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| Project Details |
| Funding Scheme : | General Research Fund | ||||||||||||||||
| Project Number : | 18600921 | ||||||||||||||||
| Project Title(English) : | The Lyrical Tradition in Hong Kong from the 1970s through the 1990s | ||||||||||||||||
| Project Title(Chinese) : | 香港的抒情傳統1970 - 1990 | ||||||||||||||||
| Principal Investigator(English) : | Dr Au, Chung To | ||||||||||||||||
| Principal Investigator(Chinese) : | |||||||||||||||||
| Department : | Department of Literature and Cultural Studies | ||||||||||||||||
| Institution : | The Education University of Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||
| E-mail Address : | auct@eduhk.hk | ||||||||||||||||
| Tel : | |||||||||||||||||
| Co - Investigator(s) : |
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| Panel : | Humanities, Social Sciences | ||||||||||||||||
| Subject Area : | Humanities and Arts | ||||||||||||||||
| Exercise Year : | 2021 / 22 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fund Approved : | 136,000 | ||||||||||||||||
| Project Status : | Completed | ||||||||||||||||
| Completion Date : | 31-12-2022 | ||||||||||||||||
| Project Objectives : |
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| Abstract as per original application (English/Chinese): |
During a panel on comparative literature at the Association for Asian Studies in 1971, Chen Shih-hsiang said that the “Chinese literary tradition as a whole is a lyrical tradition,” offering another perspective for interpreting the tradition. The Chinese lyrical tradition emphasizes expressing deep feelings (or embodying lyricism) in various art forms. Chen’s provocative pronouncement initiated debate within research communities in Greater China. Due to its unique historical background, Hong Kong’s lyrical works, which are different from those of mainland China and Taiwan, have not received the attention they deserve from academia.
The PI (Principal Investigator) proposes that there is a corpus of fiction and films that emerged in the 1970s, flourished in the 1980s, and diminished in the late 1990s that helped establish a lyrical tradition in Hong Kong. The inspiration for these Hong Kong lyrical works comes from such traditional popular culture as Naamyam (a traditional Cantonese folk music performing art) and Cantonese opera, which was most popular among the influx of migrants from Canton Province to Hong Kong in the 1950s. These traditional popular cultures inherited lyrical elements, namely forms and themes, directly from classical Chinese literature, which became a collective memory for older generations in Hong Kong. The local consciousness of Hong Kong began to rise in the 1970s, followed by the Sino-British negotiations and the Handover in 1997, which triggered an identity issue. Hong Kongers have long suffered an identity crisis, partly due to the fact that colonial rule did little to nurture Hong Kongers to develop an identity. In response to this identity crisis, Hong Kong writers and film directors drew inspiration from Naamyam and Cantonese opera, an important part of Hong Kongers’ collective memory, and created a body of lyrical works. It is understood that collective memory can help construct an imagined home, thus provide the framework for an identity.
This project aims to develop the concept of a Hong Kong lyrical tradition by systematically studying its major features through examining the two lyrical themes—lamenting unfulfilled love and struggling between love and politics—embedded in Hong Kong lyrical works created from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The PI suggests that the two lyrical themes identified in Naamyam and Cantonese opera are also embodied in the Hong Kong lyrical works, which enable Hong Kongers to connect to their ancestors across time and space, hence an imagined community and an identity is established.
