Hegemonic masculinity and the subversion of gender stereotypes: A linguistic analysis of DreamWorks’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

"When I was a boy, my father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn’t question him. And you know what happened? That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, … Continue reading Hegemonic masculinity and the subversion of gender stereotypes: A linguistic analysis of DreamWorks’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

The basics: What is language?

Like gender and animation, the term language is also not straightforward to define or even discuss. Most humans speak, hear, read or write language every day of their lives (even before birth in the case of hearing), so it is not an exaggeration to say that, once we leave early childhood, we are experts at using language. It … Continue reading The basics: What is language?

The basics: What is “animation”?

Each of the words that make up the name of this resource (gender, language and animation) may seem like they are easily understood, and have simple meanings that most people would recognise and agree on. But if we dig a little deeper, it quickly becomes apparent that each of them can be (and has been) … Continue reading The basics: What is “animation”?

Alsaraireh et al. (2020) Critical discourse analysis of gender representation …

Covers the presentation of major characters in Disney's Frozen, especially Anna and Elsa. The stereotypically feminine features in the language they use are examined, as well as the gendered stereotypes evident in their actions and visual portrayals. This article will be useful if you are interested in how gendered stereotypes present in Disney films (especially with … Continue reading Alsaraireh et al. (2020) Critical discourse analysis of gender representation …

Al-Yasin and Rabab’ah (2021) Female Disney characters’ linguistic features in the 1990’s

Investigates female characters’ linguistic features in three animated Disney princess films from the 1990’s. Includes a quantitative analyses of the linguistic features of the princess’ speech whilst also providing qualitative analyses to consider these features in context through excerpts from the scripts. This study would be useful for those who are interested in stereotypical feminine … Continue reading Al-Yasin and Rabab’ah (2021) Female Disney characters’ linguistic features in the 1990’s

Amzad Hossain & Fu (2014) Young Girls and Flying Images: A Semiotic Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s Animations

Uses semiotics to analyze meanings in nine Miyazaki films (1984-2008) - Nausicaa, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. Studies recurring images and representations and how they connote meaning in regards to female characters, as well as proportions of speech … Continue reading Amzad Hossain & Fu (2014) Young Girls and Flying Images: A Semiotic Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s Animations

Assa et al. (2022) Being a man: Representation of liberating masculinity in animation film

Conducts a critical analysis of the depiction of liberating masculinity in DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon. Qualitative data covering both the macro and micro structure of the text. Semantics and syntax are analysed as well as the paper taking a more stylistic approach towards the end. Although good for a multimodal overview of the … Continue reading Assa et al. (2022) Being a man: Representation of liberating masculinity in animation film

Azmi et al. (2016) Gender and speech in a Disney princess movie

Investigates the female characters in Disney’s animated film ‘Frozen’ to see if their language use reflects the film’s modernised portrayal of princesses. 32 scenes are analysed and chosen according to their balance of male-female dialogues. Four characteristics of female speech (empty adjectives, hedges, intensifiers and questions) are examined both qualitatively and quantitatively. This paper would … Continue reading Azmi et al. (2016) Gender and speech in a Disney princess movie