Before and After Suzie: Hong Kong in Western Film and Literature

Since the 1930s, Hong Kong has crept into Western cinema and literature, represented or constructed according to the whims of the Western gaze. However, recently, Hong Kong has enjoyed a more conspicuous place of international focus, represented by a more "native" voice and has become assertive in shaping its self-image. In the afterglow of Hong Kong's first Oscar success, it seems appropriate to look back on how Hong Kong has been represented and constructed by outsiders, to distinguish these historical representations from the modern representations of Hong Kong projected to the outside world from the city itself.

This Project constitutes the first collection of essays to focus exclusively on the theme of Hong Kong in Western film and literature. The essays are organized into four parts which indicate the ensuing discussion of various factors, aesthetic, racial, sexual, economic and political, that have underpinned Hong Kong's imaginary construction by the "West."

Thomas Y. T. Luk is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, specializing in film and literature, comparative drama, theatre and adaptation, romanticism.

James P. Rice, a former Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is at present the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bucknell University, and specializes in Far Eastern languages and literature and critical theory.