The Disney Theme Parks: Home to the Mouse, Hyperreality and Consumerism

The Disney Theme Parks: Home to the Mouse, Hyperreality and Consumerism PDF Author: Florian Mayer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638815781
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Culural Studies department), course: Media Theory, 30 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In many parts of our world today people dream a dream of magic and illusion, prosperity and happiness, which is essentially an American dream, exported by the wizards of branding, by companies like McDonald′s, Nike, Coca-Cola and especially The Walt Disney Company (WDC). Known for being `the inventor of modern branding′ and `modern synergy′, the Disney company `has managed to insinuate its characters, stories, and image as good, clean, fun enterprise into the consciousness of millions around the earth′. The WDC today boasts revenue of more than $25 billion from its operations in media networks, consumer products, studio entertainment, Internet, and parks and resorts, and employs 120,000 people worldwide. Furthermore, it can be seen as `the single most powerful and influential force in the globalization of Western culture'. Having themed parks in California (Disneyland, Anaheim), Florida (Walt Disney World, Orlando), France (Disneyland and Disney Studios Paris), Japan (Tokyo Disney Resort), China (Hong Kong Disneyland), and as rumours suggest having plans for parks in Shanghai and Delhi, Disney spreads its `value-laden environments′ across the world. Thereby, it is `extending and expanding Classic Disney - `the Disney universe′ or `Disney vision′ - into a material and physical existence, as well as ′providing a strong dose of All-American ideology′. Since the theme parks `contribute significantly to Disney′s overall corporate goals, providing ongoing revenues and promotion for other parts of the corporate empire′ it is worthwhile to closer examine the parks which are viewed by many observers as `showcases for postmodernism′ and `panegyrics to capitalism′.

The Disney Theme Parks: Home to the Mouse, Hyperreality and Consumerism

The Disney Theme Parks: Home to the Mouse, Hyperreality and Consumerism PDF Author: Florian Mayer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638815781
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 33

Get Book

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Culural Studies department), course: Media Theory, 30 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In many parts of our world today people dream a dream of magic and illusion, prosperity and happiness, which is essentially an American dream, exported by the wizards of branding, by companies like McDonald′s, Nike, Coca-Cola and especially The Walt Disney Company (WDC). Known for being `the inventor of modern branding′ and `modern synergy′, the Disney company `has managed to insinuate its characters, stories, and image as good, clean, fun enterprise into the consciousness of millions around the earth′. The WDC today boasts revenue of more than $25 billion from its operations in media networks, consumer products, studio entertainment, Internet, and parks and resorts, and employs 120,000 people worldwide. Furthermore, it can be seen as `the single most powerful and influential force in the globalization of Western culture'. Having themed parks in California (Disneyland, Anaheim), Florida (Walt Disney World, Orlando), France (Disneyland and Disney Studios Paris), Japan (Tokyo Disney Resort), China (Hong Kong Disneyland), and as rumours suggest having plans for parks in Shanghai and Delhi, Disney spreads its `value-laden environments′ across the world. Thereby, it is `extending and expanding Classic Disney - `the Disney universe′ or `Disney vision′ - into a material and physical existence, as well as ′providing a strong dose of All-American ideology′. Since the theme parks `contribute significantly to Disney′s overall corporate goals, providing ongoing revenues and promotion for other parts of the corporate empire′ it is worthwhile to closer examine the parks which are viewed by many observers as `showcases for postmodernism′ and `panegyrics to capitalism′.

A Reader in Themed and Immersive Spaces

A Reader in Themed and Immersive Spaces PDF Author: Scott A. Lukas
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1365318141
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
"Themed spaces have, at their foundation, an overarching narrative, symbolic complex, or story that drives the overall context of their spaces. Theming, in some very unique ways, has expanded beyond previous stereotypes and oversimplifications of culture and place to now consider new and often controversial topics, themes, and storylines."--Publisher's website.

