Post-colonizing Hong Kong
1. What is colonialism?
1.1. Colonialism is a system of extending a nation's sovereignty over territory and people outside its boundary. It also refers to a set of notions legitimizing and promoting this system.
1.2. Two parties of colonialism
-Colonizer
-Colonized (natives)
1.2. The basic premise of colonial ideologies
-Civilization: "The colonizers bring civilization to the natives."
1.3. Some colonial imaginations
-Civilized vs. uncivilized
-Modern vs. traditional
-Rational vs. irrational / emotional
-Man vs. woman
-Adult vs. child
-Occidental vs. Oriental
-Leader vs. followers
-Savior vs. wretch
1.4. Example: Colonialism as stewardship
"Success in Hong Kong is the result of a combination of factors. This is a Chinese city. Its success is the result of the hard work and skill of its Chinese men and women. It is also a city over which, for a century and a half, Britain has held stewardship. We have tried to exercise that stewardship in a way which has held stewardship. We have tried to exercise that stewardship in a way which has been true to our political values. Those values have been instiutionalized in the rule of law and a meritocratic, politically neutral Civil Service." (Chris Patten, Policy speech 1996)
References: Said, Edward. 1979. Orientalism. NY: Vintage.
2. Example: The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
Westerner (colonizer)<--> Native (colonized)
William Holden (Robert)<--> Nancy Kwan (Suzie)
American man <-->Hong Kong girl
Savior (painter)<--> Wretch (prostitute)
Rational<--> Emotional
Westernized<--> Oriental
2.1. "Hong Kong" as a colonized and gendered subject: Exotic, attractive (in the eyes of the colonizers), lovely but poor/wretched.
2.2. Colonial narrative: The West rescues the East from her predicament.
2.3. Orientalism: The colonized subject is portrayed as an oriental stereotype
2.4. Representation of colonial power: The colonized subject is not allowed to cross the colonial divide by herself.
2.5. Another example: Tai-pan (1986)
The World of Suzie Wong
A poster
3. What is post-colonialism?
3.1. (Post-)Colonialism as a cultural force or phenomenon
3.2. It refers to some cultural schema or mentalities (Orientalism)
3.3. It continues to have effects on post-colonial societies.
3.4. The colonial elements are maintained and transformed in a new context.
3.5. Example: My name ain't Suzie（花街時代，1986）
4. Example: Golden Chicken
「發揮金雞精神！雞雞地做個開心人」
4.1. Analysis of characters:
*Gum
-gum: Prostitute (since the 80s): unattractive: ordinary: happy and lucky: materialistic
-"Gum" as a metaphor signifying Hong Kong people (since the 80s)
-金雞：金蛋：生金蛋的鵝：香港
-The spirit of Gum: making money+opitmistic+hard-working+forgetting history
-materialism/work ethics/de-historization
-Gum: a Hong Kong identity of the late colonial period
-Transforming the colonial image in the post-colonial era:
Victim-->Heroine
Dependent (on a man)-->Independent
Sufferring-->Happiness
Orientalized-->Flexibile and hybrid
A story of romantic encounter -->A woman's life history
4.2. Narrative analysis:
4.2.1. Narrative A:
-Gum and the robber (姚仁邦) are trapped in an ATM booth.
-Trapped in an ATM booth and poverty
-Released from the booth and poverty (A miracle: Mr. Yip returned money back to Gum)
4.2.2. Narrative B:
-Gum's life story in the sex trade
-Three stages:
The early 1980s: 魚蛋檔
From the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s: Night club
Since the 1990s: Self-employed sex worker (「一樓一鳳」)
4.2.3. Equilibrium I:
-An unattractive and materialistic young girl began her career as a sex worker
-A prosperous era (From the 1980s to the mid 1990s)
4.2.4. Disequilibrium:
-She gave up her baby
-She lent money to Mr. Yip
-Hong Kong's economic crisis and Kum's economic crisis
-Prof Chan and Andy Lau gave her lessons
4.2.5. Equilibrium II:
-She regained her self-confidence.
-She started to make money again
-Kum-->"Golden chicken"
-She got back her money.
4.3. Analysis of two plots:
4.3.1. Gum representing local identity (Disk 1/34:33)
-Giving up her baby
-Refusing to rely on a man
4.3.2. Colonialism: a golden era is gone. (Disk 2/18:07)
-The death of Kum's aunt
-The fall of "Dragon"
-A history to be forgotten.
5. Example: Golden Chicken 2
「雞雞地與時並進，做個反彈香港人」
-The motif of Golden Chicken continues in Golden Chicken 2.
-It further develops its imagination about "Hong Kong" and "China".
-An event and a metaphor: the outbreak of SARS
References: Illness as Metaphor (Susan Sontag)[疾病的隱喻]
6. Postcolonial imagination
6.1. Recycling colonial images into post-colonial imagination (The metaphor of "prostitute")
6.2. Transforming the colonialized subject into a post-colonial subject
6.2. Colonial traces in Hong Kong's self-image
-Prostitute: victimhood-->flexibility, robustness, ... ...
