Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i>
This article builds on an already established understanding of Disney’s <i>Frozen</i> as a queer text. Following Judith Butler, however, it works against a notion of ‘queer’ that is locatable in the intrinsic truth of plot, imagery, and character, and removed from questions of performanc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/146 |
| _version_ | 1797457384577171456 |
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| author | Neil Hayward Cocks |
| author_facet | Neil Hayward Cocks |
| author_sort | Neil Hayward Cocks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article builds on an already established understanding of Disney’s <i>Frozen</i> as a queer text. Following Judith Butler, however, it works against a notion of ‘queer’ that is locatable in the intrinsic truth of plot, imagery, and character, and removed from questions of performance and narration. In taking this approach, and in keeping with the focus of this Special Edition of <i>Humanities</i>, the article undertakes an extensive, fine-grained reading of ‘Let it Go’, the stand-out song from the first <i>Frozen</i> film. Rather than argue for or against the idea that ‘Let it Go’ is a Coming Out song, issues of textual perspective and textual difference are foregrounded in a way that challenges claims to the stability of identity. The pressing question, for this article, is not whether the lead character of <i>Frozen</i> truly is ‘out’, but the possibility of fixing identity in this way, the precise nature of the reversals and antagonisms that being ‘out’ and ‘letting it go’ require in this particular text, and how such determinations might impact on a wider understanding of ‘queer’. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:20:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1458a81ba93e4de09bc6a5acc12e3abe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:20:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-1458a81ba93e4de09bc6a5acc12e3abe2023-11-24T15:17:06ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872022-11-0111614610.3390/h11060146Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i>Neil Hayward Cocks0Department of English Literature, School of Literature and Languages, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6EL, UKThis article builds on an already established understanding of Disney’s <i>Frozen</i> as a queer text. Following Judith Butler, however, it works against a notion of ‘queer’ that is locatable in the intrinsic truth of plot, imagery, and character, and removed from questions of performance and narration. In taking this approach, and in keeping with the focus of this Special Edition of <i>Humanities</i>, the article undertakes an extensive, fine-grained reading of ‘Let it Go’, the stand-out song from the first <i>Frozen</i> film. Rather than argue for or against the idea that ‘Let it Go’ is a Coming Out song, issues of textual perspective and textual difference are foregrounded in a way that challenges claims to the stability of identity. The pressing question, for this article, is not whether the lead character of <i>Frozen</i> truly is ‘out’, but the possibility of fixing identity in this way, the precise nature of the reversals and antagonisms that being ‘out’ and ‘letting it go’ require in this particular text, and how such determinations might impact on a wider understanding of ‘queer’.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/146<i>Frozen</i>Let it Goqueercoming outJudith Butlerchildren’s literature |
| spellingShingle | Neil Hayward Cocks Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> Humanities <i>Frozen</i> Let it Go queer coming out Judith Butler children’s literature |
| title | Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> |
| title_full | Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> |
| title_fullStr | Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> |
| title_short | Letting Go, Coming Out, and Working Through: Queer <i>Frozen</i> |
| title_sort | letting go coming out and working through queer i frozen i |
| topic | <i>Frozen</i> Let it Go queer coming out Judith Butler children’s literature |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/6/146 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neilhaywardcocks lettinggocomingoutandworkingthroughqueerifrozeni |