Consumer Culture and Society

Consumer Culture and Society PDF Author: Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483358143
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Consumer Culture and Society offers an introduction to the study of consumerism and consumption from a sociological perspective. Author Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy examines what we buy, how and where we consume, the meanings attached to the things we purchase, and the social forces that enable and constrain consumer behavior. Opening chapters provide a theoretical overview and history of consumer society and featured case studies look at mass consumption in familiar contexts, such as tourism, food, and higher education. The book explores ethical and political concerns, including consumer activism, indebtedness, alternative forms of consumption, and dilemmas surrounding the globalization of consumer culture.

The Blackwell Guide to Theology and Popular Culture

The Blackwell Guide to Theology and Popular Culture PDF Author: Kelton Cobb
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470777702
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
The Blackwell Guide to Theology of Popular Culture outlines various general theories of popular culture, identifies theologians and theological concepts that are conducive to analyzing popular culture, and explores religious themes that are asserting themselves through popular movies, novels, music, television shows and advertising. A timely examination and contribution to the rapidly expanding field of theology and popular culture Locates the theological analysis of culture alongside political, sociological, economic, aesthetic and psychological analyses Surveys the work of religious and theological scholars who have turned their attention to popular culture Considers classic Christian thinkers who have wrestled with culture, such as St. Paul, Tertullian, Augustine, Schleiermacher, Tillich, and Ricoeur Proposes a method for analysing culture to discern its religious content Identifies religious themes in popular culture Uses illustrations, ranging from the fiction of Nick Hornby to Six Feet Under An appendix provides lists of films, novels, television series, consumer products, architectural works, cultural events, and corporate icons that lend themselves to theological analysis.

Family theme parks, happiness and children’s consumption: From roller-coasters to Pippi Longstocking

Family theme parks, happiness and children’s consumption: From roller-coasters to Pippi Longstocking PDF Author: David Cardell
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
ISBN: 9176859797
Category :
Languages : sv
Pages : 239

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Book Description
This book provides an ethnographic contribution to research on children’s consumption, family life and happiness. Various and shifting notions of happiness are explored, as well as conditions for and challenges to happiness, through an analysis of video-recorded interviews and mobile ethnography conducted in two of the most popular theme parks in Sweden. Initially, the study outlines how previous research has conceptualized happiness in association with time and place in a rather static way. Based on a treatise of notions of happiness in philosophy and the social sciences, there is a turn in this thesis towards practice. It generates fundamental knowledge about the complexity of happiness. By employing this approach, it is possible to highlight how happiness is enacted as part of and in relation to ideals of family life, time, childhood, money, consumption, experiences and material things. As we explore the practices of children and their families, we discover that shifting meanings of happiness are located in contemporary culture, where emotions and consumption are of central importance. The approach is interdisciplinary, and draws on theoretical and methodological contributions in sociology, anthropology and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Notions of meshwork and enactment become important for the exploration of happiness as a complex and changing matter, which productively involves social relations and material things. Throughout the thesis there is a dialogue with previous research on happiness, consumption and childhood which highlights the importance of exploring messy practices, in movement. It is argued that explorations of practice contribute to a critical understanding of how happiness and contemporary ideals of childhood can be approached – through consumption and as part of citizenship in a consumer society where happiness is of central importance. Abstract [sv] Denna avhandling utgör ett etnografiskt bidrag till forskning om barns konsumtion, familjeliv och lycka. Genom en analys av videoinspelade intervjuer samt familjebesök till två av Sveriges mest välbesökta temaparker utforskas skiftande betydelser av lycka, liksom dess förutsättningar och utmaningar. Tidigare temaparks-forskning har generellt tagit lyckans existens för given. Utifrån en inledande diskussion om bland annat olika filosofiska och samhällsvetenskapliga lyckoteorier argumenterar avhandlingen för att studier av praktik tillför ny och grundläggande kunskap om lyckans komplexa sammansättningar. Avhandlingen visar därigenom att lycka iscensätts som en del av – och i förhållande till – ideal om familjeliv, tid, barndom, pengar, konsumtion, upplevelser och materiella ting. Genom att fokusera på barn och deras familjers praktiker lokaliseras lyckans skiftande betydelser i en samtidskultur där emotioner och konsumtion är centrala. Avhandlingens ansats är tvärvetenskaplig och hämtar teoretisk och metodologisk inspiration från sociologi, antropologi samt teknik- och vetenskapsstudier (STS). Genom denna ansats synliggörs sammanflätningar av sociala relationer och materiella ting som produktiva i iscensättandet av lycka. Genom en dialog mellan empiriska beskrivningar och forskning om lycka, konsumtion och barndom belyser avhandlingen nödvändigheten av att synliggöra och utforska röriga och rörliga praktiker. Det bidrar till en kritisk förståelse av praktik som kan förändra hur vi närmar oss lycka och samtida barndomsideal – som konsumenter och medborgare i ett lyckosträvande konsumtionssamhälle.

