Gender Representation in the Arabic Dubbing Disney Animation: A Feminist Perspective

1. INTRODUCTION

Representation, as defined by Hall (1997), is “the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language” (p. 15). Hall (1997) adds that representation “connects meaning and concepts to cultures” (p.15). This means that representation reflects cultural and societal beliefs and can never be neutral. It is how a given society portrays and perceives concepts.

On the other hand, the concept of gender, as opposed to sex, was not introduced until the 1970s, when Stoller (1968) pointed out the distinction between sex and gender, setting a new horizon for other research. When defining them, Eckert and McConnell-Cinet (2003) state that sex is "a biological categorization based primarily on reproductive potential, whereas gender is the social elaboration of biological sex" (p.10). In other words, sex is something we are born with; whereas gender is a learned behaviour, which is both taught and enforced by society. This means that gender, as a social factor, reflects the roles of women and men that are established by the society. Therefore, gender is not something we have, but something we perform in society (Butler, 1990).

Each society has a particular viewpoint towards the roles played by women and men, and has specific expectations of them (Bell et al., 2006). These expectations depend on cultural, political, economic, social, and religious factors (Bell et al., 2006). Customs, law, class, ethnic background, and prejudice of a particular society are factors which also have a certain disposition towards women and men. All these factors construct particular attitudes and behaviours towards gender. Films are one of the forms of representing these attitudes and behaviours. In addition, the way female characters are represented in films “reflect and perpetuate the status and options of women in today’s society” (Kord & Krimmer, 2005, p.1), and play an active part in creating female role models. Accordingly, it is important to examine the way in which women are represented in films in order to understand women’s position in different societies.

• Research Objectives

This research investigates how gender is linguistically represented in the Arabic dubbing of three Disney animations: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mulan, and Frozen. It pays particular attention to gender as a socially-constructed factor of societal implications that may be transferred to Arab viewers through dubbing.

The aim of this study is to draw attention to gender issues in Audiovisual Translation, dubbing in particular. More specifically, the present study focuses on the linguistic manifestations of gender in the three Arabic dubbed Disney princess films against the original English animations. Using a socio-semantic approach, it aims at investigating the adopted linguistic choices when transferring the three gender themes: gender roles, gender identity, and gender relations, through dubbing, in order to study how gender representation was transferred from the English originals to the Arabic dubbing, and whether the representation in the Arabic dubbed version is similar to that in the English original or not.

Moreover, this study aims at investigating how dubbing may or may not contribute to transmitting gendered discourses from one culture to another. This is realized through discursive analysis of the three selected films, in order to trace the development of gender representation in the dubbed Disney animations across the three Disney periods, in comparison to their original equivalents.

• Research Questions

The present research, in exploring gender representation in the Arabic dubbing of three selected Disney animations, answers the following questions:

1. How is gender textually represented in the three selected Arabic dubbed films in comparison to their original animations?
2. How far Disney's gender representation in the original films is discursively reflected in the Arabic dubbing?
3. CORPUS

The main corpus of the study includes twenty two extracts from each of the three Arabic dubbed Disney princesses’ animations: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mulan, and Frozen. These three films are selected because each is a representation of its Disney era: the Golden Age, the Renaissance, and the Revival respectively. The extracts are selected according to three themes: gender roles, gender identity, and gender relations. Although the study mainly focuses on female protagonists' representation in the three movies (i.e. Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mulan in Mulan, and both Elsa and Anna in Frozen), it is important to study other female characters and the protagonists' relation to male characters in the films. It is worth mentioning that the dubbing of the three films is produced by Masreya Media, which "is responsible for managing all Arabic dubbing for Disney in both Egypt and Lebanon" (masreyamedia.tv).

3. METHODOLOGY

The main theoretical settings of the study are the first two dimensions of Fairclough's (2013) three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Fairclough’s (2013) model of CDA, as depicted in figure 1, consists of three interrelated processes of analysis that represent the three dimensions of the model: text analysis (descriptive), discursive analysis (interpretation), and social analysis (explanation). The first dimension is concerned with studying the text per se. For the first dimension, the study uses Van Leeuwen's (2008) Social Actors Network as the tool of analysis. The second dimension, which is concerned with analysing the discursive practice within the text, the study adopts Sunderland's (2004) four sets of gendered discourses for the analysis.

