Globalization and hybridization in cultural productsThe cases of Mulan and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Abstract

Hybridization has become part of an ongoing trend in cultural production, with both the globalization and localization of the culture industry. Hybridization, however, is not merely the mixing, blending and synthesizing of different elements that ultimately forms a culturally faceless whole. In the course of hybridization, cultures often generate new forms and make new connections with one another. This study looks at two globally popular films that were adapted from Chinese works, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Mulan, as examples to illustrate the complexity involved in hybridization and the implications that it has for the debate on the globalization of culture. It was found that ‘deculturalization’, ‘acculturalization’ and ‘reculturalization’ can be used to characterize the hybridization of cultural products and that often the producer, with his/her background, aspirations and work style, has a key role to play in deciding how these features are organized and manifested.