Feminism and the subversion of identity by judith butler, epistemology of the closet by eve kosofsky sedgw. Six new adventuresa collection of spinoff books of the lion king. Scar is slighter and is given to effete mannerisms and phrases, like oh, i shall practice my curtsy. I will use the word exhibit to mean whatever book, film, painting, play, song, college visit, board game, military situation it is that we are. Specifically, ive been thinking about how scar is as a fabulous black gay man. Reclaiming queer is an examination of the rhetorical linkage of queer theory in the academy with streetlevel queer activism in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The anthology captive genders, now out in its second edition, discusses the impact of the prison system on gendernonconforming prisoners. Scar frames simba, apparently taking the throne to restore order but is actually a false hero, who continues to disrupt the equilibrium through a harsh regime of martial law. Transgenders villains in disney films by amanda putnam and the chapter someday my prince will come. We spoke to a few queer theory aficionados and came up with this list of 20 mustread queer theory texts. Queer theory introduction sex aint as simple as restroom signs suggest. It is a collection of six short stories written by various authors, and published by grolier enterprises, inc. To me, this scene is just one of the many scenes that makes the lion king the best. You will find topics that touch the eternal human concerns, not only corelating to the indian mythic structure, but also to. A onestop, nononsense introduction to the core of postmodern theory, particularly its impact on queer and gender studies. Top 10 queer and feminist books of 2015 autostraddle. Queer theorys origin is hard to clearly define, since it came from multiple critical and cultural contexts, including feminism, poststructuralist theory, radical movements of people of color, the gay and lesbian movements, aids activism, many sexual subcultural practices such as sadomasochism, and postcolonialism. Research studies have questioned disneys depiction of female and male. Scar from the lion king 1994 is queer coded, writes monique jones in the. Tea picks 10 books about contemporary queer life in america.
Foucault is not the origin of queer theory, nor is queer theory the destination of foucaults thinking. They have raised new questions about the construction of the gendered and sexualized subject and put forward radical new ideas about performance and performativity as. Queering disney animated films using a critical literacy. Synthesize information to support analysis of literary work through the lens of a critical theory.
In light of critiques about queercoded and villainous characters. Background queer theory libguides at university of. It is the 32nd disney animated feature film, and the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the disney renaissance. Timon and pumbaa, two male characters in the lion king 1994, enjoy a close relationship and dress in drag and do the hula. Queer has been associated most prominently with bisexual, lesbian and gay subjects, but its analytic framework also includes such topics as. The lion king was directed by roger allers and rob minkoff, produced by don hahn, and has a screenplay credited to irene mecchi. The father is an enduring and iconic figure in hollywood cinema and in the 1990s, narratives of redemptive fatherhood featured prominently in some of the decades most popular films like kindergarten cop 1990, mrs doubtfire 1993, jurassic park 1993 and the lion king 1994.
Interpreting such films through the lens of feminist and queer theory, along with masculinity. The ten queer black books im most excited to read in 2018. Queer theory project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Im a big lion king fan which includes seeing the film dozens of times and when it came back to the theater, seeing the traveling broadway show twice, and getting both the film and broadway soundtracks as well as some other songs from that songs of the pridelands cd. Scar from the lion king 1994 is queer coded, writes monique jones in the just add color blog. Scar should be gayer in the new lion king movie vulture. The sociological term for this phenomena is known as queercoding, which refers to the idea that a character is imbued with traits commonly affiliated with the queer community. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorization of queerness itself. The lion king offers us fascist ideology writ large, and there is. The cubs happy childhood turns tragic when his evil uncle scar murders mufasa and drives simba away from the kingdom. Queer theory is a rapidly growing field in the critical theory tradition. Unlike other books of lgbtq history or queer theory monographs, a queer new york uses a unique multilayered analytic in order to produce more robust, compelling, and intricate arguments about the. Representation on screen disney has drawn an outline for.
