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Hong Kong Diversity in Anglophone Children’s Fiction

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Cultural Conflict in Hong Kong

Abstract

Todorova looks at the largely neglected field of English language children’s literature published in Hong Kong in the last two decades. Selecting books that take the city as their main backdrop, she talks about Hong Kong’s diversity, as represented in these books. Todorova uses methods drawn from imagology research to analyze the localities representing or purporting to represent Hong Kong, the characters and their cultural identity, and the specific elements of Hong Kong culture as identified in both the text and illustrations of the books. Even more than in the books, Hong Kong’s diversity is represented among authors and illustrators of Anglophone children’s books. The chapter ends with an analysis on the importance of representing diversity for the children of Hong Kong.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Turnbull (1990), 134–135.

  2. 2.

    Leerseen (2007), 17–32.

  3. 3.

    The paratext includes both epitext and peritext, as defined by Genette (1997).

  4. 4.

    See O’Sullivan (2011).

  5. 5.

    Eagleton (1996), 175.

  6. 6.

    Pinsent, 1997, 5.

  7. 7.

    See Ghosn (2003).

  8. 8.

    Bishop, 1990, ix–xi.

  9. 9.

    Xie (1999), 13.

  10. 10.

    For more see “Children’s Literature.” Hong Kong English Literature Database. http://www.hongkong-english-lit.net/Children’s.htm. Accessed November 28, 2016.

  11. 11.

    Bolton and Lim (2002), 307.

  12. 12.

    Abbas (1997), 12.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., 12.

  14. 14.

    O’Callaghan and Kiggell (2010).

  15. 15.

    Cooper (2014)

  16. 16.

    Hong Kong consists of three regions: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories and Outlying Islands. Hong Kong Island is the historical, political, and economic center of Hong Kong. The New Territories is the biggest part of Hong Kong, housing half the territory’s population. The New Territories still consists of significant rural areas.

  17. 17.

    Houng (2016b)

  18. 18.

    Cooper (2015)

  19. 19.

    Whittington (2012)

  20. 20.

    Whittington (2010).

  21. 21.

    see Leou (2010).

  22. 22.

    see Leou (2012).

  23. 23.

    see Leou (2015).

  24. 24.

    For more, see Leou’s website http://www.ellenleoubooks.com

  25. 25.

    Mittal (2016), 218.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., 228.

  27. 27.

    For more listen to the video of an interview Houng (2016a).

  28. 28.

    Ibid.

  29. 29.

    For more see the whole interview with Ellen Leou (2014).

  30. 30.

    Jay (2010).

  31. 31.

    Bolton and Lim, 307.

  32. 32.

    Kymlicka (1995), 9.

  33. 33.

    Said (1994), xxix

  34. 34.

    Council of Europe (1995), 23.

  35. 35.

    Semprini (2004), 37 (translation mine).

  36. 36.

    For more see Leou (2014).

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Interviews

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Marija Todorova

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  1. Marija Todorova
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Jason S. Polley

  2. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Vinton W.K. Poon

  3. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Lian-Hee Wee

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Todorova, M. (2018). Hong Kong Diversity in Anglophone Children’s Fiction. In: Polley, J., Poon, V., Wee, LH. (eds) Cultural Conflict in Hong Kong. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7766-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7766-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-7765-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-7766-1

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