Mexican children and American cartoons: Foreign references in animation

 Elia-Margarita Cornelio-Marí, Villahermosa (Mexico)

https://doi.org/10.3916/C45-2015-13

Keywords

Television studies, audience studies, intercultural communication, animation, american cartoons, children audience

Abstract

This audience study explores how a group of children from Southeast Mexico, perceive the animated cartoon «Dexter’s Laboratory». The objective is to observe the ways in which a young local audience, still in the process of building its cultural identity, perceives an American television program. A qualitative approach was applied: 44 children between 8 and 11 years old participated in a series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups, which took place in a provincial city in Mexico (Villahermosa, Tabasco). In each session, the participants watched an episode of the cartoon dubbed into Latin Spanish. Afterwards, it was assessed if they were able to notice cultural elements present in the series (texts in English, traditions, ways of life, symbols, etc.), which are different from their own culture. It was also observed if age, gender and social background had any impact on the degree of awareness. The results showed that most of the participants were aware of beingthat they were watching a foreign program, that they could recognize elements of American culture and that they applied diverse strategies to make sense of these foreign narratives. Older children, and those studying English as a second language, were able to make more sophisticated comparisons between the cultures of Mexico and the United States.

References

Amaral, E.S. (2005). Constructed Childhoods: A Study of Selected Animated Programmes for Children with Particular Reference for the Portuguese Case. (Tesis Doctoral). (http://goo.gl/1dXBf3) (26-04-2014).

Link Google Scholar

Anderson, D.R. (2004). Watching Children Watch Television and the Creation of Blue’s Clues. In H. Hendershot (Ed.), Nickelodeon Nation: The History, Politics, and Economics of America’s only TV Channel for Kids. (pp. 387-434). New York: New York University Press.

Link Google Scholar

Ang, I. (1985). Watching Dallas: Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination. New York: Routledge.

Link Google Scholar

Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Link Google Scholar

Chalaby, J. (2002). Transnational Television in Europe: The Role of Pan-European Channels. European Journal of Communication, 17(2), 183-203.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Charles, M. (1989). La televisión y los niños. El reto de vencer al Capitán América. In E. Sánchez-Ruiz (Comp.), Teleadicción infantil, mito o realidad. (pp. 15-26). México: Universidad de Guadalajara.

Link Google Scholar

Cobos, T.L. (2010). Animación japonesa y globalización: la latinización y la subcultura Otaku en América Latina. Razón y Palabra, 72. (http://goo.gl/N5AisY) (15-07-2014).

Link Google Scholar

Cornelio-Marí, E.M. (2005). Mexican Children’s Perception of Cultural Specificity in American Cartoons. (Tesis de Maestría no publicada, The University of Texas at Austin).

Link Google Scholar

Corona, S. (1989). El niño y la TV: una relación de doble apropiación. In E. Sánchez-Ruiz (Comp.), Teleadicción infantil, mito o realidad. (pp. 69-78). México: Universidad de Guadalajara.

Link Google Scholar

Donald, S.H. (2005). Little Friends: Children’s Film and Media Culture in China. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Link Google Scholar

Hall, S. (2001). Encoding/Decoding. In M.G. Durham, & D.M. Kellner (Eds.), Media and Cultural Studies: Key Works. (pp. 166-176). Maldern: Blackwell Publishers.

Link Google Scholar

IBOPE (2005). IBOPE Network Ranking Multi-Country Report (Weighted Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru Survey Areas). Total Day Rating Among Cable Households (Average Monday-Sunday). (http://goo.gl/fHep7a) (26-04-2014).

Link Google Scholar

Josephson, W.L. (1995). TV Violence: a Review of the Effects on Children at Different Ages. Ottawa: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence.

Link Google Scholar

Kilborn, R. (1993). Speak my Language: Current Attitudes to Television Subtitling and Dubbing. Media, Culture and Society, 15, 641-660.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Kinder, M. (1991). Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games: from Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Link Google Scholar

Kraidy, M. (1999). The Global, the Local and the Hybrid: a Native Ethnography of Glocalization. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 16, 456-473.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

La Pastina, A., & Straubhaar, J. (2005). Multiples Proximities between TV Genres & Audiences: The Schism between Telenovelas Global Distribution and Local Consumption. Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies, 67(3), 271-288.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Liebes, T., & Katz, E. (1990). The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Link Google Scholar

Lozano, J. (2008). Consumo y apropiación de cine y TV extranjeros por audiencias en América Latina. Comunicar, 15(30), 62-72.

Link Google Scholar

Martel, F. (2011). Cultura Mainstream: cómo nacen los fenómenos de masas. (Trad. Núria Petit Fonserè). Madrid: Taurus.

Link Google Scholar

Moran, K.C., & Chung, L.C. (2003). Creating an ‘Ambiguous’ Identity: the Role of International Mass Media in the Lives of Children. Second annual Global Fusion Conference, Austin, TX. October 2003.

Link Google Scholar

Napier, S. J. (2001). Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Orozco, G. (1990). El niño como televidente no nace, se hace. In M. Charles, & G. Orozco (Eds.), Educación para la recepción. (pp. 33-48). México: Trillas.

Link Google Scholar

Orozco, G. (1994). Recepción televisiva y mediaciones: la construcción de estrategias para la audiencia. In G. Orozco (Ed.). Televidencia: perspectivas para el análisis de los procesos de recepción televisiva. (pp. 69-88). México D.F.: Universidad Iberoamericana.

Link Google Scholar

Palmer, P. (1986). The Lively Audience: A study of Children around the TV Set. Sidney: Allen, & Unwin.

Link Google Scholar

Pertierra, A. (2012). If They Show Prison Break in the United States on a Wednesday, by Thursday It Is Here: Mobile Media Networks in Twenty-First-Century Cuba. Television & New Media, 13(5), 399-414.

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Seiter, E. (1998). Children’s Desires/Mother Dilemmas: The Social Context of Comsumption. In H. Jenkins (Ed.), The Children’s Culture Reader. (pp. 297-317). New York: New York University Press.

Link Google Scholar

Technical information

Received: 08-05-2014

Revised: 07-06-2014

Accepted: 05-01-2015

OnlineFirst: 15-04-2015

Publication date: 01-07-2015

Article revision time: 30 days | Average time revision issue 45: 46 days

Article acceptance time: 242 days | Average time of acceptance issue 45: 127 days

Preprint editing time: 374 days | Average editing time preprint issue 45: 247 days

Article editing time: 419 days | Average editing time issue 45: 292 days

Metrics

Metrics of this article

Views: 34067

Abstract readings: 25157

PDF downloads: 8910

Full metrics of Comunicar 45

Views: 820929

Abstract readings: 650752

PDF downloads: 170177

Cited by