Abstrakt
This chapter focuses on the way the West and Russia were shown in Chinese political cartoons from a turbulent decade, the LRNSs. It is based on caricatures , photo collages, and other pictorial materials published in cartoon magazines: Duli Manhua, Manhuajie, Qunzhong Manhua, Shanghai Manhua, Shidai Manhua, Wanxiang, and Zhongguo Manhua.
The central questions raised by Chinese cartoonists about the Western world of that time included the problems of how powerful states struggled in what seemed to be their ambition to rule the world, causing military clashes in colonies and even in Europe itself (Ethiopia and Spain attracting a great deal of attention); how the disarmament movement and peacekeeping negotiations failed and the new global conflict loomed on the horizon; and, finally, what the daily life of foreigners both inside and outside of China looked like. The abundance of new media, of the visual one in particular, expanded the Chinese public's perceptions of the West and Russia.
It also created a sense of interconnect-edness of things happening on the planet, thus shifting the focus of attention from China as the civilized centre to concerns for global, planetary civilization falling prey to warmongering barbarians. The absence of positive power in international relations created a pessimistic outlook on the Earth's prospects.
Yet, on a "ground" level, routines and mundane affairs went on, with Western additions-from Holly-wood movies to striptease , from Christian churches to roller-skating-becoming ever more inextricable from the fabric of urban China and, primarily, Shanghai.