Timon and pumbaa, two male characters in the lion king 1994, enjoy a close. This theory about the drought in the lion king will blow. It is good because most viewers are young children that wouldnt be able to comprehend gay or queer characters, but it is also bad because if they dont notice it, they are not learning about the queer world that they live in. The lion king presents the story of a lion cubs journey to adulthood and acceptance of his royal destiny. Cokely will summarized, analyzed, and engaged with using the. But that doesnt mean disney, or any other studio, for that matter, wont stoop to putting some hollywood queer coding on a nonhuman character. Discover librarianselected research resources on queer theory from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals, magazines, newspapers and more. This short book is designed for students who are just beginning to learn about literary theory and criticism. Shethinkers 19 disney and queer theory secular shethinkers. Acceptance of queer identities in disney 1780 words. Through queer reinterpretations of the lion king and frozen, i demonstrate how it is. A journal of feminist cultural studies she edited based on that conference queer theory focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire. The subtle hint of queer in the lion king can easily be overlooked which is both a good and bad quality. An unkindness of ghosts by rivers solomon my latest interviewee in the interview with a queer reader series recommended this book by a black, queer, nonbinary author as the one that most represented her own experiences.
Representation on screen disney has drawn an outline for gay. Using a range of critical approaches, michael ryan provides readings of famous texts such as shakespeares king lear and toni morrisons the bluest eye. Let me know in the comments which queer black books are on your toread list that youre excited about. Queer couples timon and pumbaa lion king, baloo and bagheera jungle book, francis and slim a bugs life, hugo and djali hunchback of notre dame, jumba and pleakley lilo and stitch, lumiere and cogsworth beauty and the beast. Acceptance of queer identities in disney 1780 words 8 pages for this engagement essay the article mean ladies. The 10 best literary theory and criticism books of 2020. The story of the lion king is part of sri lankan origin stories.
Yeah, hes a lion, invisible person who doubts my logic. She notes that he contrasts with brother mufasa in many ways. Finding articles queer theory libguides at university. The strange, difficult history of queer coding syfy wire. Queer theory is a field of university of california, santa cruz in 1990 and a special issue of differences. The lion king is a 1994 american animated musical film produced by walt disney feature animation and released by walt disney pictures. The first argument linking ecofeminism and queer theory is based on the observation that dominant western cultures devaluation of the erotic parallels its devaluations of women and of nature. There is, of course, no definitive queer world, but thousands of gaggles and gatherings, gangs and groupings. Hopkinss young adult books in verse, always tackling tough topics, got me through high school. Queer coding itself is neither positive nor negative. He writes articles that link the worlds of mythology to multiple topics, all pertaining to modernday society. Lion king devdutt is one of the most proficient columnists, in india today. It speaks of how, in his previous life, buddha took the form of the. This is just to say that scar should be gayer in disneys new cgi lion.
Nationally known gender activist riki wilchins combines straightforward prose with concrete examples from lgbt and feminist politics, as well as her own life, to guide the reader through the ideas that have forever altered our understanding of bodies, sex and desire. Scar is slighter and is given to effete mannerisms and phrases, like. Governor ratcliffe pocahontas, hades hercules, scar the lion king, or shere khan the jungle book. It comes from the mahavamsa, which was written 1,500 years ago, in 5th century ad, after the gupta empire had waned in india. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. But as far back as 1981, jenny lives with eric and martin by suzanne bosche was depicting queer family life for small children, establishing a precedent for a long line of books that followed. These characters are not so much gay as queermeaning their sexuality and gender are hard to pin. Literary theory applied to the lion king wildings class.
But theres also been the speculation over coded gay disney characters i. No matter how you look at it, this is a film that introduces us to a society where the weak have learned to worship at the feet. The social problem film philadelphia 1993, while a major critical and box office hit, was still a variation on the tragichomosexualwhodiesattheendofthefilm stereotype. Searching through subject headings will give you materials that are specifically about that topic. Heres why we need to reclaim queercoding in the lion king.
As in the character him, his flamboyant nature and feminine dress is all coded as queer, in that the audience is meant to interpret him as queer person. Originally meaning strange or peculiar, queer came to be deployed pejoratively against those with samesex desires or relationships in the late19th century. Queer theory by nasrullah mambrol on march 4, 2019 1. List of books and articles about queer theory online. Queer childrens books have a long history thats only now being told for youngsters realising they dont fit expected gender roles, books from winniethepooh to. The book shows how the same texts can be studied using different approaches. To o queer the writerloca, escritor y chicana, in analouise keating, the gloria anzaldua reader, 163175.
Since the late 1980s, theories of gender and sexuality have redefined how we think about culture and society. Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and womens studies. The lion king disney the lion king big golden books. Hollywood today gay, lesbian, and queer cinema actor. Disney, the heterosexual imaginary and animated films by carrie l. This theory about the drought in the lion king will blow your mind reddit user ostrichmadeofclay has come up with a ridiculous but totally genius theory that involves mufasa. Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual or cisgender.