Open Collections

Always Liminal, Always in Transition : Reading Hong Kong as Staircase City

University of British Columbia. Hong Kong Studies Initiative; University of British Columbia. Department of Asian Studies; University of British Columbia. Centre for Chinese Research; University of British Columbia. Department of History; University of British Columbia. Department of English

Hong Kong is internationally renowned for its density, often depicted by images of the dramatic skyline of Hong Kong Island with Victoria Harbor in the foreground and the Peak behind. However, for those who are more familiar with the city, another image is likely more representative: that of the city’s animated, almost visually cacophonous, narrow streets and ubiquitous stairs. Through a critical examination of these structures in relation to relevant literary and filmic texts, I will demonstrate in this talk how the perception of Hong Kong is transformed and re-imagined by considering the city as a landscape punctuated and even constructed by stairs. By examining the impact and socio-cultural effects of escalators, such as high-speed gentrification, the closure of local shops, and the loss of genuine public spaces, and comparing these mechanical movers with stairs, I argue that staircases expose the nature of a classed society and represent a nostalgia that is potentially productive.

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0364232

Non UBC

Faculty

DSpace