Gender Dynamics in Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: A Linguistic and Cultural Perspective

Exploring Asian masculinities in Chinese popular media, particularly kung fu films, has been my research focus for over a decade. For example, I have studied the mediatization and typecasting patterns of various wuxia characters, including heroes, villains, eunuchs, monks, paimei, nüxia, and non-Chinese wuxia, through their linguistic and action narratives. In this presentation, I discuss the complexities of masculinity representations primarily seen in popular films from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Hollywood spanning the 1970s to the 2010s. I highlight the limitations of the prevailing Western cisheteronormative framework in fully capturing Asian masculinities, emphasizing the necessity for a more nuanced epistemological approach to understanding Chinese-specific cultural ideologies regarding gender and sexuality. The data from mainstream kung fu films, including works from the Shaw Brothers Studio and Golden Harvest’s peak era, are ideal for investigating Chinese gender essentialisms. I examine how these cinematic narratives, both in discourse and action, are shaped by cultural sense-making frameworks and, in return, function to perpetuate gender ideologies among the Chinese populace. Through a sociocultural linguistic lens, I elucidate the intricate interplay between traditional Chinese ideologies on gender and sexuality and their integration into mainstream kung fu films. By analyzing language and other semiotic elements within these cinematic representations, this presentation aims to illuminate the intricate socio-cultural dynamics at play, providing useful insights into the construction of masculinity within the Chinese cultural context.