THE COLONIZATION OF “THE BALLAD OF MÙLÁN,” OR, THE ADVENTURES OF A TRANSCULTURATED FOLKTALE IN AMERICA A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of San Diego State University _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in English _______________ by Anni S. Perheentupa Mackey Fall 2018 iii Copyright © 2018 by Anni S. Perheentupa Mackey All Rights Reserved iv ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS The Colonization of “The Ballad of Mùlán,” or, The Adventures of a Transculturated Folktale in America by Anni S. Perheentupa Mackey Master of Arts in English San Diego State University, 2018 The legend of Huā Mùlán, the maiden who joined the army to save her aging father, has been passed around since at least the 4th or 5th century. From her beginnings as the heroine of a simple Xianbei folk ballad, Mùlán has made her way into a household name throughout China – and, thanks to the grinding gears of the Disney marketing machine taking a hold of it in the late 1990’s, throughout the world. Mùlán’s explosion of fame after Disney’s treatment of her story lead to other new adaptations and re-imaginings of the Mùlán legend in the United States, all of which are more or less indebted to work Disney did in domesticating and familiarizing the traditional Chinese hero within the American cultural sphere. In my examination of Mùlán’s cross-cultural existence in the United States, I focus on three works: Mulan, the quintessential Disney movie that brought the story to a new generation in 1998; Wild Orchid, a more literary take that is nevertheless heavily indebted to the Disney movie, published in 2009; and the 2013 graphic novel Mulan: Revelations, a more adult-oriented reimagining of the possibilities of the Mùlán legend. Though the plots of the stories are superficially similar to the “Ballad” that began Mùlán’s legend, very little remains of the cultural context of the story or the character. The Chineseness of Mùlán/Mulan in these adaptations remains almost purely a matter of aesthetics – an East Asian girl superimposed onto a fundamentally American narrative – leaving no room for depictions of ethnic difference or any kind of diversity. Ultimately, I also argue that while many mainstream books and movies claim to include diverse characters, their characters hew too closely to American cultural standards to depict any real difference or diversity. Instead of providing representations of Asian characters, these American versions of Mùlán are fraught with Orientalist tropes and motives and end up perpetrating stereotypes rather than dismantling them. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 The Xianbei Past of Mùlán ..........................................................................5 Mùlán in Han Culture ..................................................................................7 Mùlán Crosses the Ocean.............................................................................9 The Colonization of Huā Mùlán ................................................................12 2 FA MULAN JOINS THE NATION: DISNEY’S MULAN AND THE ASSIMILATION OF THE FOLKTALE.....................................................................15 A Careful Application Of The Disney Formula Later ...............................16 “Ultimate Dishonor” – Cross-dressing, Gender, and Feminism ................21 The Disney Formula – Adapting Tales for Children .................................27 On the Dark Side of Diversity: Racial Capitalism .....................................32 3 WILD ORCHID: MULAN RETOLD AS A FAIRYTALE .........................................35 Mulan Turns to Romance ...........................................................................37 Orphan Mulan and Ethnic Ambiguity........................................................43 Not Like Other Girls and Other Failed Feminisms ....................................46 The Queer Stepmother ...............................................................................51 Conclusion .................................................................................................55 4 THE FUTURE IS TECHNO-ORIENTALIST: MULAN: REVELATIONS AND POSTFEMINIST CYBERPUNK ......................................................................57 Mulan in the Cyberpunk Future .................................................................60 Techno-Orientalism: China, Technology, and Other Evils .......................63 The Specter of Contagion ..........................................................................65 vi Mulan as a Neutral Avatar for Western Values .........................................70 Conclusion .................................................................................................77 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................79 vii LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 1 The iconic shot of Mulan with half of her face cleaned of make-up. ........................19 Figure 2 The cover art for Wild Orchid ...................................................................................44 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor Serrato for his invaluable advice and support throughout this project – it may well have been impossible without him. His willingness to give his time so generously has been much appreciated, and he has taught me more about writing and academic work in general than I can possibly give him credit for in a single paragraph. I would also like to thank Professors Howard and Yeh for their expert advice and suggestions that helped me refine my thesis. My special thanks are extended to the ever- supportive faculty and student body of the Department of English and Comparative Literature, particularly Professor Matos, Professor Thomas, Mary Garcia, Elizabeth Allison, Chris Deming, Alexander Elliott, Lauren Luedtke, Eric Mata, Michaela Nasello, Gayana Parsegova, Sequoia Stone, Katlin Sweeney, and Kiedra Taylor. And, of course, a big thank you goes to my parents and husband for their unwavering support. This project would have been impossible without the financial help provided by the English & Comparative Literature Master of Arts Scholarship, the Mindy Gates O’Mary Memorial Scholarship, and the Rosario J. Patti Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the Humanities. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Mùlán sighs as she weaves by the door. Her elderly father has been called to war, and she has no elder brother to go in his place. She decides that she must buy a horse and a saddle and go to war to save her father. She takes leave of her family and rides far and wide in the Khan’s wars, over the Yellow River, past Black Mountain, and never hears how her family cries after her. In ten years, she has seen generals die in hundreds of battles and gone ten thousand miles astride her horse. The Khan calls her in to give her a promotion for her bravery and asks her what she desires. Does she wish to be a minister? Does she wish for riches? No, she replies. She only wants a fast horse to carry her back home. Her family hears of her return and prepares a feast in her honor, celebrating the return of a much-missed daughter. At home, Mùlán dons once more her woman’s clothes and puts her hair up in the shape of a cloud, transforming herself from soldier to daughter. When she walks out the door, she sees her comrades from the army, and they are astonished to find out that she is a woman – something they never noticed in their twelve years fighting together. This legend of Huā Mùlán (花木蘭), the maiden who joined the army to save her aging father, has been passed around since at least the 4th or 5th century. From her beginnings as the heroine of a simple Xianbei folk ballad, “The Ballad of Mùlán,” Mùlán has made her way into a household name throughout China – and, more recently, throughout the world. Each generation and culture has adapted the story to its own needs, changing details and even plot points at will, from the specifics of Mùlán’s life to the ending of the tale. Still, through all the changes and cycles of appropriation the tale has gone through, the core has remained the same. Throughout centuries, audiences have remained fascinated by the tale of the girl who went to war to save her family and asked for nothing but a journey home in return. It should, perhaps, be no wonder that Mùlán’s tale took off as it did when the grinding gears of the Disney marketing machine took a hold of it in the late 1990’s. Two – soon to be 2 three – affiliated movies, a stage musical, two video games, and countless Disney franchise cameos later, Mulan is a character just about any Western child or adult can easily recognize. Through her inclusion in the immensely popular Disney Princess franchise as its eighth – and only non-royal – member, Mulan, or at least Disney’s vision of her, has become a marketing force unto itself. Unsurprisingly, this sudden explosion of fame lead to other new adaptations and re-imaginings of the Mùlán legend in the United States, all of which are more or less indebted to work Disney did in domesticating