Cartoon images as a means of national and cultural self-identification in Modern China

У Ц.

doi:10.7256/2454-0757.2022.8.38490

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Philosophy and Culture

Reference:

Wu Z. Cartoon images as a means of national and cultural self-identification in Modern China // Philosophy and Culture. 2022. № 8. P. 65-76. DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2022.8.38490 EDN: YJRIOQ URL: https://en.nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=38490

Cartoon images as a means of national and cultural self-identification in Modern China

U Zijian

Postgraduate student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University

191186, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, ul. Nab. R. Moiki, 48, korp. 6, kab. 51

rodger83@list.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0757.2022.8.38490

EDN:

YJRIOQ

Received:

21-07-2022

Published:

03-09-2022

Abstract: Chinese animation of the beginning of the XXI century shows significant progress. A number of cartoons and animated series have been released. The hypothesis of the study is that their imagery, plots, and artistic features differ from foreign cartoons and gradually acquire a national identity. This process began in the 2000s, and its pace is only increasing, while it arouses interest from foreign studies, including Russian ones. The typological analysis of the images of the characters of famous Chinese cartoons created at the beginning of the XXI century, as well as the analysis of stylistic and artistic features used by the authors to convey the uniqueness of the character, as well as to emphasize its belonging to Chinese culture, is the main problem of the article. The purpose of this research is to study the specifics of modern Chinese cartoon characters, to identify the features of the development process and the formation of their individual traits in accordance with national characteristics. Chinese animators tend to use the language of traditional art, attributes and symbols characteristic of the national culture. An appeal to the analysis of modern cartoon pictures allows us to highlight the main features of animated characters "with Chinese specifics". In addition, it is of interest to compare the features of the formation of images associated with China in foreign animated films and the characteristic features of characters appearing in the works of modern Chinese animators.

Keywords:

cartoon, chinese animation, cartoon image, the cartoonist, chinese painting, design in animation, chinese art, artistic image, cartoon character, character arc
This article is automatically translated.

At the beginning of the XXI century, using the example of animation in China, one can trace the gradual development of long-standing traditions within the framework of new technologies and in accordance with global trends. Chinese animators often turn to already filmed stories and legends, but revise the plot and update the characters' images. However, an important point and a requirement of state policy is the "nationalization" of art. Animators saturate their works with colors, lines, shapes, symbols characteristic of Chinese painting. The characters' form is eclectic, using various drawing styles and focusing on national traditions of painting, sculpture, architecture, costumes and even ethnic folk arts such as opera, folk music, collage, shadow dolls and Christmas pictures, which provide inexhaustible artistic material for various cartoons. Cartoon images are also born from Chinese paintings on scrolls, murals and frescoes of temple walls, and the gestures of the characters and the design are often taken from Chinese operas, and the faces may resemble masks from them. The "arches" of such characters are fueled by national philosophy and mythology. This is not surprising, since most modern Chinese cartoons are based on historical events and very few are adaptations of comics, games and novels. In many ways, the work of Chinese animators in the last twenty years has made it possible to change the images of Chinese characters in the foreign cartoon industry.

References

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First Peer Review

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The name is unsuccessful due to discord (a combination of 4 words in a row in the genitive case), as well as in meaning (studying is just a process, I would like to ask the author: what is the problem of research?) it significantly reduces the overall positive impression of the article, or rather, it can reduce it if the content also indicates difficulties that the author already had at the very beginning when formulating the title. Meanwhile, in reality, the theme of cartoons is quite curious, not only "art criticism", but also interdisciplinary, and materials on this topic are not so common. From this point of view, the author of the article has an undeniable advantage. However, to complete the picture, you should refer to the content of the presented work. Here, first of all, we can draw attention to the fact that the author structured his material, titled the structural parts, accompanied the material with illustrative material, which can also be considered a good moment. But as for the essence of the author's concept, there are a number of nuances that do not yet allow us to recognize this work as sound. First of all, the author does not follow the general rules of writing an article: the so-called scientific apparatus must necessarily take its place in it, it is necessary to justify the relevance of the problem (in my opinion, it is still not obvious here), formulate a scientific problem (judging by the title, the author may have serious problems in this, because the title should to reflect the problematic aspect of the research), to determine the goal, to choose a methodology adequate to the purpose and objectives of the research, and finally, to analyze the relevant scientific discourse on the topic, thus showing that the author has sufficient knowledge of scientific information and will probably be able to fit his approach into the context already available on this or related issues. Only after these attributes should you proceed directly to the description of the course of the study and the main results. It is also necessary to clarify the terminology used, for example, to define a keyframe, "keyframe development", heuristic thinking, etc. It is also necessary to determine which cartoons are being analyzed, within the framework of which methodology the analysis was carried out, what exactly is the need for such a choice, etc. In this case, the article will acquire the analytical warehouse so necessary for any scientific publication. So far, without taking into account these aspects, the article does not look complete and, moreover, has a pronounced descriptive – not analytical – character. The author has serious work to do to correct the text of the article, because so far there are more questions and complaints about the author than we can get answers to them. The analysis of cartoon images seems curious, but, unfortunately, the author does not explain within the framework of which methodology this analysis is conducted, and therefore the generalizations look poorly verifiable, rather resemble the subjective interpretation of the researcher himself, which is clearly not enough for serious generalizations. The author relies on Chinese cartoons in his work, he is certainly free to choose the subject area of his research, but nevertheless it remains unclear what this choice is related to, wouldn't it be better, for example, to turn to our domestic cartoon tradition (or innovation)? There is only a mention of "Hedgehog in the fog", but I think this is an accidental episode, since I did not see the consistency of the analysis. It is necessary to clearly determine which films are taken for analysis, what features they should have and, thus, meet certain criteria for analysis (such criteria are not highlighted, the analysis itself has, as already mentioned, subjective connotations). Based on the above, the article has the potential for improvement, but the author should carefully consider the comments made.

