A Contrastive Analysis of the Image of Female Daimon in Chinese and American Cartoons

卢国荣 张哲慧

【Abstract】Mencius， the sage of Confucianism in ancient China， advocated the theory “men are born good”; while Western Christian advocated “original sin”; Mao Zedong said， “The laws of nature are ruthless， its constantly changing”. This article is not discussing which viewpoint is correct， but using these three points to illustrate： the world is changeable， whether people are born “good” or “evil”， they will consciously or unconsciously integrate into the times， participate in social activities and undergo many changes in their growth. Therefore， just as drama is to fiction， cartoon， as an art of film and television， reflects life on the screen， often criticizes current disadvantages， leaving a meaningful aftertaste to the audience， and also brings enlightenment to childrens recognition of the world. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the images of female daimon in Chinese and American cartoons. On the one hand， to promotes cultural exchanges between China and the U.S.， so as to enhance the influence of Chinese film and television creation; on the other hand， to have a positive effect on childrens entry into the world.

【Key words】Chinese and American cartoons; female daimon; culture; education

【作者簡介】卢国荣（1971.06-），女，汉族，内蒙古赤峰人，内蒙古民族大学，教授，博士，研究方向：英语文学、比较文学、英语教学;张哲慧（1996.12-），女，蒙古族，吉林梨树人，内蒙古民族大学硕士研究生在读，研究方向：跨语言文化研究、玛雅与蒙古族神话比较研究。

Introduction

The villain is a kind of heresy that goes against the rules and breaks the rules in a system with independent basic order and code of conduct. According to Eugene A. Nida， culture is defined succinctly as the totality of beliefs and practices of a society. Thus system， rule， order and code of conduct are all symbols of culture. There is no doubt that the study of villain is the study of culture. For cartoons， the villain is a key element in strengthening the tension of the work and promoting the development of the plot. The images of female daimon， having their own traits， qualities， characteristics and power， especially draw peoples attention. Creators are devoting more and more attention to the role， and their shaping is more deep-going and detail-focused. Hence， three-phase patterns are to be singled out for a case study in order to shed light upon some facts and conclusions. The first stage is the vision images of female daimon via the multimodality theory， the representation of makeup， costume， intonation and body language; the second stage is the culture images of female daimon through the exploration of archetype and symbolic meaning; the third stage is corresponding references and enlightenment from two aspects of modern studio art and audience. By comparing similarities and differences， to learn from each other， enhance the competitiveness of Chinas cartoon industry， improve cultural self-confidence and bring enlightenment to childrens recognition of the world.

1. The vision images of female daimon

Chinese cartoon has a history of 92 years since its creation. It has become an important part of Chinese cultural industry. In the history of the cartoon industry， the United States is in the  leading position， both animated movies and animated TV series are successful at the box office. Here， multimodality is used to discuss the following issues. Multimodality， springing up in the field of linguistics， is a relatively cutting-edge theory. It extends the single and rigid traditional textual thinking to vision， hearing， touch， taste and more detailed multimodal construction. Movies， operas and crosstalk are all multimodality discourses.

1.1. Contrast of makeup and costume

There are many classic characters in American cartoons， Ursula in The Little Mermaid， Cruella in 101 Dalmatians， the evil Queen in Snow White， Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty， Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone， the stepmother in Cinderella， the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland， Medusa in the Rescuers and the like. Highlighted they are made by heavy makeup and fancy dress： blue， green， orange or purple eye shadow， bright red lip...In fact they are， either too fat or too skinny， devoid of beauty， and the whole makeup and costume give added weigh to their ugly and facetiousness. Some are image of witch， old and carrying a broom and a black cape...In Chinese cartoons， they do have these distorted and ugly female daimon， such as Shi Ji in Ne Zha Chuan Qi and Jin She in Hu Lu Wa. However， most female daimon are characterized as young women， frail， delicate and tender， with no heavy makeups. Unlike American female daimon who directly show people their real image and magic， they turned themselves into beautiful and seductive girls， or possess beautiful common peoples bodies， then seduce and deceive others and finally take advantage of them， even murder them. Some even pretend to be elderly people， earn others sympathy. Such cases happen in Xi You Ji and Feng Shen Bang.

