The more I shop at Yaohan, the more I become a Heung Gong Yan (Hongkongese) : Japan and the formation of a Hong Kong identity
Document Type
Book chapter
Source Publication
Assembling Japan : modernity, technology and global culture
Publication Date
2015
First Page
161
Last Page
182
Publisher
Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers
Abstract
The methodological implication is that we can study the emerging identity of Hong Kong people through examining the reasons for the popularity of Yaohan in Hong Kong. We argue that Yaohan was able to garner tremendous interest amongst people in Hong Kong because the cultural significance attached to it concurred with the cultural logic of an emerging middle class identity. That cultural logic largely developed in the rapidly changing environments of the 1970s and is based on an identification with something that is neither eastern/traditional/conservative, nor western/modern/liberal. The 'in-between' image of Yaohan spoke to the same logic, which helps to explain its immense popularity in Hong Kong.
Publisher Statement
Copyright © Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2015.
Additional Information
ISBN of the source publication: 9783034318303
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wong, H.-W. & Yau, H.-Y. (2015). The more I shop at Yaohan, the more I become a Heung Gong Yan (Hongkongese): Japan and the formation of a Hong Kong identity. In G. Kirsch, D. P. Martinez & M. White (Eds.), Assembling Japan: Modernity, technology and global culture (pp. 161-182). Oxford: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers.