Familiar strangers : images and voices of Soviet allies in dubbed films in 1950s China

Abstract

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), dubbed Soviet films became an important tool to promote the Sino-Soviet alliance among the Chinese people. This essay explores the representation of the Soviet allies through the dubbing of Soviet films in 1950s China, with a focus on not only the content of these voices, but also the techniques and aesthetics of voicing. It shows that although designed by the PRC to produce an image of the Soviets as relatable and familiar, these films also produced an image of strangers, which allowed alternative imaginations of the Soviet characters and the Sino-Soviet relationship. This paper argues for the ambiguity of the image of the “Soviet big brothers” in dubbed films in the 1950s, which disrupted the official imagination of the relationship between the Chinese and the world.