Writing Hong Kong identity in transitional period romance short stories

Abstract

How should one define Hong Kong identity? This thesis argues that Hong Kong identity is the cultural identity of Hong Kong people, a third space that is amorphous and doubly marginalized by British colonialism and Chinese nationalism. Whereas Hong Kong people’s cultural identity and their national identity, which is Chinese after the 1997 Handover, are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, this thesis discusses not only the nature and formation of Hong Kong identity but also how it is represented in its romance short stories written in the Transitional Period (1982-1997). The Transitional Period plays an essential part in the shaping of Hong Kong identity as the handover to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) imposed a sense of crisis on Hong Kong society, which drove the locals to an urgent search of a “Hong Kong identity.” It was also a distinct period in which Hong Kong society openly and widely discussed questions of autonomy and identity for the first time. Hong Kong Transitional Period literature, therefore, serves as a necessary constituent to forming as well as understanding Hong Kong identity. However, there is a lack of studies on Hong Kong romance literature since scholars have stigmatized this genre as commercialized products for casual consumption. Despite so, this thesis argues that Hong Kong Transitional Period romance narratives function not merely as emotional escapism but also catharsis to Hong Kong people’s urgent search of identity in the face of critical change.

By close reading six selected short stories written by local writers, this thesis looks at how the dialogue between romance as an allegory and Hong Kong identity is woven into a self-searching and self-reflexive journey. The three chapters in this thesis cover different allegorical themes of romance, namely “doomed romance,” “romance as an illness,” and “homosexual romance”—reimagined to represent the amorphous, doubly marginalized, and repressed Hong Kong identity. Apart from the importance of defining and understanding Hong Kong identity, this thesis also wishes to highlight the cultural value of Hong Kong literature, especially popular literature such as romance literature, to Hong Kong identity and Hong Kong people.