Hybridization of the Cultural Identity in Disney’s Mulan

Abstract

Hybridization has become a fluid notion due to its association with ideas and themes that were once mutual contradicting but have now become mutual celebrated. However, such changes are inevitable as the trend of globalization continuously generates new transnational cultural elements. This study will examine the hybrid cultural identity in Disney’s animated film Mulan (1998) which was adapted from The Ballad of Mulan, a folktale that originated from China. Specifically, it focuses on the cultural identity of Disney’s Mulan and explores how it is reconstructed as a transnational culture which flowed from China to America. This phenomenon, to some extent, implies the West’s increasing acceptance of cultural productions from Asian countries. The paper employs Daphne A. Jameson’s analytic model of cultural identity consisting of vocation, class, geography, philosophy, language, and biological components which seek to examine the emergence of mixed and relational and hybrid cultural identities. Through this study, the paper aims to discuss how the process of hybridization brings the character’s cultural identity in the original folklore to an international audience and how this facilitates cultural exchange and growth. The findings show that hybridization in cultural identity presents a tension between cultural Americanization and orientalization as well as modernity and tradition, which ultimately leads to a transferable cultural identity. The study is significant in elevating the status of Chinese folktales and highlighting cultural hybridity as a mediating factor in the growing trend of cultural globalization.

Revisiting Colonial Encounters in Maitreyi Devi’s It Does Not Die: A Romance: A Postcolonial Perspective

“…The study focuses on how inclusionary and exclusionary processes take place in the colonial encounters and serve as the primary soil from where colonizers/colonized relationships sprout and ultimately blossom as hybrid interactions. Because, within the scope of cultural studies, “hybridization refers to the fusion of diverse cultural elements or forms which ultimately generates new cultural forms yet are inter-connected with one another” (Meijuan et al, 2020, p. 28). Indeed, postcolonial theory put forward the idea that the study of omitted practices and silenced voices is invariably fragmented and scattered over distinct periods of colonial rule in India and the same has been validated particularly in Devi’s novel.…”

“…In the view of Camilleri and Kapsali (2020), hybridity refers to the mixture and fusion of species, races, plants or cultures (p. 1). For Meijuan et al (2020), the notion of hybridization is considered ''an effective tool that can enhance cultural vitality and facilitate the development of literary works' ' (p. 27). From this viewpoint, crosscultural fusion is reinforced in the process of hybridization.…”

The Role of Cultural Proximity on Preference of Chinese Malaysians in Chinese Film

“…Overseas Chinese from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan constitute a diverse audience for transnational media (Carstens, 2003). To satisfy the needs of a global audience separated by cultural barriers and geographical borders, there has been a surge in needs for cultural products, especially from China (Zhao & Ang, 2020). According to the Current Population Estimates of Malaysia (Department of Statistics Malaysia [DOSM], 2020), the number of Chinese Malaysians accounted for 22.6% of the total population of Malaysia.…”