The transforming Hong Kong polarized cultural identities: the cultural dynamic and relocation of Hong Kong cultural production

Abstract

ABSTRACT The view that national and local identical dichotomy in Hong Kong puts into sharp focus is revealed in the deep division of self-identification of Hong Kong citizen after the world-known Umbrella Movement. This paper connects this diverse identity formation to the relocation of Hong Kong cultural production and claims it as a logical consequence of the latter. This paper takes Hong Kong local comics as an example of cultural production for the analysis and suggest the possibility that such cultural products, as the reflection of Hong Kong society, are polarized to extreme Chinese-versus-Hong Kong base. When Hong Kong audience read the contemporary Hong Kong comics, the issues of cultural dynamic, conflict, and struggle of identity as HongKongese or Chinese would be expected. Based on the empirical data from textual analysis of 2 local comics and 10 in-depth interviews of comics artists, publishers, analysts, and comics company managers in 2015, this paper maps out the cultural image of people from Hong Kong and the mainland Chinese in contemporary comics texts. This paper will also shed light on cultural resistance and negotiation between Hong Kong and Chinese culture, and the resultant cultural hybridization in Hong Kong in relation to the transformation of local cultural identities.