Undercurrents: Queer Culture and Postcolonial Hong Kong

Helen Hok-Sze Leung

Book

Undercurrents

Queer Culture and Postcolonial Hong Kong

Helen Hok-Sze Leung

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2009

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About this book

Undercurrents engages the critical rubric of “queer” to examine Hong Kong’s screen and media culture during the transitional and immediate postcolonial period. Helen Hok-Sze Leung draws on theoretical insights from a range of disciplines to reveal parallels between the crisis and uncertainty of the territory’s postcolonial transition and the queer aspects of its cultural productions.

Leung explores Hong Kong cultural productions – cinema, fiction, popular music and subcultural projects – and argues that while there is no overt consolidation of gay and lesbian identities in Hong Kong culture, undercurrents of diverse and complex expressions of gender and sexual variance are widely in evidence.

Undercurrents uncovers a queer media culture that has been largely overlooked by critics in the West, and demonstrates the cultural vitality of Hong Kong amidst political transition. It will appeal to scholars and general readers interested in Asian studies, film and cultural studies, and sexuality and gender studies.

Author / Editor information

Helen Hok-Sze Leung is an assistant professor in women’s studies at Simon Fraser University.

Reviews

There is nothing quite like Undercurrents currently available in the English language. Its archive – Hong Kong cultural productions including contemporary cinema, architecture, urban space, modern literature, icons from popular culture, and community-driven radio programming – is impressively wide-ranging and diverse. Its theoretical apparatus – bringing together queer theory and postcolonial studies – is equally remarkable. This is a beautifully conceived, crafted, and compelling book. --- This lucid and original book is the first dealing with queer cinema and queer culture in Hong Kong. By eschewing the conventional – and foreign – ideas of gay and lesbian identity for a more protean range of possibilities under the rubric of “queer,” Helen Hok-Sze Leung shows that Hong Kong’s screen culture includes a much richer and deeper queer vein than many observers have supposed.

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Front Matter
i

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Contents
vii

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Illustrations
ix

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Preface
xi

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Acknowledgments
xii

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Note on Romanization
xiv

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Introduction
1

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Sex and the Postcolonial City
8

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Between Girls
40

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Trans Formations
65

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In Queer Memory
85

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Do It Yourself
106

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Notes
121

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Glossary
132

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Bibliography
135

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Filmography
144

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Discography
146

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Index
147

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

August 15, 2023

eBook ISBN:

9780774856119

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

204

https://doi.org/10.59962/9780774856119

eBook ISBN: 9780774856119

Audience(s) for this book

For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research

Undercurrents

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Front Matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on Romanization

Introduction

Sex and the Postcolonial City

Between Girls

Trans Formations

In Queer Memory

Do It Yourself

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Filmography

Discography

Index

Bibliographic data