The first dimension of Fairclough's (2013) CDA model is text analysis. It is concerned with describing linguistic characteristics in a text. When performing text analysis, the study adopts Van Leeuwen’s (2008) Social Actors Network. Van Leeuwen (2008) draws on a socio-semantic inventory; creating a "network" in which social actors can be represented in discourses verbally or visually. Van Leeuwen (2008) divides this network into categories, as illustrated in figure 2. The present study uses only one of these tools: Inclusion and exclusion. Such a tool of analysis is used in addressing the first research question, through identifying the textual representation of gender in the dubbing of the three selected Disney animations, in comparison to the original English animations.

The second dimension of Fairclough's model is concerned with perceiving discourse as a discursive practice. As a tool for such a discursive analysis, the research adopts Sunderland's (2004) four classifications of gendered discourses. Sunderland (2004) divides gendered discourses into four main sets: traditionally gendered discourses, feminist discourses, non-androcentric discourses, and subversive discourses. In the first set, called “traditionally gendered” discourses, all traces of familiar, traditional gendered stereotypes can be found. Female characters are portrayed in a domestic setting, carrying out domestic tasks, like feeding and clothing, and playing supportive roles in the story. As for the second set, female characters are presented in “progressive ways”. This means that in feminist discourses, the female protagonist can be represented as a strong, independent woman, who struggles against traditional constraints or male protagonists engaging in “non-masculine” traditional gendered activities. The third set, “non-androcentric discourses”, involves women and men participating equally in the plot of the story. Women are not outnumbered by men‘s presence and activities. ”. The fourth, and last, set referred to as “subversive discourses”, counters traditionally gendered discourses and challenges the familiar, patriarchal discourses. Such discourses are perceived as the “reworkings” of other traditional discourses from a new perspective. Sunderland's (2004) four sets are used to define the discourses adopted in each of the three selected films, in comparison to the English original animations. This helps trace the development that took place in gender representation in the dubbed versions.

The following steps are taken to collect and analyse the required data. First, scenes in which the three themes, gender identity, gender roles; and gender relations are manifested, are highlighted and extracted from both the Arabic dubbing and the English source. Second, text analysis is performed. Each Arabic extract is compared to its English equivalent according to the used tools from Van Leewuen's (2008) Social Actors Network. This step helps define gender representation textually in the three films.

4. ANALYSIS

This section starts with the text analysis, drawing upon inclusion and exclusion the selected tools from Van Leeuwen's (2008) Social Actors Network, to trace gender representation on the textual level. Then, the second part deals with the discursive analysis using Sunderland's (2004) four sets of gendered discourses. The selected scenes are categorized and discussed pertaining to the four sets of Sunderland (2004) and based on the conducted text analysis, following Faircough’s (2013) CDA model.

4.1. Textual Analysis

This subsection is divided into two sections. The first section is for inclusion and the second one is for exclusion. These are one of the tools of Van Leeuwen's (2008) Social Actors Network. Examples of the selected scenes are provided and discussed. Because of the current study's limitations, examples are selected and included to help in contrasting representation of gender in the two versions of the films, with significance allotted to the research's objectives. The analysis investigates the highest percentage in the scenes in order to understand the nature of such representation and whether it matches with gender representation in the original films.

4.1.1. Inclusion

Inclusion is one of the chosen tools from Van Leewuen's (2008) Social Actors Network. It can be understood as a resource that gives social actors prominence through making their visibility apparent and could be viewed as the macro-category for all the model's categories. In the corpus, it is realised through any reference made to the social actors using lexical items, nouns, pronouns, demonstratives, or phrases.

In the corpus of the selected twenty two scenes from each film, in comparison to their male counterparts in the films, female characters' inclusion in the discourse of the Arabic dubbing of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) represents 58.8%, whereas male characters' inclusion represents 41.1%. In Mulan (1998), the films' characters' inclusion percentage is 50.2% for female character and 49.7% for male characters. Lastly, in Frozen (2013) female characters' percentage of inclusion is 71.4%, which is much more than male characters' inclusion that is only 28.5% of the selected scenes. Accordingly, females' inclusion increases most in Frozen (2013), and decreases most in Mulan (1998). On the other hand, male characters' inclusion increases most in Mulan (1998), and decreases most in Frozen (2013).

