Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image

Introduction. Hong Kong on the Move: Creating Global Cultures

It is now over ten years since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. In the scale of Chinese history, mere decades seem relatively short. In many respects, the physical and cultural landscape of the former colony seems to have remained the same, yet we all know that there have been a great number of changes in that time. Some of the continuities and discontinuities — such as the ubiquitous taxis and the replacement of the British flag with the Chinese at government buildings — are superficial. Others are more subtle but more profound, and these constants and changes are not so easily identifiable because even when they are visible, they often need to be de-coded or contextualized before the lay person will recognize them. The problem becomes very complex when we try to consider culture in Hong Kong. What is Hong Kong culture? Anyone who has been to Hong Kong before and after 1997 would know that when it belonged to Britain, Hong Kong culture was not really British, and now that the former colony is part of China, its culture is not exactly Chinese either. It is a cliché to say that Hong Kong today benefits from the economic growth in China, without the political restrictions the rest of China has to operate under. In order to explore the development of Hong Kong’s cultural scene under the “one country, two systems” framework, I have gathered together a group of world experts on Hong Kong cultural matters to contribute essays related to their expertise on Hong Kong culture. To focus the minds of the contributors, and to encourage them to critically explore Hong Kong as a polyphonic, diverse source of cultural “texts”, I proposed the topic “Post-1997 Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image” to them as a working theme on which they could write. The chapters in this volume are the results. Introduction Hong Kong on the Move: Creating Global Cultures Kam Louie ch00intro(001-007).indd 1 25/05/2010 2:57 PM 2 Kam Louie The majority of the authors wrote on literature and film. As well as these two genres, we sought to explore new types of texts that would illustrate the dynamism of Hong Kong culture. So our conception of “word” and “image” also includes visual culture, such as protest art, and urban architecture. In so doing we recognize that “words” and “images” are products of particular localities and spatial contexts as well as the intellect and emotions. And Hong Kong’s space is certainly unique in the world today — whether measured in demographic, political, economic or cultural terms. There is, quite simply, nowhere else like Hong Kong; so it is no surprise that the cultural products of this unique locality are imbued with a uniquely Hong Kong flavour. Hong Kong has been a cultural fault-line for centuries — first, as a colonial space wrested from the Qing empire by the British and second, as a prize won back by the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In this shaky geopolitical terrain, Hong Kong found its firm cultural ground and became a translation space where Chinese-ness was interpreted for “Westerners” and Western-ness was translated for Chinese. As a cultural hub Cantonese culture also flourished along new cosmopolitan lines to build a modern, outwardlooking character. In combination, each of these interactions worked together to produce Hong Kong’s unique culture. Global attention to the Hong Kong culture phenomenon is evident from the diverse nature of the contributors to this volume. Researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Australia joined the Hong Kong– based researchers. Moreover, the Hong Kong–based contributors are Hong Kong–born Chinese as well as long-term residents of Hong Kong from Scotland, England, the United States, Italy and Australia. This diverse group held a wide variety of opinions about Hong Kong’s culture but it became clear that they all regardeditasamultifaceted,polyphonicculturethatresistseasyhomogenization. Many of the essays also show that while “the decade after 1997” was a convenient point of departure, it was an artificial marker. A solid study of current Hong Kong culture required a longer-range view to draw out its full significance and impact. The chapters in this book reflect this expanded perspective. As the following chapters will demonstrate, Hong Kong culture, while unique, has many facets that can be traced to Chinese roots and global influences. Like some other rapidly changing urban centres such as Shanghai, the Hong...