Floating Creativity: Writing Cultural Identity in Postwar Hong Kong (the 1950s-1970s)

Abstract

The post-war period (the 1950s–1970s) is a good starting point to explore how questions of home and belonging were discussed in Hong Kong society, as it was marked by a massive influx of mainland Chinese migrants into the British colony. During this time, many writers focused on issues of diasporic experiences, migrant life, changing boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘other’, and the radical reorganisation of community and collective culture. This thesis asks whether there was a formative relationship between the writers of this period and these larger concerns about home and belonging. This thesis does not seek to provide a direct answer to the question of defining Hong Kong literature and Hong Kong’s cultural identities. Instead, it attempts to present a more-than-textual perspective of knowledge production, recognising that the concrete agency of institutions and the creative force of culture played important roles in defining new lifestyles and mindsets within the post-war geopolitical process. Drawing on key concepts and methodologies from Cultural Studies, it identifies the cultural and political engagements of creativity which are not typically placed within the work of literary studies. The authors studied here are not only referred to in terms of their literary work, but also their cultural and political engagements. The inter-relation between authorship and discourse is based on Michel Foucault’s argument on author function: that authors are not only the creators of the discourse, but are also shaped by the discourse they produce. The author is both the producer and the product of discourse. Thus, this thesis examines the dynamic relationship between authorship and discourse in the rapidly transforming Hong Kong society during the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. It argues that authors’ unique perspectives, experiences, and beliefs are reflected in the discourse they create, and this in turn, that discourse can influence their own perspectives, experiences, and beliefs.