Portraying the United States, Imagining China: The Visual Construction of the United States’ Image in Chinese Magazines, 1950-2021

This thesis examines how Chinese pictorial magazines visually represented the United States from 1950 to 2021 and how these representations reflected and rearticulated China’s imagined national community. Drawing on a mixed-method design that combines visual content analysis, visual framing analysis, and semi- structured interviews with visual editors and journalists, the study analyses 8,884 US-related images published in China Pictorial, South Review, and Sanlian Life Week. The findings show that the image of the United States shifted historically from an imperialist aggressor, to a symbol of modernity, and later to a strategic rival in relative decline. Despite these changes, the United States consistently functioned as a reflexive mirror through which China articulated its own national trajectory: first as a revolutionary challenger, then as a development pursuer, and more recently as a more confident global power. The study demonstrates that these visual representations were shaped by the interaction of four interrelated forces: visual framing practices, the nationalist narrative of humiliation and rejuvenation, the institutional structure of the Chinese media system, and the changing geopolitical context of China-US relations. By tracing the long-term transformation of US imagery across different media types and historical periods, the thesis argues that representations of the United States in Chinese media served as symbolic resources through which China interpreted its historical memory, negotiated national identity, and legitimised its evolving place in the world. In this way, the thesis contributes to research on visual politics, nationalism, and media systems by showing how foreign images are constructed and mobilised within a politically regulated media environment.