Tamara

Tamara PDF Author: John Krizanc
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 148700849X
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Available for the first time in over thirty years, John Krizanc’s internationally acclaimed play redefined the limits of theatre with its haunting tale of art, sex, violence, and political intrigue in Fascist Italy. In the late twenties the poet, war hero, and lothario Gabriele d’Annunzio waits in his opulent villa — a gift from Benito Mussolini in return for his political silence — for the arrival of the artist Tamara de Lempicka, who is to paint his portrait. What follows is a tale of art, sex, violence and the meaning of complicity in an authoritarian state. The action is directed by the reader/audience member, who decides which characters to follow and which narratives to experience. John Krizanc’s masterpiece redefined theatre and won six L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards, six Dora Mavor Moore Awards, six Drama-Logue Awards, and six Mexican Association of Theatre Critics, and Journalists Awards for its original productions. Now available in a handsome new A List edition, Tamara is an astonishing piece of experimental art and a penetrating look into ethical choices in times of encroaching autocracy.

A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks

A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks PDF Author: Sabrina Mittermeier
Publisher: Intellect (UK)
ISBN: 9781789383270
Category : Amusement parks
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The writing is academic, but it is not inaccessible. It will have wide disciplinary appeal within academia, as tourism studies cross into a variety of fields including history, American studies, fandom studies, performance studies and cultural studies. It will be invaluable to those working in the field of theme park scholarship and the study of Disney theme parks, theme parks in general and related areas like world's expositions and spaces of the consumer and lifestyle worlds. It will also be of interest to Disney fans, those who have visited any of the parks or are interested to know more about the parks and their cultural situation and context.

The Global Theme Park Industry

The Global Theme Park Industry PDF Author: Salvador Anton Clavé
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 1845932080
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Since the 1980s, the theme park industry has developed into a global phenomenon, with everything from large, worldwide theme parks to countless smaller ventures. From the first pleasure gardens to the global theme park companies, this book provides an understanding of the nature and function of theme parks as spaces of entertainment. Illustrated throughout by worldwide case studies, empirical data and practical examples, the book portrays the impacts of theme park as global competitive actors, agents of global development and cultural symbols, particularly in the context of their role in the developing experience economy. In conclusion, this book is a practical guide to the planning and development of theme parks.

Travels in Hyperreality

Travels in Hyperreality PDF Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547545967
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A “scintillating collection” of essays on Disneyland, medieval times, and much more, from the author of Foucault’s Pendulum (Los Angeles Times). Collected here are some of Umberto Eco’s finest popular essays, recording the incisive and surprisingly entertaining observations of his restless intellectual mind. As the author puts it in the preface to the second edition: “In these pages, I try to interpret and to help others interpret some ‘signs.’ These signs are not only words, or images; they can also be forms of social behavior, political acts, artificial landscapes.” From Disneyland to holography and wax museums, Eco explores America’s obsession with artificial reality, suggesting that the craft of forgery has in certain cases exceeded reality itself. He examines Western culture’s enduring fascination with the middle ages, proposing that our most pressing modern concerns began in that time. He delves into an array of topics, from sports to media to what he calls the crisis of reason. Throughout these travels—both physical and mental—Eco displays the same wit, learning, and lively intelligence that delighted readers of The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum. Translated by William Weaver

Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra and Simulation PDF Author: Jean Baudrillard
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 9780472065219
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Develops a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure. This book represents an effort to rethink cultural theory from the perspective of a concept of cultural materialism, one that radically redefines postmodern formulations of the body.