns in this area.
SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
Week 1: January 5
Course Introduction
Choice of Discussion
Week 2: January 12: Introduction to Folklore and Media
Readings: Mikel J. Koven, “Folklore and Film” (e-reserve); Elliott Oring, “Folk
Narratives” (e-reserve); Jan Harold Brunvand, selections from The Vanishing Hitchhiker
(e-reserve); the entirety of the “Disney” section of Snopes.com
(http://www.snopes.com/disney/disney.asp)
Film: Walt Disney’s American Legends
Week 3: January 19: Understanding Disney
Discussion 1: Wasko, Understanding Disney
Week 4: January 26: Fairy Tales and Film
Discussion 2: Donald Haase, “Gold into Straw: Fairy Tale Movies for Children and the
Culture Industry” (Project MUSE); Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (Mouse to
Mermaid) and “Towards the Theory of the Fairy-Tale Film: The Case of Pinocchio”
(Project MUSE); Naomi Wood, “Domesticating Dreams in Walt Disney’s Cinderella”
(Project MUSE); Justyna Deszcz, “Beyond the Disney Spell, or Escape into Pantoland”
(JSTOR)
Week 5: February 2: Gender and Sexuality
Discussion 3: Lynda Haas, “’Eighty-Six the Mother’” (Mouse to Mermaid); Patrick D.
Murphy, “’The Whole Wide World was Scrubbed Clean’” (Mouse to Mermaid); Sean
Griffin, “Mickey’s Monastery: Sexuality and the ‘Disney Mystique’” (e-reserve);
Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, “King of the Swingers: Queering Disney” (ereserve); Peggy Orenstein, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/magazine/24princess.t.html)
Week 6: February 9
Due: Film Case Study and Presentation
Guest Lecturer: Pauline Greenhill, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Pedophile Film”
Week 7: February 16
READING WEEK: NO CLASS
Week 8: February 23: The Imagination of America
Discussion 4: Smoodin, 23-86; Kevin Shortsleeve, “The Wonderful World of the
Depression: Disney, Despotism, and the 1930s, or Why Disney Scares Us” (Project
MUSE); Scott Schaffer, “Disney and the Imagineering of Histories” (Project MUSE);
Pushpa Naidu Parekh, “Pocahontas: The Disney Imaginary”
Week 9: March 2
Due: Final Paper Proposal and Bibliography
Film: Enchanted
Week 10: March 9: Nature and Anthropomorphism
Discussion 5: Shelly R. Scott, “Conserving, Consuming, and Improving on nature at
Disney’s Animal Kingdom” (Project MUSE); David Whitley, selections from The Idea of
Nature in Disney Animation (e-reserve); Jan-Christopher Horak, “Wildlife
Documentaries”; Scott Hermanson, “Truer Than Life” (e-reserve)
Week 11: March 16: The Magic Kingdom
Discussion 6: Alexander Wilson, “The Betrayal of the Future” (Smoodin); Mitsuhiro
Yoshimoto, “Images of Empire” (Smoodin); The Project on Disney, “It’s a Small World
After All” (e-reserve); Andrew Ross, selections from The Celebration Chronicles (ereserve); Jason Isaac Mauro, “Disney’s Splash Mountain” (Project MUSE)
Week 12: March 23: Disney and Mass Culture
Discussion 7: Maurya Wickstron, “Commodities, Mimesis, and The Lion King” (Project
MUSE); Richard deCordova, “The Mickey in Macy’s Window” (Smoodin); Nicholas
Sammond, selections from Babes in Tomorrowland (e-reserve); Henry A. Giroux,
“Turning America Into a Toy Store” (e-reserve); Zachary D. Sheldon, “The Best of Both
Worlds”
(http://blogs.uit.tufts.edu/mediablog09/2009/09/the_best_of_both_worlds_disney.html)
Week 13: March 30
Due: Final Paper