Multilingualism in Chinese Cinema

Since the 1980s, multilingual cinema works have become more prevalent worldwide, namely films containing more than one language of communication. China, a large and diverse country with more than 100 languages or dialects, presents the foundations for a multilingual cinema landscape. As early as the 1930s, Chinese cinema began to break with using just Mandarin Chinese alone, as films in regional dialects began to emerge. In recent years, more languages and language varieties have continued to appear in Chinese films, including Mandarin, local dialects, minority languages, and even invented languages. These languages and varieties, as well as their interplay, perform key roles in film narratives, such as representing realities, constructing themes, building characters, developing plots, and creating humor and suspense. Chinese multilingual films possess great academic value and intercultural significance. However, little attention has been paid to such films, inside and outside of China. Such being the case, this chapter will attempt to provide an overview of the Chinese multilingual film landscape. It will seek to define the concept of Chinese multilingual film by focusing on the narrative functions of multilingualism, in an attempt to chart a path for further research in the field.