功夫熊猫—从符号学视角进行文化分析

1、功夫熊猫从符号学视角进行文化分析kung fu pandaculture analysis fromsemiologique elementsabstract: with the continuing globalization process of the whole world, china, as an ancient country, is experiencing greater strikes in several areas. nowadays, it is impossible to resist the import of foreign cultural products

2、and the only way to solve this problem is to do our best to spread our own splendid tradition and culture, and make the culture communication more balanced. here we will take the movie “kong fu panda” as an example to analyze and study. how could americans make money out of them just by some conduct

3、ion? whats the key point in this movie that get people moved? if it were done by foreigners, could it be totally “chinese” then? which would be the best way of our culture be well received by other culture audiences? these are what im going to study.key words: kung fu panda culture communication sem

4、iologique 摘要：随着全球化在世界持续进行，中国作为一个古老的国家，在许多领域都经历着比以往更大的冲击。当今时代，想要一味抵御异国文化产品是不可能的，解决问题的唯一办法是将我们自己的传统精髓和文化发扬光大，使文化交流趋于平衡。在此我们以电影“功夫熊猫”为例进行分析研究。美国是如何仅通过组织材料就能收入不菲？这部电影让人触动之点何在？如果外国人可以做到，我们可不可以使之“中国化”呢？怎样可以让我们的文化被其他文化背景者轻松接受？这些是本文要着重考虑和解决的。关键词：功夫熊猫；文化；交流；符号学contentsi. definition.1a. introduction of cultur

5、e.1b. introduction of semiology.1c. introduction of the movie.1ii. the aim of this paper1iii. semiologique elements in the movie kung fu panda.2a. the duck2b. master oogway.3c. master shifu.4d. the great five.5e. paul the panda6f. other details.7g. brief summary of semiologique elements function.7iv

6、. popularity analysis.8v. the applying of semiology.8vi. conclusion.8a. people.8b. machine.9c. material.9d. method.9e. environment.9f. others9works cited.10 kung fu pandaculture analysis from semiologique elementsi. definitiona. definition of cultureculture is a system of shared beliefs, values, cus

7、toms, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning. this definition includes not only patterns of behavior but also patterns of thought (shared meanings that the membe

8、rs of a society attach to various phenomena, natural and intellectual, including religion and ideologies), artifacts(tools, pottery, houses, machines, works of art), and the culturally transmitted skills and techniques used to make the artifacts. (definition by daniel bates and fred plog)culture is

9、the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects acquired by a group of people in the course of generations though individual and group striving. (definition by

10、 l. samovar and r. porter)（yan 27）.b. introduction of semiology:semiology is a study about sign、semiosis or sign system.（li 45）.c. introduction of the moviepaul, a big fat panda who lives with his fathera noodle shop owner, always dreams of being a kung fu fighter and wants to see the great five.one

11、 day, master oogway senses that tailang the bad tempered will be back, and planes to choose someone as a “dragon warrior” in order to defeat tailang. all villagers go to look, while paul the fat panda occasionally gets into the place and is pointed the “dragon warrior” by master oogway. experiencing

12、 a lot of embarrassments and hardships, he finally achieves his goal and defeats tailang, bringing peace back to the valley of peace.ii. introduction: the aim of this paperaccording to the statistics, the total box office income of this film has already passed 135 million，becomes the first cartoon t

13、hat go beyond 100 million in mainland china.this is really an interesting phenomenon: kung fu comes from china, panda of course is from china, too, but the movies nationality is america! instead of be rejected, the movie seems more popular, even more chinese than it is made by our chinese. it is so

14、vivid that even my mother, a middle-aged traditional chinese woman, speaks highly of it. so, where are the features and charming points of the movie lie in? on which points do americans do better than we do?in order to solve the problems alike, we had better study some key points such as the functio

15、n of semiologique elements in culture expressing. we study this in order to make out which parts of this movie belong to china, and which parts are more american but could be received by the audiences without question or uncomfortable. iii. semiologique elements in the movie kung fu pandaa. the duck

16、-pauls fatherthe first image of pauls father shown to us is a big fat shadow behind some pots, through which we definitely guess he is a panda, too. but then a duck pokes out his head and talks to paul. well, here is an american style humor: first, according to the shadow, you guess a pandas father

17、would of course be a panda, but then you are proved to be wrong. the shadow of pots (semiologique element) intentionally makes you have the fake opinion, and then shows you the fact another way. but how can a duck be a pandas father? leave it alone, youll find the ducks grand father is a pig! nothin

18、g can be impossible, if it entertains people, why not? american spirit tells you much about this.the entertaining function of american movie is very famous. and the movies always break rules, realize the most impossible things in order to catch peoples eyes and satisfy peoples curiosity. they also u

