International Communication Studies in Literature and Art

ICSLA, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2025, pp.284-294.

Print ISSN: 3079-2711; Online ISSN: 3104-5081

Journal homepage: https://www.icslajournal.com

DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/ICSLA.25.2.11

The Revelation of the “Dual Other” under the Cross-Cultural and Gendered Gaze: A Review of A Study on the Image of China in American Films and Its Influence's Examination and Reflection on the Images of Chinese Women in American Cinema

Wang Shan，Lu Liying

Abstract: The book A Study on the Image of China in American Films and Its Influence (Zhou Wenping, 2015) systematically analyzes the image of China in Hollywood films while also dissecting the construction of Chinese female images within them and their cultural significance. It argues that American films have long constructed the image of Chinese women through “stereotypical images” (such as the “Dragon Lady” and the “Lotus Flower”). These Chinese female characters possess a dual “Otherness” attribute—they are simultaneously symbols of Eastern culture under the Western gaze and objects of desire within gendered power relations. This type of stereotypical narrative has also led to the phenomenon of “self-orientalization” in Chinese cinema. The proposition of “stereotypical images” falsifies the “progressive narrative” of female images crafted by the West, revealing that the underlying ideology is one of power dominance and contestation. The perspective on the construction of Chinese female images as “Otherized” exposes American Orientalism and the predicament of Chinese women—and China at large—being rendered voiceless and powerless. Finally, the critique regarding Chinese cinema’s embarkation on a path of “self-orientalization” sheds light on how the shaping of China’s screen image has long been trapped in a dual cultural cage: external Otherizing imagination and an internal impulse for self-colonization.

Keywords: Image of Chinese Women; Orientalism; Stereotypical Images; Other

Author Biography: Wang Shan, Master’s candidate at the School of Journalism and Communication, Guangzhou University. Research interests: Theatre and Film Studies. Email: 15007355932@163.com. Lu Liying, Corresponding Author, Master’s candidate at the School of Journalism and Communication, Guangzhou University. Research interests: Theatre and Film Studies. Email: 2663435532@qq.com.

标题：跨文化与性别凝视下的“双重他者”揭示——评《美国电影里的中国形象及其影响研究》对美国电影中国女性形象的审视与反思

摘要：《美国电影里的中国形象及其影响研究》一书在系统分析好莱坞电影中国形象的同时也剖析了其中中国女性形象的塑造及其文化意涵（周文萍，2015）。论述了美国电影长期通过“定型化形象”（如“龙女”与“莲花”）建构中国女性形象，中国女性形象具有双重“他者”属性——既是西方凝视下的东方文化符号，也是性别权力关系中的欲望客体。这类刻板的定型化形象叙事也导致了中国电影的“自我东方化”现象。“定型化形象”的提出证伪了西方所塑造女性形象的“进步叙事”、揭示出其背后的意识形态是权力的支配与博弈；对中国女性形象“他者化”的构建的观点则是揭示了美国的东方主义与中国女性乃至中国失语失权的处境；最后批判性提出了中国电影走上“自我东方化”道路的观点，则透视了中国银幕形象的塑造长期受困于双重文化囚笼——外部的他者化想象与内部的自我殖民冲动。

关键词：中国女性形象；东方主义；定型化形象：他者

作者简介：王珊，广州大学新闻与传播学院硕士研究生，研究方向：戏剧与影视学研究。电邮：15007355932@163.com。路丽影，通讯作者，广州大学新闻与传播学院硕士研究生，研究方向：戏剧与影视学研究。电邮：2663435532@qq.com。

Received: 01 Apr 2025 / Revised: 03 Apr 2025 / Accepted: 06 Nov 2025 / Published online: 30 Nov 2025 / Print published: 30 Dec 2025.