A History of Representation of Mainlanders in Hong Kong TV Dramas

Representation is a key concept to cultural studies. Who can be on TV? Do they represent diversity or stereotypes? Why? What will be the consequences? These are questions of aesthetics and politics. This study will try to fill this research gap by critically surveying representations of mainlanders from the 1960s to the present and situate such representations in the context of Hong Kong history. 媒體再現是文化研究的關鍵概念。誰可以出現在電視上？其形象是多元的，還是定型的？為什麼？有何後果？這是關於審美和政治的問題。是次研究立志于填補學界空白，在香港歷史的語境中，批判性地檢視從1960年代起的香港電視劇是如何再現大陸人形象。 In particular, we will re-theorize the concepts of representation, stereotyping and racism, and focus primarily on ten selected dramas. Our methodology is systematic, consisting of archival studies of historical reports in newspapers, textual analysis, industry interviews, local and nonlocal audience interviews. Since ours is a critical study, we do not aim to serve the culture industry and related government sectors. 具體地說，本研究會通過檢視大約十部港劇，重新理論化關於媒體再現，定型，種族歧視等關鍵概念。我們的方法論是較為全域觀的，包括對新聞報道的檔案性研究，文本分析，對文化工業從業者的採訪，以及對本地和外地的觀眾的深度訪談。因為這是一個批判性的研究，我們並不會服務於文化工業和文化政策的利益。

Funding Source: RGC - General Research Fund (GRF)