1.2 Contrast of intonation and body language

English is not a tone language. The tone of a syllable in English cant change the meaning of a word in any way. Languages like Chinese are known as tone language. Thus English involves the occurrence of recurring fall-rise patterns; while the tone of Chinese is plain. In American cartoons， people are always attracted to its excellent and vivid scene. Actually， the intonation plays an essential role. Female daimon speak in high-pitched voice， and give out howls of laughter when successful， or furious exasperation， cursing， and gnashing of teeth when unsuccessful. Some fly on their broomsticks， cast a spell and wave magic wands in their hands; some are equipped with haughty eyes， scornful nostril， and despite smiling. She usually give elegant violence and intimidation with just a glimpse， a wave of hand and a wretched excuse which is falsely true. In Chinese cartoons， dubbing is different from tone in daily life. It is similar with American cartoons， applying different voice and intonation in accordance with different characters. For example， female daimon with sinister and ugly face also act the same as those in American cartons; while those with gorgeous young appearance usually speak in a low voice and a gentle way， using eyes to convey love and emotion， hands to veil their shyness and dance to show their beauty.

2. The culture images of female daimon

Culture is a social phenomenon and a product created by people for a long time. At the same time， it is also a historical phenomenon and a product of social history. To be exact， culture refers to the history， geography， traditional customs， lifestyle， literature and art， behavioral norms， ways of thinking and values of a country or a nation. Hence， the cultural differences between China and America can also cause the differences in cartoon creation.

2.1 Contrast of archetype

Americans believe in Christianity; as an immigrant country， the United States lacks native culture， but in the process of its development， it can integrate other cultures， making its own culture of open， diverse and comprehensive， which is also reflected in the cartoon productions. So their cartoons to some extent reflect the spirit of Bible and ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Besides， Early America suffered from oppression from the Old World. In order to get rid of autocratic rule and bondage and seek freedom， they fought unremittingly and succeeded in creating their own happy life. So the some of the female daimon are real persons. Due to their hate towards the Old World， they usually uglify the images. China， with vast territory， abundant products， obvious regional characteristics and differences of folk customs， plants， animals and climate， possesses the natural advantages and unique conditions for literary creation. For example， almost every female daimon are from the image of cultural world than real person， like snakes， scorpions， spiders， willow， stone， etc. Thats why they do not show people their real image; Shen Kuo， a scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty， around as early as 3000 years ago， described the mirage in Mengxi Bi Tan， providing resourceful materials for Chinese to create fictions， which are adapted to cartoon nowadays. In fact， mirage is a phantom formed by refraction of light rays in gas layers with different vertical densities. Since ancient times， the concept of hierarchy has been deeply rooted in China. The feudal society emphasized the concepts of “three principles and five permanents” and “men are superior to women”. In the whole feudal society of China， women were regarded as accessories of the patriarchal society， and they hardly had any social status. So female are more often described as daimon who are harmful to society and also beautiful and frail so as to win males “sympathy” and “protection”.

2.2 Contrast of symbolic meaning

It is not difficult to see that American cartoons depict the female daimon more directly. The evil person is the evil person， you can see through her at a glance. Chinese cartoons express that “it is difficult for a painter to draw a tigers bones”， referring to a person with an honey tongue and a heart of gall. This is closely related to culture. Cultural anthropologist Edward Hall believes that the environment of communication can be extended to cultural areas. According to whether the meaning conveyed in communication comes from the occasion of communication or from the language of communication， Hall puts forward that culture has context， and divides it into two categories： high-context culture and low-context culture. The criterion for distinguishing is that the encoding of information depends on what degree of context， that is， “high-context has the characteristics of pre-arranged information， the arranged information is in the recipients hands and background， and only a small part exists in the transmitted information.” On the contrary， in low context， most of the information must be in the transmitted information in order to make up for the missing part of the context. William Gudyknust， an American scholar of communication， has developed Halls theory of high-low context. Twelve countries with different cultures are arranged in the way of “high-context” to “low-context”. English-speaking North American countries belong to low-context culture， while East Asian countries， such as Chinese culture， have high context characteristics.