Second Peer Review

The subject of the study, the specifics of modern Chinese animated anthropomorphic characters, is considered in the aspects of animation technologies of Chinese animators of the early 21st century, including the traditions of Chinese animation laid down in the second half of the 20th century. The author emphasized the core of the formation of the Chinese animation tradition — the desire to overcome the established cliches and stereotypes in the dominant animation industries of Japan and Hollywood in Southeast Asia. Just as Soviet animation in the 1950s and 1960s, in order to overcome dependence on Hollywood stamps, turns to the representation of the achievements of Russian culture under the pressure of the doctrine of nationalization of art, the identity of Chinese animation develops in the wake of the representation of elements of Chinese national culture that were not reflected in cartoons by Japanese and Hollywood producers. Based on the analysis of empirical material, the author traces how the vivid decisions of Chinese animators influenced the transformation of Chinese images in the leading cartoon industries, which significantly expanded the scope of representation of Chinese identity. At the same time, the author traces the technological influence of leading industries on the modernization of the techniques of Chinese animators. As a result, the subject of the study is revealed with a sufficient degree of certainty on the example of images of male and female traditional Chinese characters. This allowed the author to assert that the example of animation in China at the beginning of the XXI century traces the development of traditions of national animation schools using new technologies and in accordance with global trends. It should be noted that cartoon images as a means of national and cultural self-identification in modern China are comprehensively considered on the example of individual male and female anthropomorphic characters. The research methodology is based on a typological analysis of the images of the characters of famous Chinese cartoons created at the beginning of the XXI century, including an analysis of stylistic and artistic features that convey the originality of the character and his belonging to Chinese culture. Comparing the stamps of the schematic reflection of elements of Chinese culture in foreign cartoons with the peculiarities of image construction by Chinese animators allowed the author to trace the influence of Chinese animation on the transformation of Chinese images in the leading cartoon industries towards expanding the representativeness of Chinese culture. The relevance of the topic of the article, the problems and the tasks solved within the framework of the study, is well justified by the author and is anchored by the general research program. Due to the strict methodological organization of the research, the author leads the reader to a fundamental level of generalizations about the significant potential of cultural heritage as a resource of "soft power". Of course, the aspect of the study chosen by the author is extremely relevant both in terms of expanding ideas about Chinese culture and in the context of the search for modern Russian animation of its own place. The scientific novelty of the work is beyond doubt. The author analyzes the empirical material in detail thanks to an authorized (original) set of methodological techniques and demonstrates how the results of special narrowly disciplinary techniques can be used as a base for interdisciplinary generalizations. The style of the article is generally scientific, the author's language is professional. The absence of abbreviations of years and centuries accepted in the scientific style does not affect the quality of the work as a whole and can be considered a minor violation of the style. The structure of the article is subordinated to the logic of presenting the results of scientific research. No errors or typos were found in the text content. The bibliography sufficiently reveals the subject area of the study. However, it does not always correspond to the GOST accepted by the editorial board. When finalizing, the author should pay attention that in the accepted GUEST, the description areas are separated either by a dot and a dash (for example: "... // Labyrinth. Theory and practice of culture. – 2022. – No. 2. – pp. 82-88."), or only with a dot (for example: "... // Labyrinth. Theory and practice of culture. 2022. No. 2. pp. 82-88.), the comma does not apply. The appeal to the opponents is correct. The author uses the work of colleagues to fund methodological tools and substantiate the relevance of the research topic, relying further on the analysis of empirical material. The article is of great interest to the readership of the journal "Philosophy and Culture" and, despite minor remarks (1) the absence of abbreviations of years and centuries, 2) non-compliance with GOST in the description of sources), can be published.

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Cartoon images as a means of national and cultural self-identification in Modern China