Cultural Shock And Integration:an Interpretation Of Disney’s Mulan From The Perspective Of Feminism

Mulan is a legendary female image in Chinese traditional culture. The earliest story of Mulan, which is recorded in The Ballad of Mulan in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, promotes China’s traditional thoughts of loyalty and filial piety. For thousands of years, Mulan, as a representative of Chinese Heroine, has become a household image in Chinese people’s eyes. By joining the army to take place of her father and going to the battle for her family and country, Mulan has won great honor and reputation. As a hero of traditional females in the feudal society, Mulan’s image has given a deep impression to people. In1998, Disney’s cartoon Mulan, adapted from Chinese story of Hua Mulan, reshapes a new image of Mulan with feminist spirits. After that a number of Chinese scholars have studied on Disney’s Mulan.By combining elements of Chinese culture and American culture together and integrating the historical background of ancient Chinese works into the animation, Disney film Mulan shows the process of Fa Mulan’s self-realizing. Under the creation of Disney Company, the foreign image of Mulan has retained elements of traditional Chinese culture and also made some transformations. At the same time, Disney’s Mulan has also embedded concept of values of American culture into Chinese culture in order to cater to aesthetic tastes of Chinese and American viewers. Only in this way can the movie Mulan be accepted by people of different cultures. Disney’s Mulan is a product of shock and integration of Chinese and American cultures. It has made the image of Chinese Hua Mulan more vivid, and it is blessed with unique connotation and features.This paper aims to focus on the feminist aspect of Disney’s Mulan by using feminist critical theory. It emphatically analyzes the self-pursuing process of the American Mulan and her new image of fighting against the traditional social restraints. By this, it has showed an image of a heroine who grows from a rebellious little girl gradually to a mature woman under hardships to save the people and the country. Through comparing different images of Chinese and American Mulan separately, this paper highlights the strong feminist spirit of Disney’s Mulan and her courage to fulfill herself. At the same time, by summarizing the main features of Chinese and American cultures respectively from aspects such as collectivism and individualism, feudal thought and feminist thought and so on, this paper further discusses cultural shock and integration of Chinese and American cultures in Disney’s Mulan.The introduction part introduces briefly the traditional Chinese Mulan and the feminist American Mulan. It later summarizes that the film Mulan has brought about an interesting cultural phenomenon. Then it introduces the significance of carrying out the study of Mulan.Chapter one first introduces the image of Chinese Hua Mulan by analyzing her pursuit in loyalty and filial piety. It also points out that the traditional Mulan is regulated by patriarchal society. By studying the image of Chinese Mulan, it then summarizes characteristics of Chinese culture, such as the filial thought, feudal doctrines and concept of collectivism.Chapter two introduces the feminist image of American Mulan by analyzing her pursuit for self-realization and her revolt against patriarchal system. By studying the image of American Mulan, it then summarizes characteristics of American culture, such as the individualist spirit, feminist thought and concept of hero.Chapter three analyzes the cultural shock and integration reflected in Disney’s Mulan. First, it analyzes the cultural shock between Chinese and American cultures. It points out that China and America have distinct concept of values and forms of expression. Then, it summarizes the cultural integration between Chinese and American cultures. The film Mulan has drawn many materials from Chinese culture and it has also retained traditions of Chinese culture.The conclusion part highlights the feminist thought of Mulan and further illustrates cultural exchange between Chinese and American cultures.