3. Corresponding references and enlightenment

From the above-mentioned， it is clear that pragmatism is the representative of American culture and Confucianism is of Chinese culture. In the light of their similarities and differences， there are some references to modern studio art and the  enlightenment on audience.

3.1 The references to modern studio art

American creators do not like abstract speculative philosophy， and believe that pragmatism is of paramount importance. Everything is for success and efficiency. Therefore， their cartoon creation is bold， and they are willing to try various themes and trends of dramas. Chinese people respect the ancient precepts and stick to old ways. They cant and wont tamper with the cultural heritage left by their ancestors at will. They cant subvert it. Creation is bound by constraints. Its difficult to make great innovations and breakthroughs. cartoon creators constantly adapt classical themes， but ultimately they cant break the constraints of the original works， and they cant have new breakthroughs to attract audiences， let alone produce international influence. While nothing is set in stone， bad things can turn into good ones. Accordingly， American cartoon creators are expected to go back to its roots， and produce more cartoons related to historical events and traditional tribes the Indians. Chinese cartoon creators are supposed to make some adjustments， abandon the cliche and stereotype and have some attempts and creations.

3.2 The enlightenment on audience

The cartoon images with their “unique personality， behavior， clothing and the like will gradually take root in the hearts of the audience， leaving a deep impression on their minds”. Cartoons with children as the main audience provides not only a way of entertainment， but also a potential guide for childrens growth. Poison Ivy is one of the top villains in the famous cartoon Batman of DC Comics Company in the United States. Her real name is Pamela Lillian Eslie. When a scientific experiment went wrong， the botanist Pamela Eslie was transformed into a mixture of human and plant. her blood was replaced by chlorophyll and produced a toxic contact ability and an exogenous hormone attraction function. She gradually abandoned the human feature and became integrated with the natural world. Her criminal acts are of the nature of ecological protection. The construction of images in American cartoons manages to avoid excessive uniformity. Chinese cartoons could not do this years ago， but things are getting better these days. This teaches children to look at things from multiple perspectives. If the children think in one-sided way， they will become disinclined to use their brains. Over time， childrens learning ability will decline and they will lose interest in learning. Moreover， it will also affect childrens growth and interpersonal skills， and is not conducive to the formation of childrens personality.

4. Conclusion

Cartoon industry is an important part of cultural industry. It has a history of over a hundred years since the first cartoon was produced. Cartoon has been loved by people since its birth. In the process of making cartoons， they are often influenced by the culture of the producing country and have profound national characteristics. The United States is a powerful country in cartoon production， and China is a rising star in the field of cartoon production. There are many excellent cartoon works in both countries. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the images of female daimon in Chinese and American cartoons. After analyzing key steps， a three-phase pattern： the vision images of female daimon， the culture images of female daimon and the corresponding references and enlightenment it conveyed， it is found that there are similarities and differences between Chinese and American cartoons. This is in that the cultural characteristics of two countries are embodied in cartoons. For the American cartoon industry， which has many years of normal prosperity and development foundation， it is far ahead of China in terms of materials， ideas and storytelling ability. Although Chinas cartoon industry has made considerable progress in recent years， there is still a long way to go in the basic issues of stories and scripts， image depiction and so on. A good construction of images is actually a process of training childrens divergent thinking. It makes childrens thinking break through the original scope of knowledge and think in different directions and angles. It will be of great help to childrens learning and life in the future. The more actively the childrens thinking， the more comprehensive the problems are considered， the more they will be liked by others， and the more harmonious natural relationship with others they will get.

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