19、se some repeating actions or words to strengthen certain affects. for example, the ducks innocence and loyalty to his work are expressed by the happy-go-lucky voice and the chopsticks on his hat. there are more than 3 times when pauls father hug paul, at least we believe so, he is actually tie an ap

20、ron to paul-what we believes does not equal to his actual behavior- and it looks funny. if we read it in the semiologique way, tie an apron to paul in fact means expect him to be in such a positiona cook, and reminds us pauls background information. when paul wants to get to the jade palace, the noo

21、dle car is such a heavy load that he couldnt manage, he decide to take off the apron and the hatthis is a sign that he wants the more exciting life other than the way he is nowjust sells noodles, for his dream he would abandon the uniform, and his fathers expectation. so when he lights the chair tie

22、d with firework, his father appears with the apron and hat he abandoned, (we could regard them as a kind of uniform on some level) he is not happy, and when it is said tailang is coming while the scroll is blank, he is again dressed in the apron by his father the moment they greet. he almost turns b

23、lue especially when his father plans to open another restaurant suitable for him, he stands there, unhappy.in contrast, our carton roles are mostly simple, dont have any special clothes or uniform, they always look flat and frank, while nowadays the audiences like something more challengeable.b. mas

24、ter oogway master oogway is the most mysterious character in this movie. the way he appears is very interesting. when master shifu learns that master oogway wants to see him, he appears to be in a hurry. from his appearance we could guess how important master oogway is, and master oogways stillness

25、compares with shifus haste, (another feature our works lacks is the compare between different roles) every sentence master oogway utters seems to be mysterious. all this information suggests that master oogway is a respectful great guy; he knows the rule of the world.the design on his back gives us

26、some special impression. the lines twist like chinese loong which stands for power, elegance and energy. according to a book symbols and their meanings, twisted design in western culture has the meaning of power, too.the walk stick also is a semiological sign. master oogways first appearance is stan

27、ding on the top of the walk stick, and the walk stick was used to defeat tailang; to hold pauls arm in order to show the villagers he is the dragon warrior; it also used to knock the secret peach tree for a peach so as to guide paul, who is disappointed at that moment. it is a tool, but its also a s

28、ign of authority.when master oogway has to leave, he hands the walk stick over to master shifu, which stands for unfinished task and responsibility. master shifu uses it to get the scroll, and when tailang comes, he pick the walk stick up and ask master shifu to use it to get the scroll for him. in

29、this manner, the walk stick acts as a key or a trigger which could link to the legendary scroll. it reminds us of the custom when a new representative is chosen, a talisman will be passed on him, usually a ring, a sword or something similar, and it could be used to get greater power. its really seem

30、s familiar with chinese audiences.and from the semiologique view we may notice another detailmaster oogways voice sounded low and slow, but it reminds us of some positive feature. old stands for experience; low stands for assurance and firmness; slow stands for steadiness and knowledge. even if you

31、keep your eyes closed, you can still get imagine of a wise elder master. thats the magical function of semiologique. his elegant behavior, graceful design on his back, his powerful walk stick or his voice, all these add up to express that master oogway is an experienced, knowledgeable wise man. the

32、different aspects made the character vivid and believable which could leave people a strong and reliable impression.if the editor uses these kinds of sign or semiologique element, then he must expect his audiences to have some knowledge of these signs already, so as to have some resonance. c. master

33、 shifu as for master shifu, there is much to talk about. in chinese movie, master is always a respectful knowledgeable man without any weakness, he always presents as a director and professor, not too much personal feeling should be expressed; he must be the authority and the controller. while in th

34、is movie, master shifu presents with high but limited kung fu skill, he has his likes and bias, he shows his worry and uneasiness before master oogway; he treats paul with dislike and tried to drive him out; he expresses his love and regret before tailang. thats definitely not a chinese style master

35、you can get this idea even at the first sightnone of chinese style master would comb his beard into a braid. he is not to be made a perfect master, but a one who is learning and growing. in front of the great five, as well as paul the panda, he is the director and teacher. but that does not prove th

36、at mentally he is skillful as well. master shifus weakness and unstableness shows without hiding when he faces master oogway. chinese audiences may not get familiar with such kind of arrangement, but we should admit, in this way, the movie seems more reliable and real.in the movie, master shifu does

37、nt believe the dragon warrior would be the “big fat panda” at all though master oogway persuades him, he made himself receive this fact after master oogway had gone and later forces paul to stay and learn, when paul asks him how could he turn this “big fact panda” in to a real dragon warrior, he fra

38、nkly tells paul that he doesnt know. both of them are puzzled and disappointed, but when master shifu finds what could encourage paul to become powerful, he gets the idea and takes action. he trained paul patiently and carefully, but when at last he finds the scroll is blank, he does not waste too m

