Rebecca C. Hains - Böcker

Princesses today are significant figures in girls’ culture in the United States and around the world. Although the reign of girls’ princess culture has generated intense debate, this anthology is the first to bring together international and interdisciplinary perspectives on the multitude of princess cultures, continuously redrawn and recast by grownups and girls from the Ancien Régime to the New Millennium. Essays critically examine the gendered, racialized, classed, and ethnic meanings of royal figures and fairytale and pop culture princesses inscribed in folk tales, movies, cartoons, video games, dolls, and imitated in play and performance. Focusing on the representation and reception of the princess, this collection sheds new light on the position of princess cultures mediating the lives, imaginations, and identities of girls from toddlers to teenagers – and beyond.

Princesses today are significant figures in girls’ culture in the United States and around the world. Although the reign of girls’ princess culture has generated intense debate, this anthology is the first to bring together international and interdisciplinary perspectives on the multitude of princess cultures, continuously redrawn and recast by grownups and girls from the Ancien Régime to the New Millennium. Essays critically examine the gendered, racialized, classed, and ethnic meanings of royal figures and fairytale and pop culture princesses inscribed in folk tales, movies, cartoons, video games, dolls, and imitated in play and performance. Focusing on the representation and reception of the princess, this collection sheds new light on the position of princess cultures mediating the lives, imaginations, and identities of girls from toddlers to teenagers – and beyond.

Since the turn of the millennium, stories about young people with mystical abilities have enjoyed tremendous popularity. This volume is the first collection of essays to posit that such stories form a distinct teen- and young-adult-oriented genre, characterized by tales in which young people use ancient magic—not modern science—to solve problems and save the world.Scholars explore the cultural implications of this phenomenon, considering how media’s discourses about youthful gods, witches, fairies, and other magical beings address social change, youth, and modern identities. By examining stories whose protagonists stand at a crossroads between identities and states of being—human and not-quite-human, child and adult, mundane world and mythic world, old millennium and new—the volume invites readers to contemplate the cultural significance of the persistent mediated fantasy of magical youth.“This is an engrossing collection of studies about supernatural youth media (SYM), each of which explores collective fears and fantasies of young people: power, magic, death, sex, technology, the occult. The essays illuminate how recent generations, particularly around the turn of the millennium, have been represented by movies and television shows as both victims and masters of unknown mystical forces. With a particular emphasis on gender and racial identity, the book offers a revelatory and distinctive assessment of this broadly appealing genre.”—Prof. Timothy Shary, Eastern Florida State College

The chapters’ in-depth analyses of topics including LEGO films, marketing tactics, play sets, novelizations, and fans offer compelling insights relevant to those interested in the LEGO brand and broader trends in the children’s popular culture market alike.

Topics include marketing undertaken by specific children’s toy brands such as American Girl, Barbie, Disney, GoldieBlox, Fisher-Price, and LEGO, and marketing trends characterizing broader toy categories such as on-trend grotesque toys;

Topics include marketing undertaken by specific children’s toy brands such as American Girl, Barbie, Disney, GoldieBlox, Fisher-Price, and LEGO, and marketing trends characterizing broader toy categories such as on-trend grotesque toys;

What is the significance of Barbie’s journey from toy aisles to screens? Barbie in the Media offers a groundbreaking exploration of Barbie as a transmedia phenomenon. In examining the brand’s multifaceted media presence, this volume’s chapters consider both Mattel’s corporate storytelling about and fans’ reinterpretations of the iconic doll. Collectively, they reveal that these mediated negotiations of Barbie reflect and contribute to broader discourses about gender and identity in evolving sociopolitical contexts—inscribing the doll with ever-changing (and often conflicting) anxieties and dreams. These render the brand’s media presence a fascinating site of contested meaning, worthy of the sustained critique that Barbie in the Media offers readers.

#Barbie and Social Media delves into Barbie’s transformation from doll to global cultural icon–one that is deeply embedded in contemporary social media discourse. It explores how digital platforms have given rise to a dynamic, participatory culture that both celebrates and critiques doll and brand. From Mattel’s strategic branding of Barbie as a symbol of diversity and empowerment, to individuals' use of social media to reimagine Barbie’s identity and significance, #Barbie and Social Media offers a comprehensive examination of Barbie in the digital age.