自從陳世驤於1971年在「美國亞洲研究學會」比較文學討論組的致辭時指出，相對於歐洲的史詩傳統「中國的抒情傳統卓然顯現」後， 抒情傳統論述在歐美及中港台的學術界引起了關注和爭論，至今已成為中國文學眾多研究路徑的其中一種。由於香港曾經作為英國的殖民地的關係，所以香港的抒情作品呈現出和中國大陸和台灣不同的特徵，但香港的抒情傳統特色一直備受忽略。 是項計劃提出香港自1970年到1990年間創作了一批小說及電影，有助建立香港的抒情傳統。這些作品的創作靈感主要來自五十年代，流行於廣東移民間的傳統通俗文化，例如南音及粵劇。這些傳統文化無論在形式和主題方面都直接承襲了古典中國文學的特色，成為一代香港人的集體記憶。事實上，長期的殖民統治無助建立香港人的身份。香港自七十年代開始提倡本土意識，緊接著的中英談判及九七回歸，引發了香港人對身份問題的思考。為了應對香港人的身份問題，香港作家及電影導演從老一輩香港人的集體記憶，即南音和粵劇裡，獲得靈感，創作了一批抒情作品。這些集體記憶有助香港人建立一個想像的家園，為他們身份的建立提供了一個框架。 本研究計劃旨在建立一個香港的抒情傳統。要達到這個目的，是項研究將透過系統地分析香港抒情作品（1970 - 1990）中的兩個常見主題 — 哀嘆愛情的不如意，及在愛情和政治中掙扎 — 說明這兩個在南音及粵劇裡經常出現的主題，有助香港人跨越時空，和他們的祖先連結在一起，建立一個想像的家園及建構香港人的身份。 |
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| Realisation of objectives: | The project’s objectives stated above have been achieved, as demonstrated by my research outputs, namely, one referred journal article (please see attached), one online workshop presentation (please see attached), and a draft book manuscript (six chapters in total). The book proposal related to this project has been approved by the internal editorial review board of National Taiwan University Press (Please see attached). I had divided my study into two phases, with each phase lasting six months. In the first phase, I drafted a journal article and the first chapter of the book manuscript. In these research outputs, my major concern is to develop the concept of a Hong Kong lyrical tradition by situating the lyrical tradition in Hong Kong in the context of the Chinese lyrical tradition. To do this, in my draft first chapter, I first trace the trajectory of the development of Chinese lyrical tradition by examining the conception of the “Chinese lyrical tradition” embodied in the studies of Georg Brandes, Chen Shih-hsiang, Jaroslav Průšek, Gao Yougong, Yu Ying-shih, David Der-wei Wang, and K. K. Leonard Chan. Secondly, since Hong Kong’s social and cultural milieu was distinct from that of mainland China and Taiwan, I argue that the major features embodied and presented in the Hong Kong lyrical tradition are different in the second half of first chapter. I propose that traditional popular culture plays a significant role in developing a Hong Kong lyrical tradition. The main source of inspiration for Hong Kong lyrical works can be traced back to traditional popular culture and vernacular works, such as Naamyam and Cantonese opera, which were popular among Chinese immigrants from Canton Province in the 1950s. Although newcomers are understandably eager to create a sense of belonging, it is thought that legacies such as the colonial educational system here, the Chinese language curriculum, along with the modernization and urbanization of the city, contributed to discontent among the Hong Kong community. Many critics believe that, to solve the identity issue caused by losing their past, Hong Kong people link to their past by returning to the traditional popular sources such as Naamyam and Cantonese opera: the Chinese lyrical tradition. I conclude in the first draft chapter that this craze died down in the 1960s; however, two lyrical themes embedded in these traditional popular cultures—lamenting unfulfilled love and the struggle between love and politics—which became a part of Hong Kong people’s collective memory, have re-emerged since the 1970s. These two themes are particularly well expressed by the Naamyam songs “Sorrow on an Autumn Trip,” and Cantonese opera “The Flower Princess,” which have become a source of inspiration for Hong Kong writers, and playwright, namely, Lillian Lee Pik-wah, Dung Kai-cheung, Leung Ping-kwan, Sharon Chung, as well as Tong Dik-sang, and film directors, for example, Fei Mu, Stanley Kwan, and Wong Kar-wai since the 1970s. To reflect the challenges of their time, these two themes were used and radically modified by these creators. In the second phase, I systematically studied the chosen lyrical works from two perspectives: their intertwined relationships with high culture as well as popular culture, and the question of identity by examining the two recurring lyrical themes embedded in modern Hong Kong lyric poetry, Naamyam, Cantonese opera, and films. I examined these four art forms and the recurring themes embodied in them, and five chapters (including the concluding chapter) were drafted as a result. Modern Hong Kong Lyric