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), female characters are included fifty times within the selected twenty two scenes, whereas males are included only thirty five times in these scenes. However, females were only included in the scenes using lexical items, nouns, pronouns, demonstratives, or phrases that either deal with domestic activities, their physical appearance, their negative attributes, or their love interests. Such inclusion excludes women's agency to only these topics, and defines their representation in the film accordingly. The example below demonstrates female characters' inclusion in the Arabic dubbing compared to the original animation. 

Example 1.

Example one is an example of inclusion in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. When the dwarfs encounter Snow White for the first time, they find her sleeping in their beds. They start describing her beauty to each other. Such inclusion is added in both the Arabic and English versions, through the use of adjectives. However, it is apparent that Snow White's physical description is more elaborate in the Arabic translation. This appears in the Arabic sentences "دي بنت حلو اه" (which literally translates back into: "that's a very beautiful girl) that adds an adjective describing Snow White's beauty to its original "it's a girl", and "جمالها رباني" (that literally translates back into: "oh! How divine is her beauty!) that does not have an English equivalent in the original film. Such descriptions in the Arabic dubbed version add more emphasis to the character's appearance that actually exceeds its counter description in the original film, highlighting the societal focus in the Arab world on women's physical appearance and increasing gender stereotyping in the film.

In Mulan (1998), although male characters are more represented in number of characters in the film, their inclusion in the events is much less than that of female characters. The total of female characters' inclusion in the discourse of the selected scenes is 177, while of male characters is 175. It is important to highlight that Mulan is counted as a female when she is addressed as a female in the scenes, and as a male in the scenes in which she disguises herself as a man. As the main character, Mulan is included in scenes in which she is constantly and explicitly reminded of her role as a female in a misogynist society. Also, other female characters in the film focus on reminding Mulan of her gender role. However, unlike Snow White, Mulan is included in scenes, in which she tries to challenge gender stereotypes and understand her true identity.

Example 2.

An example of Inclusion appears in Mulan. In the scene in which the Matchmaker calls Mulan's name, Mulan responds to her and the Matchmaker gives the above reply. In the Arabic translation, the Matchmaker includes Mulan in her criticism through the use of the feminine third person suffix ""ت in "اتكلمت" (which translates back into: "hm, she spoke without permission), whereas in the English original, the Matchmaker excludes her through using nominalisation in "speaking". Such inclusion restores Mulan's agency in the Arabic context, as it has been inferred in the translation through inclusion that she is a rebel from the very beginning of the film. Such characterization of Mulan in the Arabic dubbing as a female who defies gender roles and constitutes her true identity, reflects the development of gender representation from Disney's Golden Age, which is evident in Snow White, to Disney's Renaissance, represented in Mulan.

Lastly, in Frozen (2013), female characters are included 195 times in the discourse of the selected scenes, while male characters' inclusion is only 75 times. The inclusion of Anna and Elsa, the two main female characters in the film, highlights their characters' dimensions.

Example 3.

This scene takes place at the beginning of the film, in which Elsa reminds herself of her responsibilities. On the textual-analysis dimension, she includes herself in the Arabic translation through the use of only two verbs with female self-agency like "تكشفي " and "كوني " (which both translate back into: "Don't you reveal" and "You have to be"). Elsa is more included in the English scene through the use of the verb "don't" in "don't let them in", "don't let them see", and the verb "be" in "be the good girl", and the second person pronoun "you" in "you always". Accordingly, and in light of Leeuwen's CDA model of social actors, Elsa is more included in the English scene than in the Arabic dubbing. This highlights an issue of representation; especially that Elsa is represented as a progressive character in the English original. The Arabic film's representation of Disney's Revival era, then, fails to echo the development that took place in Disney's gender representation in Frozen when it comes to including female characters in the discourse of the scenes.

