Abstract
Within Disneyland—a space which already appeals to fantasy and imagination—Fantasyland stands out as simultaneously familiar and exotic, a space created in the recognizable idiom of childhood fairy tales, but one in which those same fairy tales are spaces to be explored as representative of a time and place very different from our own. This chapter argues that Fantasyland reframes medieval European stories in recognizably American idioms, reflecting the influence of the American Dream narrative. Gutierrez-Dennehy argues that Disney’s Fantasyland idealizes economic success, intertwining the company’s medieval ideal with images of middle-class whiteness. Thus, by inserting the values of Middle Class America into the European Middle Ages, Disneyland creates the past in the image of the present. Gutierrez-Dennehy coins the term “affective medievalism” to argue that Disneyland’s use of rigid narrative structures in a space ostensibly meant for visitor exploration works to shut down the pluralism with which the twenty-first century has otherwise characterized the Middle Ages.
Keywords
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- 1.
Adams-Volpe, Judith. 1991. The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills, 99. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
- 2.
Aronstein, Susan and Nancy Coiner. 1994. “Twice Knightly: Democratizing the Middle Ages for Middle-Class America,” Studies in Medievalism, Vol. 6, 213.
- 3.
Dinshaw, Carolyn. 1999. Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern, 186. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- 4.
This list is necessarily partial. An exhaustive historicization of the diverse uses which post-medieval societies have found for the Middle Ages would take up a volume of its own. Numerous scholars have already completed such works, however. Veronica Ortenberg’s 2006 In Search of the Holy Grail does an excellent job tracing numerous historical forms of medievalism.
- 5.
Eco, Umberto. 1986. Travels in Hyper Reality: Essays, 69. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
- 6.
Biddick, Kathleen. 1998. The Shock of Medievalism, 10. Durham: Duke University Press.
- 7.
Shippey, Tom. 2014. “Introduction,” International Society for the Study of Medievalism, July 7, medievalism.net.
- 8.
Dinshaw, 2.
- 9.
Diamond, Elin. 1996. Performance and Cultural Politics, 4. New York: Routledge.
- 10.
Fjellman, Stephen M. 1992. Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America, 59. Boulder: Westview Press.
- 11.
Bryman, Alan. 1995. Disney and His Worlds, 113. New York: Routledge.
- 12.
Aronstein and Coiner, 219.
- 13.
Adams-Volpe, 96.
- 14.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, June 29.
- 15.
Ziolkowski, Jan M. 2007. Fairy Tales from before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies, 23. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- 16.
Huizinga, Johan. 1954. The Waning of the Middle Ages; a Study of the Forms of Life, Thought, and Art in France and the Netherlands in the Xivth and Xvth Centuries, 9. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books.
- 17.
Ibid. 15.
- 18.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, June 30.
- 19.
Aronstein and Coiner, 217, emphasis mine.
- 20.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, June 30.
- 21.
Quoted in Aronstein and Coiner, 217.
- 22.
Rackin, Phyllis. 1990. Stages of History: Shakespeare’s English Chronicles, 94. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- 23.
Bildhauer, Bettina. 2009. Medieval Film, 11. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- 24.
Bryman 141.
- 25.
Ziolkowski, 10.
- 26.
Bryman, 106.
- 27.
For all of the control Disney and the Boutique exert over the “official” Disney version of the Middle Ages and of medieval princesses, there is no effort within the parks to designate any particular body type as correct or desirable. Costumes are available in a range of sizes, and seem to cater to most young girls’ bodies.
- 28.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, June 29.
- 29.
“Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at the Disneyland Resort,” Disneyland.com, December 6, 2018, https://disneyland.disney.go.com/shops/disneyland/bibbidi-bobbidi-boutique/. It is worth noting that the gender neutral language here (i.e. “your little one”) is a very recent addition to Boutique literature, and that, as late as May of 2018, the same package description offered “an imperial makeover she’ll never forget.”
- 30.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, 29 June.
- 31.
Cross, Gary S. 2005. The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century, 184. New York: Columbia University Press.
- 32.
Gutierrez, Christina. 2011. Fieldnotes, June 29.
- 33.
See especially the essays in Rojek, Chris and John Urry, editors. 1997. Touring Cultures: Transformations in Travel and Theory.
- 34.
Craik, Jennifer. 1997. “The Culture of Tourism,” in Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory, 113–136. Ed. Chris Rojek and John Urry. New York: Routledge.
- 35.
Watson, Steve. 2001. “Touring the Medieval” Tourism, Heritage and Medievalism in Northumbria,” Studies in Medievalism Volume 11, 243, emphasis original.
- 36.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, 2. Cambridge: MIT Press.
- 37.
Aronstein and Coiner, 219.
- 38.
Warner. Michael. 2002. Publics and Counterpublics, 10. New York: Zone Books. Medieval historian Carol Symes argues similarly that medieval town criers had the ability to create temporary publics by relating news to groups on people in the streets: “Having a loud voice is itself and instrument of power.... The crier called the community into being” (2007. A Common Stage: Theater and Public Life in Medieval Arras, 143. Ithaca: Cornell University Press).
- 39.
Ibid. 88.
- 40.
Eco, Umberto. 2014. Travels in Hyperreality, 229. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bibliography
Adams-Volpe, Judith. 1991. The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
Aronstein, Susan, and Nancy Coiner. 1994. Twice Knightly: Democratizing the Middle Ages for Middle-Class America. Studies in Medievalism 6: 212–231.
Biddick, Kathleen. 1998. The Shock of Medievalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
Bildhauer, Bettina. 2009. Medieval Film. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Bryman, Alan. 1995. Disney and His Worlds. New York: Routledge.
Craik, Jennifer. 1997. The Culture of Tourism. In Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory, ed. Chris Rojek and John Urry, 113–136. New York: Routledge.
Cross, Gary S. 2005. The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century. New York: Columbia University Press.
Diamond, Elin. 1996. Performance and Cultural Politics. New York: Routledge.
Dinshaw, Carolyn. 1999. Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Eco, Umberto. 2014. Travels in Hyperreality. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Fjellman, Stephen M. 1992. Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America. Boulder: Westview Press.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Huizinga, Johan. 1954. The Waning of the Middle Ages; a Study of the Forms of Life, Thought, and Art in France and the Netherlands in the Xivth and Xvth Centuries. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books.
Rackin, Phyllis. 1990. Stages of History: Shakespeare’s English Chronicles. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Shippey, Tom. 2014. Introduction. International Society for the Study of Medievalism, July 7. medievalism.net.
Symes, Carol. 2014. A Common Stage: Theater and Public Life in Medieval Arras. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Warner, Michael. 2002. Publics and Counterpublics. New York: Zone Books.
Watson, Steve. 2001. “Touring the Medieval” Tourism, Heritage and Medievalism in Northumbria. Studies in Medievalism 11: 239–261.
Ziolkowski, Jan M. 2007. Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
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Gutierrez-Dennehy, C. (2019). Taming the Fairy Tale: Performing Affective Medievalism in Fantasyland. In: Kokai, J.A., Robson, T. (eds) Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29322-2_4
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