The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.

This dissertation argues that these films contribute to the construction of Chinese identity in two ways. Firstly, the films show the Chinese rebutting Orientalist clichés while asserting Chinese values. Secondly, the films show the Chinese reflecting upon their values and recognizing a need to rein...

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Main Author:	Yeo, Ronnie See Heng.
Other Authors:	School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format:	Final Year Project
Language:	English
Published:	2013
Subjects:	DRNTU::Humanities
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52233
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Institution:	Nanyang Technological University
Language:	English

id	sg-ntu-dr.10356-52233
record_format	dspace
spelling	sg-ntu-dr.10356-522332019-12-10T11:38:12Z The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films. Yeo, Ronnie See Heng. School of Humanities and Social Sciences Mary Mazzilli DRNTU::Humanities This dissertation argues that these films contribute to the construction of Chinese identity in two ways. Firstly, the films show the Chinese rebutting Orientalist clichés while asserting Chinese values. Secondly, the films show the Chinese reflecting upon their values and recognizing a need to reinvent some of these values to adapt to their respective societies, thus actively constructing a Chinese identity. In the introduction to the book Martial Arts as Embodied Knowledge, D. S. Farrer and John Whalen-Bridge indicate that "the term ‘martial art’ signifies ‘Eastern’ and can be accessed to champion, as a counterdiscourse to effeminizing Orientalist clichés1, the contemporary paradigmatic image of the Asian-yet-masculine martial arts icon (think Bruce Lee)" (2). Here, Farrer and Whalen-Bridge implies that besides martial art, film is also an important aspect of such a discourse, as Lee becomes such an icon by becoming a martial arts film star firstly in Hong Kong and then internationally. Indeed, the scene in Fist of Fury (1972) when Bruce Lee's character, Chen Zhen, destroys a sign reading "No Dogs and Chinese allowed" with a jump kick is an example of the counter-discourse Farrer and Whalen-Bridge discusses. The physical dominance of the Chinese hero challenges the cliché that they are passive and feminine (Said 138). The success of the film, both domestic and international, gives the Chinese community a hero to cheer for while telling the global community that the Chinese will no longer stand to be oppressed by the colonial powers. Bachelor of Arts 2013-04-25T07:52:20Z 2013-04-25T07:52:20Z 2013 2013 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52233 en Nanyang Technological University 38 p. application/pdf
institution	Nanyang Technological University
building	NTU Library
country	Singapore
collection	DR-NTU
language	English
topic	DRNTU::Humanities
spellingShingle	DRNTU::Humanities Yeo, Ronnie See Heng. The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
description	This dissertation argues that these films contribute to the construction of Chinese identity in two ways. Firstly, the films show the Chinese rebutting Orientalist clichés while asserting Chinese values. Secondly, the films show the Chinese reflecting upon their values and recognizing a need to reinvent some of these values to adapt to their respective societies, thus actively constructing a Chinese identity.
author2	School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet	School of Humanities and Social Sciences Yeo, Ronnie See Heng.
format	Final Year Project
author	Yeo, Ronnie See Heng.
author_sort	Yeo, Ronnie See Heng.
title	The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
title_short	The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
title_full	The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
title_fullStr	The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
title_full_unstemmed	The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.
title_sort	construction of an ethnic chinese identity in hong kong kung fu films.
publishDate	2013
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52233
_version_	1681043440337420288

The construction of an ethnic Chinese identity in Hong Kong Kung Fu films.

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