4.1.2. Exclusion

Exclusion takes place when social actors are absent from the text. It could take place through radical exclusion, backgrounding, and suppression. Radical exclusion occurs when social actors and their roles are not mentioned anywhere in the text, leaving no traces behind. Backgrounding is when social actors are excluded from a given role, but mentioned elsewhere in the text. Lastly, suppression occurs when social actors are not referenced in the text, though their roles are included.

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), female characters' percentage of exclusion is 66.6%, while male characters' percentage is 33.3%. In Mulan (1998), females exclusion percentage from the discourse is 70%, while males are only excluded 30% from the film's discourse. However, in Frozen (2013), males' exclusion percentage is 55.5% compared to that of female characters', which is 44.4%. Frozen (2013) is the only film in which the percentage of males’ exclusion is more than females’ exclusion. Females are most excluded from Mulan (1998) and least excluded from Frozen (2013). On the other hand, males are most excluded from Frozen (2013) and least excluded from Mulan (1998). The number of examples used in this subsection is divided as follows: four from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, one from Mulan, and one from Frozen. The underlying exclusion pattern within the three films shows the following results.

Female characters exclusion from the discourse of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is ten times more than that of male characters' who are excluded only five times. Male characters are radically excluded from the scenes that tackle domestic activities. Female characters, on the other hand, are backgrounded in the scenes and replaced with either a physical description, or a generalisation of all women.

Example 4.

The evil Queen is backgrounded by the Huntsman in the English scene, where he refuses to kill Snow White and confesses to her that the Queen paid him to kill her. He describes the Queen as mad and jealous, then only mentions the Queen's name later. The Queen's backgrounding in the translation is similar to that in the original animation in reflecting the Queen's role as the antagonist in the film's plot. However, the translated version emphasizes the Queen's wickedness through the translation of "she'll stop at nothing" to "وتتمنالك الموت" (translated back into: she wishes you dead), which defines the Queen's role in the dubbed film more clearly than in the original animation.

In Mulan (1998), female characters are excluded 14 times, while male characters are only excluded six times. In most of the cases, female characters are equally excluded from both the English and the Arabic scenes.

Example 5.

Mulan is backgrounded in many scenes where she could have been more included. In the song "Bring Honour to Us All", the hairdresser describes the change she will make to Mulan's appearance, Mulan is more included in the Arabic translation in the example through the use of the pronouns "هي", "دي", and "ده"(translate back respectively into: she, this woman, this thing), and the lexical item "بنتك" (your daughter). However, she is backgrounded throughout the rest of the song. Mulan's inclusion in the Arabic scene endorses the Renaissance era's feminist agenda, and highlights the development of Disney's gender representation even more than the original film. 

Lastly, male characters are excluded five times from Frozen, while female characters are excluded only four times.

Example 6.

Kristoff tells the trolls that Anna is engaged to "someone else" (لغيري), when they were trying to get Kristoff to marry Anna. In this scene, Kristoff does not name the person Anna is engaged to. Prince Hans in this example is suppressed in both versions. Male characters exclusion from the scene supports the film's feminist and subversive discourse, in which female characters are more prominent in the discourse.

4.2. Discursive Analysis

Using the same extracts used in the text analysis, the discursive analysis is carried out using Sunderland’s (2004) four sets of gendered discourses: traditionally gendered discourse, feminist discourse, non-androcentric discourse, and subversive discourse. This section categorizes the three films according to these different discourses. Relevant issues from the three films will be discussed in each category.

4.2.1. Traditionally gendered discourse

 According to Sunderland (2004), traditionally-gendered discourses are those including traditionally gendered themes and plot, in which females play the traditional damsel-in-distress roles and males play the roles of guardians and protectors.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) is set as a traditional Disney fairy tale, characterizing its Disney's Golden Age era.  It laid out a theme for later films of its era, and the roles that females and males play in them. Love is the main theme in the film around which all the songs in the film revolve. This theme is presented in relation to the fact that a female character is the protagonist of the film. This is highlighted in the Arabic translation, more than the English source, when the disguised Queen tells Snow White " لا يخلو قلب بنت من الحب. كل البنات كده " (translated back to: a girl’s heart is not without love. All girls are like this). It appears that the only progress made in Snow White's story line is through love and marriage. She meets Prince Charming and loves him at first sight. She is immediately taken with him and her whole life alters as a result of this encounter. She waits for him to rescue her from the malicious evil Queen, who is jealous of her beauty. The film ends with a traditional happy ending as Prince Charming saves Snow White from her deep sleep with a kiss.

