Paper tiger

Paper Tiger in 1957

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Paper tiger is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase zhilaohu (紙老虎). The term refers to something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. The expression became well known in the West as a slogan used by Mao Zedong's Chinese communist state against its opponents, particularly the U.S. government.

Etymology

"Paper tiger" was an ancient phrase used in Chinese culture. It was translated into English in a work by John Francis Davis before 1836.^[1]

Use

In a 1956 interview with American journalist Anna Louise Strong, Mao Zedong used the phrase "paper tiger" to describe American imperialism: "In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of; it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe that it is nothing but a paper tiger."^[2] According to Mao, "all reactionaries are paper tigers".^[3] In this view, they are superficially powerful but are prone to overextension that leads to sudden collapse. When Mao criticized Soviet appeasement of the United States during the Sino-Soviet split, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly said, "the paper tiger has nuclear teeth".^[4]

In The Resistance to Theory (1982), Paul de Man used the phrase to reflect upon the threat of literary theory to traditional literary scholarship in American academia. He said, "If a cat is called a tiger it can easily be dismissed as a paper tiger; the question remains however why one was so scared of the cat in the first place".^[5]

In popular culture

In music

• The British post-punk band The Chameleons have a song titled "Paper Tigers" on their album Script of the Bridge (1983).
• The American music artist Beck has a song titled "Paper Tiger" on his album Sea Change.
• The American punk rock band Face to Face has a song titled "Paper Tigers With Teeth" from their album Three Chords and a Half Truth (2013).
• The American singer Sue Thompson has a 1965 hit record called "Paper Tiger".
• The American rock band Spoon has a song titled "Paper Tiger" on their album Kill The Moonlight (2002).
• The Canadian singer Tom Cochrane has a song entitled "Paper Tigers" on his album Ragged Ass Road (1995).
• The American singer/composer Tori Amos makes reference to the term in her song "Crazy" from her album Scarlet's Walk (2002).
• The American rock band Thrice has a song titled "Paper Tigers" from their album The Artist in the Ambulance (2003).
• The American rock band Dry Kill Logic has a song titled "Paper Tiger" from their album The Dead and Dreaming.
• The Swedish melodic heavy metal band Treat has a song titled "Papertiger" from their album Coup de Grace (2010).
• The American alternative rock band, Anberlin, make reference to the term in their song "The Resistance" on the album New Surrender (2008).
• Singer/songwriter Adam Young (Owl City) released a demo song titled "Paper Tigers" in 2012.
• The American new wave duo Generationals make reference to the term in their song "Extra Free Year" from their 2013 album Heza.
• The American hip hop producer and DJ John Samels is better known by his stage name Paper Tiger.
• The American metal band Theocracy has a song titled "Paper Tiger" on their album Ghost Ship (2016).

In film

• Paper Tiger, a 1975 film starring David Niven
• Paper Tigers, an American documentary that follows multiple teens in a troubled and impoverished high school in Walla, Walla Washington as a new trauma-sensitive program, inspired by research on Adverse Childhood Experiences, is implemented.

In print

• The George Plimpton non-fiction book Paper Lion (1966) and 1968 movie adaptation offer a pun on the concept.
• The phrase also appears in Bill Waterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, in which Calvin asks Hobbes what the phrase means. Hobbes responds that a "paper tiger" is like a "paper boy", that is, a tiger that delivers newspapers. Calvin complains that his textbook makes no sense.^[6]
• The phrase "paper tigers" also appears in the poem "Tiger" by A. D. Hope, the Australian poet. In this poem, Hope uses the reference to allude to existing rather than living.^[7]

References