poetry is the major concern of draft chapter two. In the chapter, I focuse on the poetry anthology Selected Poems of Tens Poets edited by Leung Ping-kwan, and argue that Leung brings forth the poetics of resistance and explains how these ten Hong Kong modernist poets, namely, Lee Kwok Wai, Guan Mengnan, Ah Lam, Yip Fai, Ma Rou, Lee Ka Sing, Holly Lee, He Di, Bettry Ng and Leung himself, who received education in Hong Kong, try to reflect upon their actual situation through putting emphasis on everyday life as well as vivid, sometimes daily spoken language. By advocating everydayness, which is also the basis of the so-called localism later on, I maintain that Leung and his fellow poets attempts to resist against the imagined space conjured up by the Chinese language curriculum in Hong Kong, and thus to build self-identities. In draft chapter three, major features of Hong Kong lyrical tradition are examined through analyzing the theme of lamenting unfulfilled love embodied in the Naamyam lyric “Sorrow on an Autumn Trip,” its direct influence on Lillian Lee Pik-wah’s ‘Rouge’ and Stanley Kwan’s film adaptation), and on Dung Kai-cheung’s short story ‘The Rise and Fall of Wing Shing Street’. I elaborate in detail the process by which the lyrical theme was first modified by Lillian Lee when it was adapted in her fiction ‘Rouge’. Based on Lee’s modified version, the lyrical theme was altered again when the novel was made into film, then Dung Kai-cheung further reshaped it in his novel. I begin with examining the theme of lamenting unfulfilled love by searching for the basic formula of the Naamyam lyric, which can trace its origins to the narrative pattern of scholar-beauty novels. In addition to the list of basic elements of scholar-beauty novels, namely, 1) a scholar falls in love with a courtesan; 2) for some reason the scholar is forced to leave his lover; 3) the scholar expresses deep sorrow over the parting, and 4) the scholar claims that he will commit suicide if his lover is dead, I also observe in draft chapter four that, to what extent, Tong Dik-sang’s Cantonese operas (such as The Legend of Purple Hairpin, The Reincarnation of Red Plum, The Butterfly and the Red Pear Blossoms, and The Flower Princess) touch on similar themes about lamenting unfulfilled love, and struggling between love and politics. I examine how these particular themes are transformed over time. Yesi’s ‘Paper Cut-outs’ and Sharon Chung’s ‘A Night for Romance’ are discussed in this chapter. Tong Dik-sang’s Cantonese operas were inspired by both films and Beijing opera, which are thoroughly discussed in draft chapter four as well. I argue in draft chapter five that these two art forms also exert a vital influence upon numerous Hong Kong films which are considered as lyrical. The origins of Hong Kong lyrical films can be traced back to Fei Mu’s Spring in a Small Town. Transformations of the formula of the scholar-beauty novels and the two recurring lyrical themes are examined not only through Fei Mu’s Spring in a Small Town, but also Stanley Kwan’s Center Stage, Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild, and In the Mood for Love. In the concluding chapter, in addition to summing up the major features of Hong Kong lyrical tradition by referring to the previous chapters’ discussions, I also give a brief account on the extent in which my study helps enrich the study of a Chinese lyrical tradition. | ||||||||||||||||
| Summary of objectives addressed: |
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| Research Outcome | |||||||||||||||||
| Major findings and research outcome: | One refereed journal article titled “Georg Brandes and the Development of the Chinese Lyrical Tradition” has been published , which was an expanded version of an online workshop presentation in 2022. Georg Brandes (1842–1927) has had an enormous influence on the development of Chinese literary criticism since the beginning of the 20th century. