The study examines how children act as audiences, which needs are fulfilled through their consumption of Disney films and how children receive messages about cultural representations in animated films. Furthermore, how children relate to Disney's characters and their understanding of what is real and made-up in Disney's films is examined. The hope is to contribute with insights into how children create meaning based on Disney's ethnic and cultural representations, as well as how these can have significance for children's identification processes. Uses and gratification along with reception and representation theory are applied as theoretical starting points. The material was collected through semi-structured and sensory interviews with children aged 10-11 and then analyzed through a thematic analysis. The results showed that the children mainly have a ritual media use and watch Disney films with the motive of social interaction with parents. Thus, children's opportunities to be an active audience can be somewhat limited, as adults can control the children's media use to a certain extent. Both internal and external characteristics matter when children identify themselves and others with Disney characters. The children were also able to distinguish ethnic and cultural elements in Disney's films which helped them to create an understanding of the films' characters and messages. In addition, the results showed that children put Disney's stereotypical depictions in relation to reality, which can affect how children see themselves and others. Finally, the results showed that the children in the study assume that the Disney films are based on fantasy, even though they understand that the films' message may have a connection to reality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:oru-103953 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Englund, Kim, Klaesson, Alice |
| Publisher | Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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