Another characteristic of traditionally gendered discourses is the focus on female appearance, rather than her personality. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is plotted around the idea that the Queen's self-worth is based on her appearance, through being the "fairest of them all". All the film's characters are traditionally "white" with no emphasis on their social or cultural background.  Both the Queen and Snow White are subjected to the male gaze by the mirror, representing patriarchy and judging women by their appearance. This creates envy from the Queen, as she values herself through being physically attractive. In addition, being the protagonist of the film, Snow White is the only nominated character using a proper noun. However, her name is also an indicator of the focus on her physical appearance, as she is described through her name "as fair as the white snow", which was at the time of the film's production an indicator for her beauty by society. Snow White is often classified based on her age, appearance, and class. There is also more emphasis on these classifications in the Arabic version. This appears in the title of the film in which Snow White is referred to in Arabic as "الأميرة الصغيرة" (the little princess). Snow White's class is more emphasized in the Arabic version, maintaining the image of a traditional Disney "princess". In most of the scenes, Snow White is referred to through her physical attributes, for instances when the dwarfs first see her sleeping in their cottage, they focus on describing her beauty. The Queen also refers to Snow White as “ الحلوة” (beauty).

Sunderland (2004) characterizes traditionally gendered discourse with the inclusion of many divisions of labour discourses, in which women are portrayed as "damsels-in-distress”, “inside-the-house” people and men as "house-hold" heads. Division of labour discourse indexes “what men and boys actually do, occupationally and in terms of other activities, and the importance attributed to this” (Sunderland, 2004, p. 150). In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, women's roles are prominent only in domestic settings. Snow White identifies herself as a happy homemaker, and waits for Prince Charming to give her a reason worth living for. Her inclusions and activations are only within scenes in which we see her happily doing domestic tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, washing, and taking care of the seven dwarfs. She does all these tasks while smiling, singing, and dancing along. On the other hand, male characters are included in the film as protectors, saviours, and guardians of Snow White. The dwarfs' and Prince Charming's identities appear in the actions they take in the plot. Prince Charming is portrayed as the perfect male by Snow White and his inclusion in scenes always has an immediate effect on her. He brings her back to life with a kiss. Even the seven dwarfs, with their different characters, are portrayed as the guardians of Snow White. She follows all the orders without complaining at all, reinforcing the notion that males are the protectors and females are fragile and in need of protection. It conveys what “proper” gender roles of the time were, being released in 1937.This shows how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) uses many obvious stereotyped roles for both the men and women, falling under the traditionally gendered discourse set.

Although the theme and the plot of Mulan (1998) are not traditional, Mulan is constantly reminded by her family and society of her duties as a female. They force her to focus on bringing honour to her family through finding a good husband.

In Mulan (1998), male characters describe the desired physical appearances and personalities of their loved ones. This is depicted in the songs of the film. In the song "Bring Honour to Us All", females describe how a girl should behave to find a husband and bring honour to her family. The constant repetition of the phrase “ترفعي راسنا بين الناس” (bring honour to us all) serves in reminding Mulan of her role as a woman. On the other hand, in another song "A Girl worth Fighting For", male characters describe their dream girls' appearances and personalities. Men only focus on describing their ideal woman as looking good, being able to cook well, and being able to reinforce men's masculinity. In both songs, the only focus is on girls' behaviour and appearance. Moreover, male characters brag about their physical strength like in Yao's description of himself as "ملك الصخرة" (the king of the rock).

