Empowering Girls in the Transnational W.I.T.C.H. Magazine and Comic Series
in Girlhood StudiesSearch for other papers by Simona Di Martino in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
All currencies in US Dollar
Abstract
The Italian-made comics series W.I.T.C.H. and the homonymous magazine enjoyed global success. The series tells the story of five girls who discover they have magical powers and are called on to save the universe from evil forces. I investigate this transnational and transmedia series and explore how girls’ empowerment is pursued through the trope of the teenage witch in the comics’ storyline, revealing the hybridization of manga, European, and Disney graphic styles and themes, and in the magazine itself where the editors use techniques of engagement with readers (surveys and quizzes, problem pages and letters from readers, DIY pieces, and diary-like pages). This analysis involves scholarship on Girlhood and Cultural Studies and serves as a springboard for further investigation.
Contributor Notes
Simona Di Martino is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto, where she pursues a research project titled “Wonderful Witches (WoW): American Models of Girlhood from Archie Comics to Disney Italia.” Her research explores the impact that American portrayals of girlhood had on Italian popular culture, focusing on the reception of the teenage witch trope from American comics. She examines how characters like Magica De Spell from Disney's Uncle Scrooge comics and Sabrina Spellman from Archie Comics influenced the representation of Italian teenage witches in the W.I.T.C.H. series and the Isa & Bea series.