Abstract

China and America are two of the major powers in the world, so the relationship between these two nations has a major effect on world stability and peace. While films, as the symbol of national culture and carrier of civilization, reflect changes of international relationship. This paper explores the changes of Chinese image in American films in the following four periods: the early years, the Anti-Japanese War period, the Cold War period, and decades after the Cold War. It also explored the reasons behind these changes of appearance and personality from the perspectives of politics, economy and culture. At the same time, this article also noted that these films, as propaganda machine, output American ideology and values. Views on how to use this tool to improve cultural soft power and the image of our country are also put forward in this paper. 

Keywords: Sino-U.S. relationship; American films; image of Chinese characters; changes of image

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

3. Four Periods of Chinese Images in American Films-3

3.1 Early American films-3

3.2 The anti-Japanese war period-5

3.3 The cold-war period-7

3.4 The post-cold war period-8

4. Change of Chinese Images in American Films-11

4.1 Changes of appearance-11

4.2 Changes of personality-12

5. Reasons for Image Change of Chinese Characters-13

5.1 Political reasons-14

5.2 Economic reasons-15

5.3 Cultural reasons-16

6. Conclusion-18

Works Cited-19