Although Mulan's personality is not traditional, her society still encourages her to abide by specific characteristics. Similar to that in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the notion of femininity is portrayed in a form in which women's roles are excluded to being domestic, obedient, calm, and beautiful, as described in the songs. Figures representing such characteristics are Mulan's mother and grandmother, whose main role is to guide Mulan on how to be "feminine". Women are perceived as unequal to men. This appears in men's reaction of disgust when Mulan counters their description of a perfect woman in "A Girl Worth Fighting For", saying رأيها دايما مفيد؟ .. ليه ما تقولوش عليها دماغ "(translated back to: why don’t you call her smart with a sound opinion?) (min. 00:00:46:05). In addition, being a woman is demeaning and degrading in some scenes in the English source that were omitted in the Arabic translation.

Mulan (1998) is full of clear division of labour discourses that Mulan always tries to defy. Men are depicted as guardians and protectors. They fight for women and protect them from the enemy. Male characters are activated in scenes in which they are portrayed as decision makers. Mulan's father, Fa Li, always dictates the family on what they should do. All the women in the family are obliged to follow his decisions without questioning them. This appears when Fa Li decides to go to war after being called upon by the army and only Mulan argues with him about it. Women's roles in the film are to take care of domestic activities, give birth, and raise their children. They are dependent and other-centred. They are only responsible for bringing honour to their families, through getting married. Accordingly, Mulan is always activated in the scenes in which she is dictated to her society on how she would honour her family through marriage. Such characteristics are personified in Mulan's mother and grandmother. They represent the traditionally gendered females in the film, who are always other-centred, and play supporting roles to men.

The only character who started with a traditionally gendered personality in Frozen (2013) is Anna. At the beginning of the film, she is depicted as the stereotyped princess, who is looking for her "prince charming". This appears in the song "For the First Time in Forever", in which she sings about meeting her dream lover and falling in love with him at first sight. In the song, she admits that her dream is "crazy", and she is widely criticized for her immature views towards love in the film by both her companion, Kristoff and her sister, Elsa. Both princesses, Elsa and Anna, are appraised by their physical appearance. Such description appears in the scene of the coronation day when the public see the princesses' beauty and appearance. Anna is also physically identified by the trolls when they first see her with Kristoff. However, such description, based on the princess's physical appearance, does not have an effect on the plot of the story.

4.2.2. Feminist discourse

 Sunderland (2004) defines feminist discourse as the discourse in which "there is evidence of struggle against patriarchal practices, and/or these practices are critically presented, and/or an individual girl or woman is represented in a particular progressive way" (p. 154). She adds that the ways in which a feminist discourse is manifested is "through explicit inclusion of women where it is not necessary to the plot, and counter stereotypical characterization of women) (Sunderland, 2004, p. 155).

The implicit critique of Grumpy's sexist assumptions is manifested in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) as an example of a feminist discourse. Such critique is depicted through the characterization of Grumpy, being always annoyed with everything without a reason. He always criticizes women, but when the rest of the dwarfs ask him for a rational reason, he never finds one. Also, Grumpy is depicted as noticeably uneducated, as he makes a lot of grammatical mistakes in his speech, which makes him less reliable for the audience, and more of a comic relief in the film. The other dwarfs do not support Grumpy's sexist comments on Snow White and women, and he ends up liking Snow White, trying to protect her from the evil Queen, and grieves her "death" like the rest of the dwarfs, when she eats the poisoned apple.

In Mulan (1998), the film's feminist discourse manifests itself in many forms. The plot and themes of the story reflect Mulan's struggle against patriarchal practices, presenting these practices critically. The film is a representation of Disney's Renaissance era. Its plot revolves around a Chinese teenage girl named Mulan, who fails to bring honour to her family by fulfilling her role, which is getting married and following the norms of her society. As the country enters into a war with the Huns, her father gets called to fight. Knowing that her father would not survive the war, Mulan disguises herself as a man and goes to war. Mulan strikes the killing blow to Shan Yu, the Huns' leader. She is recognized for her achievements as a person, rather than a woman or man, by the emperor, and she returns home to her family, resolving the theme of identity. The film's plot reflects the protagonist, Mulan's, struggle against the norms of her society, in which division of labour discourse is engraved. She is depicted as a counter-stereotypical character, whose sole purpose is to know her true identity, disregarding what her patriarchal society dictates her to be.

