Writing across borders : Hong Kong's 1950s and the present
Document Type
Book chapter
Source Publication
Diasporic histories : cultural archives of Chinese transnationalism
Publication Date
1-1-2009
First Page
23
Last Page
42
Publisher
Hong Kong University Press
Abstract
What are the language and cultural contexts of Hong Kong literature? Writers in Hong Kong write in Chinese or English, yet those who write in Chinese do it with a melting pot background of Cantonese, Putonghua (Mandarin), classical Chinese as well as English and other Asian languages. What are the implications of this? What kinds of cultural transformations and negotiations happened as the language of modern Chinese literature, departing from the May Fourth generation of writers or the generation after, "travelled" or "moved" to Hong Kong? What are the differences and what are the possibilities? This essay offers a new perspective upon, and reflection about, the cultural and linguistic characteristics of Hong Kong literature. In the first part, historical issues are discussed. The second part focuses on the writer's own quests and explorations.
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2009 Hong Kong University Press, HKU. All rights reserved.
Additional Information
ISBN of the source publication: 9789622090798
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Leung, P.-k. (2009). Writing across borders: Hong Kong's 1950s and the present. In A. Riemenschnitter & D. L. Madsen (Eds.), Diasporic histories: Cultural archives of Chinese transnationalism (pp. 23-42). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.