Race and rag dolls: Reading the embodiment of diversity in Laloopsy transmedia

Abstract

Young children’s engagements with literacy occur as immersive and embodied interactions with an increasingly commercialized and globalized textual landscape (Carrington, 2005). On a daily basis, preschoolers not only read or listen to their favorite stories but embody their favorite characters and narratives through engagements with media franchises that link multiple products across multiple platforms. As children watch television programs and DVDs, tap through games and apps on tablets and phones, play with dolls and action fi gures, they can also be clothed in licensed apparel, snack on character gummies, tote school supplies in themed backpacks, and so on. These franchises of branded products grounded by a media narrative, or transmedia, produce far-reaching, ubiquitous, and pervasive fl ows of merchandise but also circulate discursive messages attached to media narratives and are amplifi ed through advertising (Lemke, 2009).