Just like Grumpy, another manifestation of a feminist discourse is depicted in the characterization of Shi Fu, the emperor's sexist counsellor. Shi Fu always reminds the characters in the film of their gender roles, but he is ridiculed by them and is represented unfavourably. In addition, Mulan's disguise as a man, her constant attempts to imitate men, and her criticism of some of their habits, reflect her implicit countering of traditional gendered discourses, constituting important intratextual links, within the film, and intertextual links, throughout Disney films. The accumulations in the film could contribute to the production and recognition of feminist discourses that critique prevalent patriarchal practices.

Disney's Renaissance era, to which Mulan (1998) belongs, is characterized by the diversity in its characters' ethnicity. Mulan is the first and only Chinese Disney princess. Such depiction involves more representation of characters from different ethnic backgrounds and constitutes a discourse of equality and anti-discrimination in Disney's hypertext.

Mulan's character is represented as more independent and free-spirited than any female character in the film. She has a mind of her own, which appears in the scene in which she argues with her dad about his decision to go to war. The film's translation helps in supporting this feminist discourse, through translating females as less passivated than in the English source. The film sheds light on female's perspective, represented in Mulan, through songs. First, getting married is emphasized as shown in the song "Bring Honor to Us All". Second, Mulan's struggle to find her true identity is highlighted in the song "Reflection". It also appears in scenes, in which she explains her intentions to everyone else, such as in the scene, in which her true sex is revealed. Her thoughts also appear in her dialogue with Musho about her decision to join the troops. Mulan's activation and agency are met with gratitude from the emperor, who thanks her for saving China, and from her father who acknowledges her in the end as the real honour to their family. Such characterization of Mulan as well as the ending of the film point to women's agency and resistance.

Frozen (2013) uses achronological intertextuality to constitute a feminist discourse in the film. Achronological intertextuality, according to Sunderland (2011), is a given text seen in relation to subsequent or prior production. This means that Frozen (2013), belonging to Disney's Revival era, is seen in relation to all the Disney hypertext. The film is woman-centred, as it focuses on the relation between the two sisters, Elsa and Anna. Women are casually included in the film's plot, even when it is not necessary. Such inclusion appears in the inclusion of Elsa and Anna's mother whose role is not as prominent as that of their father's, the inclusion of female and male trolls, and the inclusion of a variety of female citizens in Arendelle, the kingdom of both Anna and Elsa. Each of the film's main characters is faced with their own struggles and is in a constant quest to solve them. This is initially realized through the characterization of its protagonists: Elsa and Anna. Elsa is depicted as the more mature, wise sister with a more complicated personality. She appears in the film like a Shakespearean character with a lot of monologues that reflect her inner struggle. Such monologues are used to define her identify and help her understand her powers. This appears in the repeated scenes throughout the film in which she reminds herself of her powers, until her salvation song "Let it Go". In the film, neither Elsa nor Anna is defined by their gender, but they are treated according to their personalities as human beings.

4.2.3. Non-androcentric discourse

The androcentric discourse is when "male as norm" discourse is represented. It is pervasive throughout Disney films. However, in none of the selected films is the discourse entirely androcentric. Non- androcentric discourses are characterized by involving wider gender representations, and including relevant female characters. The three selected films include examples of non-androcentric discourses.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) includes only two female characters: Snow White and the Queen. The rest of the characters in the film are males. Thus, there is not a wide scope of gender representation in the film.  Mulan (1998) includes a variety of both female and male characters, other than the film's main characters. Although the number of males is more than females in the film, the presence of females in the plot is apparent throughout the film. Such presence is depicted in the scenes in which females are rushing to meet the Matchmaker. In this scene, many females are present in the plot whether they are brides or town women. Also, women and men are equally present in the festival in which the emperor honours the troops for defeating the Huns. Unlike the other two films, Frozen (2013) includes more women than men in its plot. It represents a non-androcentric discourse, in which women are equally or more present in the scenes.

