China in WW2 Posters

 

China in WW2

Peter Harmsen’s blog on the 1931-45 conflict and the birth of modern Asia

Asians in WWII Poster Art

• By Peter Harmsen
• 11 March, 2017
• No Comments

Since the US engagement in World War II was to a significant extent directed towards Asia, it is no surprise that a large part of American poster art of the war years had Asian themes. The representation of Asians, however, differed greatly depending on whether friend or foe formed the subject matter.

As the examples shown here demonstrate, America’s Chinese allies were treated with great sympathy, and Chinese individuals were depicted in a largely realistic fashion, the way Chinese people really look, although with a slight touch of idealization and romanticization. The Chinese in WWII poster art were a far cry from the cartoon-like images, short of build and with pigtails, that had dominated popular art in earlier decades. It could be argued that the US alliance with China in the early 1940s went a long way towards rectifying some of the stereotypes that had dominated Americans’ view of East Asians in the past.

The Japanese, by contrast, were the subject of exaggerated caricatures that not only vilified America’s enemy across the Pacific, but actually in many cases dehumanized him. It is of course easy to sit at a distance of almost 70 years and dismiss the mentality of a bygone age without taking into account the immense anger that the American public felt after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent reports of maltreatment of American POWs at the hands of the Japanese. Even so, the racist undertones were such that it is hard to imagine the posters being printed in any media in today’s world – testimony to the vast changes that have taken place in public views about ethnicity over the past three generations.

Below are more examples of posters of the war years, showing how national and ethnic stereotypes were taken to extremes  in the intensified emotional climate of war.

China in poster art:

 

 

 

 

 

 

… and the Japanese

 

 

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所有跟帖： 

• 中国在艰苦卓绝的抗战中赢得了美国的信任，战后美国坚持中国作为常任理事国，从此奠定了中国的大国地位。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 17:47:26

• 蒋先生不好意思地偷偷笑了 ：） -走你- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 17:50:55

• 蒋先生坚持三民主义，在大陆惨败，也不该都归功于中共，还要感谢日本鬼子和苏共。可蒋先生从未后悔过，义无反顾。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:17:01

• 几十年间，在样样不如人的情况下，就凭了否决权赢得尊重，站在历史的正确方很重要。朝战站在错误方，至今头上套有磨盘。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 17:51:57

• 几十年间，在样样不如人的情况下，就凭了否决权赢得尊重，站在历史的正确方很重要。朝战站在错误方，至今头上套难以摆脱的磨盘。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 17:58:11

• 美国连英法都不相信怎能相信中国？后来美国干涉老蒋勘乱，暗中扶持李白孙立人说明了什么？ -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:19:32

• 相任是相对的，战后除了英国，美国是最相任中国的。援助你，干涉你是正常的，中国不干涉越南，朝鲜吗？ -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:26:05

• 没有美国的干涉，1969年中国可能已经吃到苏联的原子弹了，这就是毛泽东要靠拢美国的原因。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:29:08

• 战后美国对英国殖民地的接管对英国市场和人才的掠夺，苏伊士运河在后面捅刀子，这叫信任？英国人比你聪明 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:34:52

• 英自己让出的。再“捅刀子”，还是英美特殊关系，中国和苏联，越南，朝鲜，阿尔巴尼亚的关系能比吗？还不是打的头破血流。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:41:52

• 自己让出的?这话你也说的出口，美国人英国人法国人以色列人笑了 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:03:10

• 谁逼英国退出新加坡了？新加坡人60年代还希望英军留在该地区，只因国力够不上了。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:51:47

• 崇美媚美也不好编造历史胡说吧 -Kurve- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/13/2017 postreply 03:47:17

• 几十年间，在样样不如人的情况下，就凭了否决权赢得尊重，站在历史的正确方很重要。朝战站在错误方，至今背着难以摆脱的磨盘。 -金小蜂- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 17:59:13

• 赞中美同盟打击日本法西斯！ -ViBravo- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:03:37

• 十四年抗战，中国人民付出巨大牺牲并为反法西斯，反军国主义侵略，作出伟大贡献。然而，至今仍有不少使用华文， -HappyNow?!- ♂ (239 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:19:33

• 好莱坞拍摄过中国抗战题材的电影《龙种》，里面有几个明星出演 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:22:49

• 不奇怪：大浪淘沙。昨天有，现在有，将来有。 -HappyNow?!- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 18:30:31

• 朝鲜战争，越战，美国傻！为了给南韩和南越争地盘，做出了重大牺牲。美国早就应该利用共党内讧，任凭它内耗，自行瓦解。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:13:32

• 美国不傻你傻，如果朝鲜半岛赤化，苏联红海军将获得不冻港威胁日本和东太平洋南下威胁冲绳菲律宾 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (117 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:20:11

• 美国傻，你也傻。哈哈。。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:27:25

• 时至今日，俄远东舰队也是被牢牢锁在笼子里，你看看地图就明白 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:29:09

• 我是说美国跟朝共，中共，越共那会儿硬拼，傻。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:41:00

• 以美国当年的实力对比，硬拼有错吗？是你了解美国还是美国人了解美国，事后诸葛亮谁都会做 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:43:19

• 大错特错！推翻恐怖独裁，有待内部的觉醒，不能只凭借军事或经济实力。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:48:20

• 嗯，中国持续崩溃，美国强劲复苏，都是内因所在。 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:52:20

• 不！老美聪明得很，算盘精且准！ -HappyNow?!- ♂ (325 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:22:04

• 美国人学精了，反战。可反战归反战，道义上，中共在美国从来没有市场。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:37:22

• 美国人民反战还是美国政府反战？您说的是伊拉克还是阿富汗？ -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:40:26

• 美国人还在学习。要学会打得赢才打。 -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:43:47

• 局部战争输赢标准不一样，美国军火商和华尔街能赚到钱就可以，你只是小聪明 -头发与财富成反比- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:48:06

• 美国的哪一场战争，是只考虑军火商和华尔街了？ -美欣- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/12/2017 postreply 19:56:01

• 哈哈哈！老乐不懂了。除了内战，每一场，哪一场不是？！ -HappyNow?!- ♂ (50 bytes) () 03/13/2017 postreply 07:54:06

• 同意。 -老生常谈12- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/13/2017 postreply 09:06:34