This book offers a fresh perspective on Hong Kong and its vibrant culture, examining the changes and developments that have occurred since its return to Chinese sovereignty two decades ago. Through insightful analysis, it explores the complexities of identity, politics, and social dynamics in a city that balances its unique heritage with the influences of mainland China. The narrative delves into the challenges and resilience of Hong Kong's people, providing a comprehensive look at the evolving landscape of this dynamic metropolis.
Exploring the impact of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, this book delves into the preservation and transformation of its distinct culture. It examines the challenges faced by local traditions, identity, and social dynamics amid political changes, offering insights into the resilience of the city’s cultural landscape. Through analysis and personal narratives, it highlights the ongoing struggle to maintain a unique cultural identity in the face of external pressures.
The 1980s, a pivotal decade for Hong Kong pop culture, is explored through the lens of personal belongings and experiences. The author reflects on the vibrant cosmopolitan lifestyle that flourished amid significant historical events, marking this era as foundational for Hong Kong's future post-reversion to Mainland China. By delving into genres such as television, film, music, and fashion, the book highlights the unique characteristics of Hong Kong's cultural identity. It also addresses the need for new perspectives in light of recent changes, contributing to the field of Hong Kong Studies.
Cantopop was once the leading pop genre of pan-Chinese popular music around the world. In this pioneering study of Cantopop in English, Yiu-Wai Chu shows how the rise of Cantopop is related to the emergence of a Hong Kong identity and consciousness. Chu charts the fortune of this important genre of twentieth-century Chinese music from its humble, lower-class origins in the 1950s to its rise to a multimillion-dollar business in the mid-1990s. As the voice of Hong Kong, Cantopop has given generations of people born in the city a sense of belonging. It was only in the late 1990s, when transformations in the music industry, and more importantly, changes in the geopolitical situation of Hong Kong, that Cantopop showed signs of decline. As such, Hong Kong Cantopop: A Concise History is not only a brief history of Cantonese pop songs, but also of Hong Kong culture. The book concludes with a chapter on the eclipse of Cantopop by Mandapop (Mandarin popular music), and an analysis of the relevance of Cantopop to Hong Kong people in the age of a dominant China. Drawing extensively from Chinese-language sources, this work is a most informative introduction to Hong Kong popular music studies.
This book discusses the notion of “Hong Kong as Method” as it relates to the rise of China in the context of Asianization. It explores new Hong Kong imaginaries with regard to the complex relationship between the local, the national and the global. The major theoretical thrust of the book is to address the reconfiguration of Hong Kong’s culture and society in an age of global modernity from the standpoints of different disciplines, exploring the possibilities of approaching Hong Kong as a method. Through critical inquiries into different fields related to Hong Kong’s culture and society, including gender, resistance and minorities, various perspectives on the country’s culture and society can be re-assessed. New directions and guidelines related to Hong Kong are also presented, offering a unique resource for researchers and students in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, globalization and Asian studies.