-Economic instrument of imperialist-->"Economic animal" and materialistic people
Next week
《無間道》及《無間道 II》(Infernal Affairs)
《黑社會》
1.1. Colonialism is a system of extending a nation's sovereignty over territory and people outside its boundary. It also refers to a set of notions legitimizing and promoting this system.
1.2. Two parties of colonialism
-Colonizer
-Colonized (natives)
1.2. The basic premise of colonial ideologies
-Civilization: "The colonizers bring civilization to the natives."
1.3. Some colonial imaginations
-Civilized vs. uncivilized
-Modern vs. traditional
-Rational vs. irrational / emotional
-Man vs. woman
-Adult vs. child
-Occidental vs. Oriental
-Leader vs. followers
-Savior vs. wretch
1.4. Example: Colonialism as stewardship
"Success in Hong Kong is the result of a combination of factors. This is a Chinese city. Its success is the result of the hard work and skill of its Chinese men and women. It is also a city over which, for a century and a half, Britain has held stewardship. We have tried to exercise that stewardship in a way which has held stewardship. We have tried to exercise that stewardship in a way which has been true to our political values. Those values have been instiutionalized in the rule of law and a meritocratic, politically neutral Civil Service." (Chris Patten, Policy speech 1996)
References: Said, Edward. 1979. Orientalism. NY: Vintage.
2. Example: The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
Westerner (colonizer)<--> Native (colonized)
William Holden (Robert)<--> Nancy Kwan (Suzie)
American man <-->Hong Kong girl
Savior (painter)<--> Wretch (prostitute)
Rational<--> Emotional
Westernized<--> Oriental
2.1. "Hong Kong" as a colonized and gendered subject: Exotic, attractive (in the eyes of the colonizers), lovely but poor/wretched.
2.2. Colonial narrative: The West rescues the East from her predicament.
2.3. Orientalism: The colonized subject is portrayed as an oriental stereotype
2.4. Representation of colonial power: The colonized subject is not allowed to cross the colonial divide by herself.
2.5. Another example: Tai-pan (1986)
The World of Suzie Wong
A poster
3. What is post-colonialism?
3.1. (Post-)Colonialism as a cultural force or phenomenon
3.2. It refers to some cultural schema or mentalities (Orientalism)
3.3. It continues to have effects on post-colonial societies.
3.4. The colonial elements are maintained and transformed in a new context.
3.5. Example: My name ain't Suzie（花街時代，1986）
4. Example: Golden Chicken
「發揮金雞精神！雞雞地做個開心人」
4.1. Analysis of characters:
*Gum
-gum: Prostitute (since the 80s): unattractive: ordinary: happy and lucky: materialistic
-"Gum" as a metaphor signifying Hong Kong people (since the 80s)
-金雞：金蛋：生金蛋的鵝：香港
-The spirit of Gum: making money+opitmistic+hard-working+forgetting history
-materialism/work ethics/de-historization
-Gum: a Hong Kong identity of the late colonial period
-Transforming the colonial image in the post-colonial era:
Victim-->Heroine
Dependent (on a man)-->Independent
Sufferring-->Happiness
Orientalized-->Flexibile and hybrid
A story of romantic encounter -->A woman's life history
4.2. Narrative analysis:
4.2.1. Narrative A:
-Gum and the robber (姚仁邦) are trapped in an ATM booth.
-Trapped in an ATM booth and poverty
-Released from the booth and poverty (A miracle: Mr. Yip returned money back to Gum)
4.2.2. Narrative B:
-Gum's life story in the sex trade
-Three stages:
The early 1980s: 魚蛋檔
From the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s: Night club
Since the 1990s: Self-employed sex worker (「一樓一鳳」)
4.2.3. Equilibrium I:
-An unattractive and materialistic young girl began her career as a sex worker
-A prosperous era (From the 1980s to the mid 1990s)
4.2.4. Disequilibrium:
-She gave up her baby
-She lent money to Mr. Yip
-Hong Kong's economic crisis and Kum's economic crisis
-Prof Chan and Andy Lau gave her lessons
4.2.5. Equilibrium II:
-She regained her self-confidence.
-She started to make money again
-Kum-->"Golden chicken"
-She got back her money.
4.3. Analysis of two plots:
4.3.1. Gum representing local identity (Disk 1/34:33)
-Giving up her baby
-Refusing to rely on a man
4.3.2. Colonialism: a golden era is gone. (Disk 2/18:07)
-The death of Kum's aunt
-The fall of "Dragon"
-A history to be forgotten.
5. Example: Golden Chicken 2
「雞雞地與時並進，做個反彈香港人」
-The motif of Golden Chicken continues in Golden Chicken 2.
-It further develops its imagination about "Hong Kong" and "China".
-An event and a metaphor: the outbreak of SARS
References: Illness as Metaphor (Susan Sontag)[疾病的隱喻]
6. Postcolonial imagination
6.1. Recycling colonial images into post-colonial imagination (The metaphor of "prostitute")
6.2. Transforming the colonialized subject into a post-colonial subject
6.2. Colonial traces in Hong Kong's self-image
-Prostitute: victimhood-->flexibility, robustness, ... ...
-Economic instrument of imperialist-->"Economic animal" and materialistic people
Next week
《無間道》及《無間道 II》(Infernal Affairs)
《黑社會》
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