Margins and centers: The construction of 'Hong Kong' in Hong Kong left-wing fiction, 1950--1967.

摘要

Hong Kong Left-wing Literature is an indispensable constituent of Hong Kong literary history, Hong Kong literature began a new phase of development in the 1950s but the political turmoil in 1967 almost brought the demise of left-wing literature. In view of this, the scope of this research covers left-wing fiction produced from 1950 to 1967. Based on the representative works including those published in books, significant left-wing newspapers and literary journals, the dissertation attempts to analyze the specific image of “Hong Kong” constructed.; This research focuses on the left-wing writers' strategy of writing Hong Kong, with special emphasis on the ways their literary imagination of Hong Kong operates are closely related to the double contestation between margins and centers. The contestation at the first level is due to the left-wing writers' “mainland centrism.” These writers identify themselves with the Peoples' Republic of China and consciously see themselves as spokesmen for “New China.” To them, Hong Kong is only a marginal site for propaganda. The contestation at the second level is ascribed to the marginal position of the left-wing writers in reality. Geographically, they have left China—the “center” in the mind, and are in fact situated in Hong Kong—the margin on the map. Politically, they are against capitalism and deeply resent the British colonial rule in Hong Kong. As a result, they have been deliberately marginalized and suppressed by the Hong Kong-British government. Moreover, the literary milieu has been flooded with literary people who moved south to Hong Kong owing to their anxiety over the new regime in the mainland. With the American—funded right-wing cultural activities reacting against communist propaganda in Hong Kong, left-wing literature has been driven to a marginal position. Socially, Hong Kong is a refugee society where many migrants seek abode in order to flee from the new regime, therefore, the left-wing writers' active promotion of “New China” is generally taken as a voice from the margin. Consequently, the left-wing writers' “mainland centrism” and their marginal position in reality form the double contestation, causing them to construct a specific negative image of “Hong Kong.”