39、uch time to complain or show his disappointment. he just thinks for a little while, and then asks his students to lead the villagers to safe places and get himself ready to face the feared tailang.the americans made this character a little complexhe has his principle and standard for what might be r

40、ight and available; he has his puzzles; he has his way to take actions and shoulder responsibility, he has his belief and consciousness, in this way, master shifu is created vividly just like our common people.d. the great 51. the tigress tigress must be the major role of the great 5. she has more c

41、onfidence and is eager to shoulder the responsibility, she is not afraid (while on the other hand paul wants to ran away as soon as he hears the new that he is the one to face tailang). in common sense of both home and abroad, tiger is always the king of animals, brave and never afraid of challenges

42、. we chinese accustomed to add a “王” on the forehead of tiger to stress the strength of this animal, while in this movie, the tigress doesnt have a “王” , but a twisted sign on the similar place, which not only presents power, but implies it is a female as well. the tigresss eyes must leave you a ver

43、y strong impressionthey are bright golden and special from all the others eyes, we could read it as energy and spirit in a semiologique way if you agree. golden is positive, while tailangs bright eyes might strike you as greedy and terrible, the different atmosphere is created by the background info

44、rmation, especially the background music.tigress in this movie shows more consideration and acts as a leading one. when master oogway points his finger towards paul, she stands out to ask if it is her; when the news comes that tailang is coming while master oogway is gone, she stand out to ask if sh

45、e could take over this matter; when she sees the quarrel between master shifu and paul, she makes her decision to fight tailang though she doesnt have any idea about the others actual power; when the facts proves that the legendary scroll is blank, she takes the duty to get the villagers to a safe p

46、lace and gives orders to the others. all these actions show her confidence and capability, she is born to be a leader which equals to the common opinion of audiences.2. the viper there are two flowers on the vipers head to show that this is a lady. we read this suggestion as a common sense because f

47、lower always links with something female and gentle. though the viper doesnt have any hands or legs like others, she could express her feeling through her “body language” and her tones of voice, she is created according to snakes featuregentle and considerate, quite but always friendly.3. the mantis

48、 the mantis is the smallest in the great 5, but not less powerful at all. though not so impressive in size, he has his advantage. the most impressive part is he act acupuncture to paul in order to cure him. we know that acupuncture is one of traditional chinese medical methods, use pins to treat dis

49、ease, while mantis has two sharp saw teeth, which seems exactly suitable for this job. shouldnt we clap for this clever idea?4. the crane next lets talk about the crane. the shape of him is so cool with a bamboo hat on his head, the black and white color on his wings look like a traditional chinese

50、picture, seems mysterious and brief. the most attractive parts are as follows.first, when the crane pk the panda, after win paul the panda, the cranes eyes blink under the bamboo hat, its so cool a scene.second, when paul breaks into the cranes room accidentally, he doesnt want paul to be there, but

51、 he doesnt express it openly so as to avoid embarrassment of paul. he just says: “you dont belong here, i mean this room, you know, this is cranes property.” he acts according to chinese traditional manner, while paul expresses whatever he feels and says whatever he thinkswe can say paul is more ame

52、rican in contrast.third, when the mantis acts acupuncture to paul, we can see the crane who is writing chinese character gets a startle in heard of pauls cry and ruins the writing. in a semiologique way, we can easily link the crane to chinese character from several sides. first, the cranes white an

53、d black color looks similar with chinese character; second, the cranes politeness and graceful behaviors look like the sense of chinese character; third, the imagine of the long neck and legs, the broad wings of the crane, when he moves, looks just like a nice chinese character . 5. the monkeyif you

54、 know the voice of the monkey comes from jackie chan, you may also notice how many details have been added in order to make it a success. the monkey doesnt have many chances to show his excellence, but jackie chans voice lights up the role. because his movies always leave us an impression of brillia

55、nt skills and wonderful humor, the audiences are very familiar with his style as well as his voice. it is a clever semiologique way to transfer imagine of jackie chan to the monkey, isnt it?e. paul the pandathe easiest way to judge paul the pandas nationality is from his eyes. you know, none of real

56、 pandas eyes could be green, so, paul of course has an “american view”.in most peoples eyes, panda is lovely and cute, gentle and quite. but in this movie, paul is designed to have strong desire of learning kung fu, a little hypocritical when master shifu asks him to show his kung fu; always talkati

57、ve and dare to argue with his master. he thinks in an american way: nothing can be impossible if you work hard. when the great five were defeated by tailang, he shows his fear frankly and implies “if one does not have the capability, avoid the matter would be a wiser choice”. american style individualism.from the sides above, we could sense that though paul has a body of chinese panda, he is ame