From assimilation to alienation : intercultural readings of Leung Ping Kwan's writing = 從同化到分離 : 梁秉鈞作品的跨文化闡釋

Abstract

A prominent writer, poet, and scholar, Leung Ping Kwan (1949-2013) dedicated much of his life and career to the promotion of Hong Kong literature. This study examines the intercultural dimensions of Leung’s work. Using Martha Cheung’s Translation as Intercultural Communication as its analytical framework, it argues that Leung articulates his global vision primarily by way of “convergence” and “adaptation”, while “assimilation” and “separation” are used as tools for criticism. Leung’s work illustrates how Hong Kong identity is shaped between Chinese and Western cultures through non-substantive translation, which allows us to rescale the notion of translation from the plane of language and text to the plane of experience, narrative, semiotics, and cultural space. This thesis shows that cultural convergence is prominent in Leung’s oeuvre and embodies the translational aspect of his work. His writings on food in particular put different cultures into the metaphorical cooking pot, where the mixing of ingredients and changes in foodscapes map out trajectories of migration, such that food constitutes the nexus between home and foreign. During his travels (or you, “遊”), Leung observes both tension and dialogue between the familiar and the Other. By contrast, cultural adaptation involves changes in a new environment. When Hong Kong’s sovereignty transferred to China in 1997, Leung adapted personages and images from pop culture and movies, hinted at concerns about the future of Hong Kong and shaped his identity as a Hong Konger. Apart from modern western elements, Leung also adapted traditional Chinese poems, fictions into his writing. In this transcendence of temporal and generic boundaries, Leung not only inherits traditional Chinese lyricism but also incorporates the modernity of Hong Kong. Leung’s cultural position is reinforced by what he opposes. Cultural separation and assimilation are extreme scenarios in intercultural communication. Separation reflects on normlessness and social isolation. According to Leung, it becomes the barrier that hinders cultures from effective communication. Meanwhile, it is rare to find assimilation cases in Leung’s work, as it devours what is alien and erases cultural variety.