Working for the Miracle: A Critical, Visual Analysis of Disney’s Encanto

Authors

  • Raisa Alvarado California State University, San Bernardino
  • Carlos Flores California State University, Sacramento
  • Raquel Moreira Southwestern University

Keywords:

visual culture, Latinidad, cultural translators, paratexts, Encanto

Abstract

Disney’s Encanto premiered in 2021 to worldwide acclaim that was extended by globalized and technological contexts. This essay proposes a visual analysis of Encanto, with particular attention to the cultural tensions and ideologies that surround the film, including paratexts produced by Encanto fans via the streaming platform TikTok. Although the film remains notable for its stylistic displays of Latine identities and experiences, its visual choices remain situated in western, settler-colonial ideologies of oligarchical governance, mestizaje, and postracism. The visual analysis of Encanto and its related paratexts contributes to scholarship on the labor of cultural translators on behalf of Disney, expanding it to include unaffiliated Disney audiences who digitally articulate histories of imperialism, displacement, and their contemporary counterparts for public audiences.

Author Biographies

Raisa Alvarado, California State University, San Bernardino

Raisa Alvarado (PhD, University of Denver) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, San Bernardino. Her areas of research include Latine Rhetorical Criticism, Girl Power Social Movements, and Critical Girl Studies.

Carlos Flores, California State University, Sacramento

Carlos Flores (PhD, Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento. His research focuses on rhetoric and ideology, with a focus on critical and cultural rhetorical theory and criticism.

Raquel Moreira, Southwestern University

Raquel Moreira (PhD, University of Denver) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Southwestern University, and her research engages with issues of race and gender in transnational media contexts. 

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Published

2024-07-29

Issue

Section

Articles