Which of these is identified by Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart as having been deployed in Walt Disney comic books to propagate imperialist ideology?

Correct option is D

Explanation:
Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, in their seminal work How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic, argue that Disney comics employ infantilisation to perpetuate imperialist ideologies. By presenting characters and narratives in simplistic, childlike ways, the comics mask complex socio-political realities, reinforcing the dominance of capitalist and imperialist systems. The infantilisation reduces global issues to digestible, morally simplistic tales, making them more palatable to readers while subtly embedding dominant ideologies.
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Information Booster:
About the Work: How to Read Donald Duck (1971) is a Marxist critique of Disney comics, analyzing their role in perpetuating cultural imperialism in Latin America.
The authors argue that Disney comics naturalize capitalist exploitation and imperialist ideologies by infantilizing characters and scenarios. The characters are portrayed as lacking agency, which reflects colonial attitudes toward Third World nations.
Infantilisation involves portraying individuals or nations as childlike, dependent, or incapable of self-governance, thereby justifying external control or intervention.
These narratives subtly promote consumerism, hierarchy, and a paternalistic worldview, aligning with imperialist ideologies of the time.

Additional Knowledge:
Impoverishment: While poverty is sometimes depicted, it is not the focus of Dorfman and Mattelart’s critique. The emphasis is on the ideological mechanisms like infantilisation.
Deification: Disney comics rarely deify characters, focusing instead on creating relatable, flawed heroes.
Personification: Although anthropomorphic animals are used, personification is a storytelling tool rather than a mechanism of imperialist ideology.
Legacy of the Critique:
Cultural Imperialism: The work critiques how cultural products like Disney comics reinforce U.S. hegemony in post-colonial contexts.
Global Relevance: The book remains a key text in cultural studies, exploring how media shapes ideological narratives globally.
Resistance: Dorfman and Mattelart’s critique is part of broader post-colonial resistance to cultural domination by Western powers.