China whispers : the symbolic, economic, and political presence of China in contemporary American science fiction film

Longden, KA

Abstract

China has long been present in Western science fiction, but largely through notions of Orientalism
and depictions as the 'Yellow Peril'. However, with China's new ascendancy and modernization over the
last 15 years, along with its investment and collaboration with Hollywood in particular, contemporary film
in general, and contemporary science fiction in particular, has embraced this new China in ways hitherto
unseen before. This essay examines three contemporary western/American science fiction films which
each represent and construct China in slightly different ways, and in ways which reveal the West, and
Hollywood's reappraisal of the relationship with China and its emerging 'Soft Power'.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 16, 2016
• Publication Date: May 18, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 9, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 9, 2021
• Journal: Open Cultural Studies
• Print ISSN: 2451-3474
• Electronic ISSN: 2451-3474
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 151-161
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0014
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0014
• Related Public URLs: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/culture