从迪士尼动画《花木兰》看中西文化差异Chinese and American Cultural Differences Seen from the Disney Movie Mulan
从迪士尼动画《花木兰》看中西文化差异
Chinese and American Cultural
Differences
Seen from the Disney Movie Mulan
第 1 页共 13 页
Chinese and American Cultural Differences Seen from the Disney Movie Mulan
Abstract: Movie, as a form of art, embodying abundant cultural elements, goes
beyond pure entertainment and profit. The culture of a nation can be  portrayed vividly in its movie. In the year 1998, Chinese popular ballad
The Mulan Ballad was shot by American Disney Company as a cartoon  Mulan, which gained great suc
cess in the world. Although the movie was
taken from Chinese ancient story, it was tinted with American culture.
Taking American Disney Movie Mulan as an object of research, this paper
intends to compare Chinese and American cultural differences from three
aspects, tradition vs. freedom, family priority vs. individual priority and
gender discrimination vs. feminism. Meanwhile, it is hoped that it may
arouse people?s cultural sensitivity and enrich their knowledge of other
cultures when they enjoy movies, which would ensure the effectiveness of
intercultural communication.
Key words: The Mulan Ballad; Disney Mulan; Chinese and American cultural
differences
摘要: 电影，作为一种艺术形式，并不是一种纯娱乐、纯商业的行为，其内包含了丰富的
文化内容。一个国家、一个民族的文化都可以在它的电影中得到淋漓尽致的体现。
1998年，美国迪士尼公司制作发行动画片《木兰》，用美国人的眼光审视了这个古
老的东方故事，以美国人的文化取向对中国乐府诗《木兰辞》原有的精神内核进行
了文化转移，并在全球赢得票房佳绩。本文以动画片《木兰》为研究对象，拟从三
个角度，即传统与自由，家族至上与个人至上，“男尊女卑”等级思想与女权
主义
思想等，对比分析电影中体现出来的中美文化差异。同时，试图激发人们欣赏
中美文化差异
电影
时的文化敏感度，增强人们对异文化的认识与了解，从而保障跨文化交际能够
有效
进行。
关键词:《木兰辞》；迪士尼《木兰》；中美文化差异
第 2 页共 13 页
Chinese and American Cultural Differences Seen from the Disney Movie Mulan
Contents
I. 1 II. Literature Review (2)
A. Hua Mulan in Chinese folk
tale (2)
B. Hua Mulan in The Women Warrior and Disney Movie Mulan (3)
III. Culture and Film (4)
A. Definition of culture (4)
B. The rel ationship between culture and film………………………….5 ?. Comparative Analysis of Chinese and American Cultural
Differences Reflected from the Disney Movie Mulan (5)
A. Tradition vs. freedom (5)
B. Family priority vs. individual priority (7)
C. Gender discrimination vs. 9 ?. 12 Works Cited (13)
第 3 页共 13 页
Chinese and American Cultural Differences Seen from the Disney Movie Mulan
I. Introduction
With the development of globalization, intercultural contact is becoming increasingly axiomatic and pervasive; however, the values and behaviors of a particular culture may not be understandable or
acceptable in another culture. Taken from the ancient Chinese story, Disney movie Mulan just vividly presents Chinese and
American cultural differences through revealing the different
cultural values of western and eastern countries.
As a famous legendary woman in Chinese history, Hua Mulan was portrayed in a variety of genres such as folk songs, dramas and novels
by Chinese scholars in different times. They rooted in Chinese Confucian culture and molded the figure with “Loyalty and Filial Piety” as basis. In addition, these scholars also showed the
distinctive cultural appearances of their times.
To this day, Maxine Hong Kingston, an American nationality person of Chinese descent writer created The Women Warrior in which she added a multitude of Chinese
and western cultural components to the traditional verse of The
Mulan Ballad and
revealed us a figure of strong character and a woman who was brave
to pursue individual freedom. In 1998, a Disney animated film Mulan attracted attention from
all over the world, wining not only a list of awards and nominations, but also huge economic rewards. Disney fashioned the girl from the 2000-year-old Chinese folktale, full of typical Disney delights—breathtaking visuals, catchy songs and an
inspirational protagonist of courage and conviction. This movie examined the oriental story with the eye of American and carried out cultural shifts toward the original spiritual core of The Mulan Ballad with their American cultural orientation. Based
upon different cultural values, the original story of Mulan in China emphasized her absolute filial piety and loyalty while Disney had changed the story of filial piety into a story of self-realization.
This paper intends to take American Disney Movie Mulan as an object
of
research, revealing some different cultural values possessed by Chinese and American people that a
re reflected in the movie, which may help people better understand some adaptations of Chinese traditional culture in Mulan. Meanwhile, it is hoped that it may
arouse people?s cultural sensitivity and enrich their knowledge of other cultures when