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The Coming of Age of Hong Kong : Dung Kai-cheung’s Celestial Creations and the Works of Man: Vividness and Veracity

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Abstract

This chapter analyses Dung Kai-cheung’s Celestial Creations and the Works of Man and contends that Dung presents an alternative narrative of Hong Kong modernity by tracing his family’s involvement with modern technological objects. It explores the novel’s crystallization of temporalities within the technological objects and its development of a narrative rhizome that emphasizes connectivity and transversality to challenge the existing grand narratives of Hong Kong history. By engaging the history of objects in conversation with discourses of Chinese modernity, it argues that Dung’s novel creates a distinct coming-of-age story of Hong Kong from the perspective of individuals enmeshed in the history of objects, stimulating a re-examination of Hong Kong modernity in response to Chinese modernity since the early twentieth century.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComing of Age in Chinese Literature and Cinema : Sinophone Variations of the Bildungsroman
EditorsAndrea RIEMENSCHNITTER, Kiu-wai CHU, Mung Ting CHUNG
PublisherAmsterdam University Press
Chapter5
Pages127-146
Number of pages20
ISBN (Electronic)9789048557134, 9789048571505
ISBN (Print)9789463720793
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Authors / Taylor & Francis Group 2025.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  2. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  3. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

  • Family saga
  • Hong Kong modernity
  • Literary historiography
  • Temporality
  • World of objects
  • Xi Xi

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