从香港电视连续剧探讨当今港人的身份意识问题 = TELEVISION DRAMA: A MIRROR OF HONG KONG IDENTITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Abstract

Hong Kong has its unique colonial and culture background that distinguishes it from the rest of China. In the late nineties, Hong Kong "returned" to the rule of China and having a new political identity was definitely something more than it seems to the locals. Together with the negative associations constructed by mediums of popular culture, many rejected the Chinese political identity. As a form ofretaliation, the locals wanted a Hong Kong identity to set them apart from the mainland Chinese. However, while Hong Kongers have their unique characteristics, it was challenging to reconcile and pronounce an actual Hong Kong identity. It has been established that television drama plays an important role in constructing the Hong Konger identity in the twentieth century. This thesis strives to further analyse how television drama reflects and constructs the Hong Konger identity in the current decade. The topic of identity can be approached from a multi-disciplinary prespective. This paper focuses on the analysis of three Hong Kong television drama texts; they are Inbound Troubles, Brother's Keeper and L’ Escargot. While past research tend to focus mainly on the Duel Structure representation, this thesis shall discuss the topic with two additional perspectives; Collective Memories and Common Challenges. Inbound Troubles reflects how television drama compared the Hong Konger and Chinese characters, in the duel structure representation, to establish the Hong Konger identity. Brother’s Keeper narrated past historical events to retrieve collective memories that set the foundation for a collective identity. Last but not least, the L' Escargot elaborated on common challenges faced by Hong Kong«rs in their everyday life. The common challenges echoed the shared feelings that bonded Hong Kongers together, thus projecting collectve identity. Television drama is a cultural me(ium that reaches out to and influences audience from different social backgrounds. By understanding how television drama depiced the Hong Konger identity, it is possible to gain insight into how Hong Kongers may eventually view themselves and their Chinese counterparts in the near future.