Abstract
This article is a translation of a chapter from the collective monograph Draculas, vampires, and other undead forms: essays on gender, race, and culture, edited by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart (2009, Scarecrow Press). The author analyzes the question of how Hong Kong cinema responds to the complex situation of Hong Kong's transition from its status as a British territory on loan to a special territory with extended autonomy within the PRC. As a marker pointing to the crisis development of this process, the Chinese people's particular ideas about the so-called “goeng si” (“jumping corpses”) were chosen. These revived corpses move in a peculiar jumping way, due to which they received this name. According to the author, in the images of these creatures, as well as in the cinematic vampires that have become an integral part of films made by Hong Kong studios, all the contradictions of the cultural and political situation in Hong Kong are manifested as in a mirror. Despite the fact that Hong Kong was able to actively oppose the global cinema represented by Hollywood, it had to adjust to the global cinematic trends in which vampires played an important role. All of this led to a certain hybridity of images that combined both Western and Chinese traits.
Highlights
This article is a translation of a chapter from the collective monograph Draculas
The author analyzes the question of how Hong Kong cinema responds to the complex situation of Hong Kong's transition
These revived corpses move in a peculiar jumping way
Summary
This article is a translation of a chapter from the collective monograph Draculas, vampires, and other undead forms: essays on gender, race, and culture, edited by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart (2009, Scarecrow Press). Модерность как кризис: кён-си и вампиры в гонконгском кино (перевод на русский)1 Опираясь на китайские литературные и оперные традиции, а также на международные кинематографические конвенции, можно сказать, что кён-си — это транскультурная фигура, ставшая известной в англоязычном мире как «китайский прыгающий вампир»1.
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