China’s Image In American Films In The First Half Of The 20th Century

Since the 20th century, the United States rose rapidly, surpassed other traditional western powers in aspects like economy, politics, military affairs and culture, and became the dominant country in the west. It also became the leading country to shape China’s image. Film was the most important field for the United States to shape China’s image. American cultural concept was lurked in China’s image in American films, which could deeply influence the perception and attitude of the west and even the entire world on China.Based on the theoretical assumption that "foreign culture acts as cultural ’otherness’ ",this paper draws lessons from theoretical resources such as post-colonialism, comparative literature imagologie, cross-cultural imagologie and cultural study and carries out studies on China’s image in American films in the first half of the 20th century. Through the multi-level analysis on classic film texts, it finds out the universal, stable and continuous characteristics and stylization that were formed by American films in the process of shaping China’s image and reveals the power relations and ideological discourse hidden behind the image.The emergence, development and variation of China’s image in American films are inseparable from the context of China’s image in the eyes of the western world. Historically, China presented a variety of faces under the image construction by western culture. On the whole, China’s image in the west can be divided into three types consisting of a good positive image, a foolish negative image and a plain image. Whatever the type of image is, they are images of cultural "otherness" constructed by self-centeredness and embody the western identity and maintenance of self. The Chinese-image shaping history of American films can be roughly divided into four stages including silent film era, film industry era, the antagonism period during the Cold War and open communication period. China’s image in each stage shows different features in structure, style and content but there always exist many rigid ideas and categorized stories as well as characters created by these ideas. American films have shifted the whole world into supermarket with its powerful capital and advanced technologies. While watching and experiencing films, the audience can accept and consolidate the values behind China’s image.The image of Fu Manchu, the image of Charlie Chan and China’s image in The Good Earth were the most important representatives of China’s image in American films in the first half the 20th century. They represented the will of the American mainstream ideology and its attitude toward China to a certain extent. The analysis and combing the characteristics of these three typical images as well as the track of their formation, development and vanishing are of great significance to the comprehensive and profound understanding of China’s image in American films.Fu Manchu was a Chinese image in the novel of British writer Sax Rohmer. Once a series of novels about him was published, they were introduced to the United States and were made into more than ten films by Hollywood. Fu Manchu was the embodiment of "yellow peril" and was a frightening oriental devil. The satanic Chinese image represented by him came and went on American screen at different times and became a generally-accepted stereotyped bias; Charlie Chan was a Chinese image depicted by the novel of American writer Earl Derr Biggers. There were merely six series of his novels about Charlie Chan, but they were successively adapted into 47 films. The appearance of the image of "model minority" Charlie Chan marked the bettering of China’s image in American films in the 1920s. The image of Charlie Chan was a cultural allegory, reflected American enthusiasm for China and the whites’ assimilation and identification of ethnic minorities after the First World War and inevitably had the trace of racial prejudice and cultural discrimination; the film The Good Earth focused its camera on the Chinese mainland and shaped the rural and idyllic Chinese image with the technique of line drawing. It changed the uglified, fuzzy and visional Chinese image in early American films and was an important and serious attempt of Hollywood in shaping China’s image.China’s image in American films is not single, static and changeless, but presents abundant forms with changes of the times. Cultural differences, era context and features of media are the main factors affecting China’s image. China is the "otherness" of the United States and China’s image in American films is the "otherness" discourse constructed by American culture. For the correct understanding of China’s image in American films, firstly we shall make clear of the essence of China’s image and have insight into the ideological tendency in it. Secondly we shall complete self-knowledge and self improvement in the gaze of "otherness".In the process of globalization, different countries are gradually integrated in the tension of conflict and competition. For the study of China’s image in American films, we shall not only realize the existence of boundaries and differences between China and the United States, but also realize the interactive relationship between cultures and emphasize necessity of cross-cultural space and cultural exchanges. Only in this way, we can jump out of the bondage of dual-opposition thinking mode, dispel the narrow prejudices of nationalism and statism, reduce misunderstandings and conflicts and attain the inter-cultural fusion and communication.