Open Access“Man-as-Nation”: Representations of Masculinity and Nationalism in Wu Jing’sWolf Warrior II
Author(s) -
Tingting Hu,
Tianru Guan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sage open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.357
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2158-2440
DOI - 10.1177/21582440211033557
Subject(s) - masculinity , nationalism , ideology , gender studies , pride , sociology , china , framing (construction) , virtue , aesthetics , martial arts , power (physics) , literature , history , politics , law , art , political science , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics
Through an in-depth analysis of gender representation in the box office record-breaking Chinese movie Wolf Warrior II, this study interrogates how the male body is used as a site for the projection of Chinese national power. Furthermore, it illustrates a revival of patriotic pride in China through a contemporary reading of cross-genre action-military films. Developing Shuqin Cui’s notion of “woman-as-nation,” which understands on-screen female victimization in Chinese films as signifying the past suffering of the nation, this study proposes the new concept of “man-as-nation” to explain how the masculine virtues of male protagonists in Chinese films signify the nation’s rejuvenation and strength. Framing male virtue into the paradigms of wu (武), as martial valor, and wen (文), as cultural attainment, this article argues that masculinity has come to symbolize China’s enhanced comprehensive power and to embody its ideological orientation in both global and domestic domains.