A Paratextual Approach to Disney’s New <italic>Mulan</italic> in China: Localization and Reception.

This article examines both industry-created and viewer-created paratexts of Disney’s new <italic>Mulan</italic> (2020) to shed light on the localization of industry-created paratexts for Chinese audiences, the reception of the film, and the tensions between industry-created and viewer-created paratexts in China. It reveals that Disney has localized the poster, trailers and promos of <italic>Mulan</italic> for Chinese audiences by highlighting the film’s all-star cast and creating an illusion of its faithfulness to <italic>The Ballad of Mulan</italic>, and the extolled virtues of filial piety and patriotism cherished in Chinese culture. The viewer-created paratext, <italic>danmu</italic>, of <italic>Mulan</italic> challenges the industry-created paratexts and demonstrates unfavorable reception of the film in China. It criticizes the film for its inauthenticity to <italic>The Ballad of Mulan</italic>, cultural appropriation, promotion of American values to meet the needs of English-speaking audiences for exoticness and cultural otherness. By investigating <italic>danmu</italic> as a viewer-created paratext, the present study has enriched paratextual research and reception studies in translation, media and film studies in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]