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.

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