A systematic literature review on national image in film

Lina Bai, Nurzihan Hassim, Shamsiah Abd Kadir, Qun Li

Film, emerging as a powerful propaganda tool since the early 20th century, has evolved into an important cultural carrier for the construction of national image, drawing increasing interest from researchers. Although many studies have been conducted to explore how films construct national image, there is still a lack of systematic literature review in this field. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) concerning the construction of national image in film. This study included five key methodological steps, including developing the review protocol, formulating research questions, conducting a systematic search, adopting the MMAT tool to conduct quality appraisal and screening, and data extraction and synthesis. Three main themes were discovered: (1) the elements of film in constructing national image; (2) the narrative strategy of film in constructing national image; (3) the cross-cultural communication strategy of national image in film.