To Pierce the Material Screen: An Anthology of 20th-Century Hong Kong Literature (Vol. I, Fiction)
To Pierce the Material Screen: An Anthology of 20th-Century Hong Kong Literature (Vol. I, Fiction)
Edited by Eva Hung
with the assistance of Chi-yin Ip
2008
viii + 276 pages
ISBN 978-962-7255-34-5
The perception of Hong Kong as materially successful and culturally marginal is a common one. The city, sheltered from the Chinese political tsunamis, has in fact developed a distinctive character that is reflected in her literary scene. It has been a safe haven for writers on the run, a cradle for genres unwelcome to the Beijing government, a battleground between 'Left' and 'Right', and a confluence of East and West, popular and high-brow. Works collected in this anthology, spanning three quarters of a century, show how local literature engaged with the dominant discourses of Chinese culture while exploring the pains and possibilities of a fast-developing metropolis. Taken in total, they reveal the emergence of the 'Hong Kong identity'.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Eva Hung—Room to Let: Anthologizing Hong Kong Literature — 1
1. Familiar Marvels
Liu Yichang: Chain — 11
Gao Xiong: Two Decades of Hong Kong Oddities (excerpts) — 16
Ni Kuang: Antiques Alley: A Ge-Ware Incense Burner with ‘Flying’ Handles and Six Legs in Crackled Fenqing Glaze — 34
Liu Yichang: Wrong Number — 38
Xi Xi: Marvels of A Floating City — 41
2. Folks Next Door
Lü Lun: The Lottery Ticket — 57
Yi Shu: Homecoming — 67
Virginia Suk Yin Ng: Father — 74
Lü Qi Shi: Air Granny — 83
Chan Wai Ying: Tied Together by Fate — 94
Chan Hay Ching: You and Your Father and Your Mother — 97
3. Shadowlands
Wu Xubin: The Sea — 107
Peng Cao: The Red Horse — 110
Xi Xi: A Girl Like Me — 117
Chan Po Chun: Beginnings and Endings — 131
Wong Pok: Topic of Conversation — 138
Ngan Shun Kau: The Censure of Heaven — 146
4. Seasons of the Heart
Zi Ren: Long Corridor, Short Song — 161
Sharon Hiu Ieong Chung: Greensleeves — 168
Xin Qi Shi: Missing Person — 185
Patsy Lai Shan Kwan: The Angel and the Angel’s Halo — 194
Wong Bik Wan: Plenty and Sorrow — 213
Dung Kai Cheung: The Rise and Fall of Wing Shing Street — 235
Notes on Authors — 268
Notes on Translators — 273
Review(s)
Review(s)
'These two volumes offer a striking selection of Hong Kong 20th-century writing translated into English. The dynamic entrepot was for long considered something of a cultural desert but isn't so now. These books show that in reality it wasn't one for most of the last century either, at least as far as writing was concerned.'
—Bradley Winterton, Taipei Times
'These works blend traditional and modern Chinese culture with each other and with other cultures—Eastern and Western—to provide an introduction to the fabric of Hong Kong literature.'
—Translation Review
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TRANSLATOR(s)
Geremie R. BARMÉ, CHU Chiyu, Don J. COHN, Howard GOLDBLATT, Nicky HARMAN, Audrey HEIJNS, Duncan HEWITT, Eva HUNG, Chi-yin IP, Jane LAI, Flora LAM, Maggie LEUNG, Rachel MAY, T. M. (Tommy) McCLELLAN, Simon PATTON, David POLLARD, Cathy POON, Shin Yong ROBSON, Janice WICKERI