Although Snow White and the Queen are the only two female characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), they both play key roles and are both instrumental to the plot. Snow White is the protagonist of the film, and the Queen is the antagonist of the film.  Although male characters are more represented in number of characters in Mulan (1998), their inclusion in the events is much less than that of Mulan, the protagonist. Many women are relevant and take part in the plot and change of events. In addition to Mulan's mother and grandmother who play supporting roles to Mulan, the Matchmaker is an important instrument for the change of events. After getting rejected by the Matchmaker, Mulan decides to join the army, instead of her father, through which she is able to discover her true identity. Female and male characters are instrumental in Frozen (2013), however female characters play more prominent roles throughout the film. Such importance is highlighted through the main theme and plot of the film that revolve around the two princesses: Elsa and Anna (as discussed in 4.2.2.).

4.2.4. Subversive discourse

Subversive discourses involve counter-narrative discourses to the traditionally gendered discourses. They challenge the traditional, the familiar, and the patriarchal.

Mulan (1998) starts as a traditional Disney fairy tale; however, traces of a subversive discourse is realized from the first scene in the film where the film's protagonist, Mulan, is not white and is represented from a different ethnicity.  Such depiction challenges the traditional fairy tale and presents Disney's hypertext with a wider gender representation. On the other hand, Frozen (2013) is full of subversive discourses. Unlike Snow White, who falls in love with Prince Charming at first sight and dreams for the rest of the film about meeting him again and marrying him, Anna in the song "For the First Time in Forever" sings about her dream lover and comments that the dream of marrying someone she just met is "crazy". Everyone criticizes her for choosing to marry Prince Hans, whom she has just met. They end up being right when Prince Hans is revealed to be the antagonist of the film. Such counter narrative challenges the traditional Disney fairy tale and the traditional Disney princess films.

A more subversive characterization is that of Elsa. Elsa is characterized as an independent and powerful queen, who single-handedly changes the course of events of the film many times. First, Elsa accidently covers Arendelle with ice, then she runs away and accepts her powers. Secondly, she accidently harms Anna, then sacrifices herself to save her. Lastly, she saves the city from the ice and from Prince Hans.  As for male characters, at the beginning of the film, Prince Hans is presented as the stereotyped "prince charming" of the story until a turn of events takes place in which he is revealed to be the villain. This adds depth to his character and challenges the traditional, shallow, stereotyped, perfect "prince charming". The ending of the film is subversive, as for the first time in Disney history, aside from Disney/Pixar work, a female character is saved by another female character, other than a male.

5. CONCLUSION

The dubbing of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) reflects and indicates society's focus on female's physical attributes and classification, and males' functions as depicted through their roles and jobs. This disseminates the ideology that men have better relations with each other, and women are powerless social actors who are mostly associated with home context, with limited relations and job opportunities.

The dubbing of Mulan (1998) depicts females as more of agent/active social actors than in the previous Golden Age era. It also reflects society's constant evaluation of women's behaviour and physical appearance. On the other hand, males are also judged by society based on their physical strength. The film reflects the ideology that both males and females are bound to society's stereotyping; and are also required to challenge it.

The Arabic dubbed version of Frozen (2013) does not reflect female agency in which females are depicted as more decisive, powerful, intellectual, and successful social actors, holding high status positions. However, unlike the previous two eras, females are not portrayed as homemakers. This may indicate a feminist-oriented ideology in the film and reflects the development of women's representation in the social structure.

5.1. Suggestions for Further Research

The limitations mentioned in the previous section open the way to further readings of Disney films to be carried out:

1. Further research needs to be undertaken pertaining to the difference between dubbing gender representation in Disney into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian colloquial. This might help to broaden the understanding of representation within the same language, through different dialects;
2. Further research needs to extend to analysing the non-verbal dimension of the films in relation to gender representation. Such multimodal approach to investigating representation would be interesting, especially in the study of Disney films;
3. Further research needs to focus on the translation of other forms of representation in Disney film, such as representation of minorities and representation of social classes. Any of these given forms present an interesting study to further investigate social actors' representation in Disney films;
4. Further effective linguistic tool-kits are recommended to investigate the reception of Disney films and their effect on an audience from different age groups in the Arab world. In other word, a study of Fairclough's third dimension related to social practices in discourse would make an interesting study for the investigation of gender representation in Disney films and its implications upon the audience in the Arab world.