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to delineate the way in which Lu Xun’s understanding (and “misunderstanding”) of Brandes helped develop the special topic of the Chinese lyrical tradition in Chinese comparative literature. Secondly, it traces the evolution of this idea by identifying both Chen Shih-Hsiang’s and Chan K. K. Leonard’s contributions. Chen’s research highlights the characteristics of the Chinese lyrical tradition embodied in Lu Ji’s (261–303 AD) “Wen Fu” (Essay on Literature) and A. Mickiewicz’s poetry. A genealogical study of the Chinese lyrical tradition by Chan not only traces its origin back to Lu Xun’s reception of Brandes in his “Moluo shilishuo” (On the Power of Mara Poetry) but also traces its evolution forward to the development of the Hong Kong lyrical tradition, which will continue to grow and thrive in the coming years. In fact, the relationship between Brandes and the development of the Chinese lyrical tradition has been overlooked by the research community, I believe my article and presentation helped to bridge the gap to a certain extent. In a similar fashion, I believe my monograph on the lyrical tradition in Hong Kong also helps to fill a research gap on the study of the Chinese lyrical tradition. In 1971, Chen Shih-hsiang announced that “Chinese literary tradition as a whole is a lyrical tradition” during a panel on Comparative Literature at an Association for Asian Studies (AAS) meeting. Since then Chen’s opening address initiated debates on the Chinese lyrical tradition within research communities in the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mainland China. However, recent research indicates that the development and the uniqueness of the Hong Kong lyrical tradition has not received the attention it deserves from academia. My monograph (as mentioned in my book proposal) aims to bridge this research gap by examining the major characteristics of the Hong Kong lyrical tradition. | ||||||||||||||||
| Potential for further development of the research and the proposed course of action: |
In addition to completing the final draft of the monograph on the lyrical tradition in Hong Kong, I plan to develop a comparative study of the lyrical tradition in Greater China in the long run. In my newly released book titled An Introduction to Macao Modernist Poetry, I include a chapter on the relationship between the Chinese lyrical tradition and Macao modernist poetry. I will continue working and writing research papers on the Chinese lyrical tradition-related topics, namely, the distinctive characteristics of lyrical traditions developed in Taiwan and Mainland China. It is my hope to submit a new GRF proposal on this research topic in 2025. | ||||||||||||||||
| Layman's Summary of Completion Report: | In 1971, Chen Shih-hsiang announced in the United States that “the Chinese lyrical tradition stands out,” when it is juxtaposed against the European epic tradition. Since then, Chen’s provocative discussions and debates on the topic of the Chinese lyrical tradition within research communities, which offered one more perspective for interpreting the Chinese literary tradition. As far as the study of conceptions of the Chinese lyrical tradition is concerned, there are two main issues that need to be addressed. On the one hand, the close relationship among popular culture, cultural identity formation, and the Chinese lyrical tradition suggested by Chen has mostly neglected. On the other hand, critics showed least interest in developing conceptions of a Hong Kong lyrical tradition. My project helps to develop conceptions of a Hong Kong lyrical tradition in terms of examining the most relevant lyrical works and lyrical criticism. The key features of Hong Kong lyrical tradition correspond to those forgotten traits of the Chinese lyrical tradition. Thus my study not only helps delineate the uniqueness of conceptions of the Hong Kong lyrical tradition in particular, but also helps enrich the study of a Chinese lyrical tradition in general. | ||||||||||||||||
| Research Output | |||||||||||||||||
| Peer-reviewed journal publication(s) arising directly from this research project : (* denotes the corresponding author) |
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| Recognized international conference(s) in which paper(s) related to this research project was/were delivered : |
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| Other impact (e.g. award of patents or prizes, collaboration with other research institutions, technology transfer, etc.): |
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| SCREEN ID: SCRRM00542 |