The Intercultural Communication of the Documentary Films from the Perspective of “Contact Zone” Theory

Abstract

In the context of globalization, mass media has played a part in the intercultural communication and the construction of national cultural identity. The research is to explore the intercultural communication of the documentary films from the perspective of “Contact Zone” theory. It compares and analyzes the features of successful documentary films issued by the BBC and Discovery and finds that the producers of these documentary films have changed their mode to simply view China as “the other” from their own cultures, but tried to negotiate and interact with the international audience by modifying the content, narration methods and the cross-border combination of experts in their teams. The research is to enlighten the making of the documentary films in China to actively construct a “Contact Zone” between Chinese culture and their target international audience in order to set up a real national image.