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Understanding local reception of globalized cultural products in the context of the international cultural economy

A case study on the reception of Hero and Daggers in China

School of Communication at Northwestern University, vivtwa{at}gmail.com

The populist-oriented Hollywood blockbuster movies that tend to target the lowest common denominator are often accused by Chinese intellectuals of being culturally debilitating. Yet China's nationwide debate revolving around two recent technocratic, spectacle-driven domestic blockbusters by its renowned film director Zhang Yimou, Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004), and their flamboyant marketing have demonstrated Hollywood's broader and more systemic impact on China's film style, marketing practice and media culture, which are increasingly in line with the unified global standard set by Hollywood and marked by relentless commercialism. By studying the two movies' reception in China, this article discusses how a national culture receives globalized versions of its own traditions, the role of Hollywood, and the implications for international cultural exchange and national identity in the context of the international cultural economy.

Key Words: China • cinema • Daggers • global • Hero • Hollywood • identity • reception

International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 12, No. 4, 299-318 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1367877909104240


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