A Study on the Construction of Female Subjectivity in Disney’s Animated Film Mulan in Light of Articulation Theory

Abstract

Disney’s animated film Mulan is adapted from the traditional Chinese folktale “Mulan disguises herself as a man to fight on behalf of her father”. Different from the loyal and filial figure of Mulan in Chinese traditional folktale, Disney portrays Mulan as a heroine who pursues personal value and self-actualization. Although it is quite different from Mulan figure in Chinese folktale, it is found that the construction of female subjectivity in Disney’s Mulan is a double layer articulation structure after a detailed analysis of the film text from the perspective of Stuart Hall’s articulation theory. The purpose of the first layer of articulation is to construct the field of struggle for the construction of female subjectivity in the film, and the second layer aims to reveal the connotation of emancipation of Disney’s Mulan figure through an analysis of the constructive process of Mulan’s female subjectivity. Finally, it is concluded that the female subjectivity constructed in the film is based on the recognition of gender differences, integrating masculinity and femininity, and mobilizing all individuals in the society to achieve women’s emancipation and gender equality. This feminist discourse provides an alternative logic for society with women’s life experiences.