Queenie Kwan Yee Lo Humanities and Social Science
Culture, Memory, and Identity in Hong Kong Food Writing & Literature
People revere food as if it were Heaven. This Chinese idiom highlights the essential role that food has always played in Chinese culture and history. It is commonplace to see cuisine and wine appear in Chinese classical and modern literature. When food appears in literature, we experience it with all our senses and gain a deeper understanding of its significance. In consideration of the lack of studies on Hong Kong food literature, I will investigate the interaction between literature and food in colonial and postcolonial Hong Kong by carrying out close textual reading and literary analysis of Yasis works as an important example of Hong Kong food literature. How do food writing and literature contribute to documenting the history and culture of Hong Kong, representing the colonial and postcolonial experience, preserving Hong Kongs collective memory, exploring and defining local consciousness and cultivating the political and cultural identities?
Message To Sponsor
I once hesitated about doing researching on Hong Kong Food Literature since neither the public nor scholars take this genre seriously, dismissing it as casual and trivial, unworthy of the status of literature I am incredibly grateful to SURF and the Anselm Fund donors for instilling my confidence and allowing me to work on the topic I have been fascinated. Through this valuable opportunity, I hope to not only refine my skills as a scholar and contribute to scholarship on Hong Kong Literature, but also explore the cultivation of my identity as a Hong-Konger.