Research Projects

Literature and photography are often regarded as sister arts, their cominglings latent in the very etymology of the word “photography” meaning “writing with light.” While many scholars have studied their productive interactions, there is scant scholarly work about the use of photography as a trope or metaphor in literary texts. This project aims to shift the scholarship from an intense focus on text-image relations to the presence and function of verbalized or narrated images in literary texts. Some scholars have propounded the textuality of images by viewing images as texts that can be read and deciphered (Mitchell 1995, Petit 2006), but none have analysed the narrated image in literature.

本計劃試圖從現代中國文學研究史的角度入手，全面整理陳寅恪有關文學的論述，闡明他的文學觀念，並且深入辨析他的研究方法與前人的異同。

The object of this project is the poetic treatments of everyday modernity in 1970s Hong Kong, but not restricted to the four basic necessities "yishizhuxing" (衣食住行).

This proposed study will examine the development of Cantonese narrative in ethnic minority children of Hong Kong with special focus on three sub-groups, namely, Indian, Pakistani, and Nepalese, who are commonly called South Asians.

A review of the current literature on developing students’ critical response to visual arts reveals a heavy reliance on using art criticism models in schools. The learning of art criticism is generally seen as an engagement of students in various language tasks, such as describing, analysing, interpreting and evaluating. Geahigan (2002) disagrees with the view that the learning of art criticism is a discursive practice and conceptualises it as a process of inquiry. Building on the theory of Geahigan, the present study aims to develop, field-test and evaluate an inquiry-based model for learning art criticism. Using ‘design research’, a systematic and rigorous method of seeking out tested improvements in learning situations, as the principal methodology, the study will develop and test a pedagogic model that will enhance students’ critical ability in art criticism. The study will be conducted in three phases. Phase 1 will involve the preparation of eight teacher participants in the understanding of various art criticism models and the development of inquiry-based art criticism curriculum plans. Phase 2 will focus on the implementation of the curriculum plans. The investigators will observe three to five lessons and advise on the refinement of the plans. In Phase 3 the effectiveness and outcomes of the inquiry-based art criticism teaching on students will be investigated. Data will be obtained from interviews of teacher participants, classroom observations, video-recorded lessons, and the pre-testing and post-testing of student performance in written texts of art criticism. The data collected will be examined in relation to current theories on learning art criticism, and used to develop a pedagogical model which is theoretically and practically sound, taking into consideration the Hong Kong context. Addressing the gap between the theorisation, development, and implementation of inquiry-based art criticism learning, the project is important at this time, when the Senior Secondary Curriculum and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination are being launched. Both the new curriculum and the examination place a strong emphasis on art appreciation, criticism and inquiry. The development of a critical audience has also become particularly important since the first phase of the West Kowloon Cultural District project will be coming to realisation as early as 2015. The study will represent a timely effort to answer many of the questions raised by the community, schools, teachers and students about the development of the critical ability of our next generation.

This project will use the main corpus of Leung’s works as examples to demonstrate how he brings these apparently disparate but actually connected topics under the umbrella of Hong Kong modernism and helps to enrich the meaning of the literary movement.

Traditionally, Cantonese opera artists strived to develop individual unique artistic style. Since the mid-20th Century, various artists have successfully established their own personal style recognized by the audience. Nowadays there is anecdotal evidence that some practicing artists are hesitant in developing their own style but are imitating the performance styles of established virtuosi. In what ways the artists’ conceptions of creativity have changed over time and why today’s audience seem to have accepted or even come to appreciate this shift have not been investigated. While creativity is regarded as one of the most important generic competences in the West, the notion of creativity in relation to oriental traditional arts, such as Cantonese opera has been a neglected research area. This proposed research project will be significant in addressing three critical issues that impact on the future development of Cantonese opera: (1) the nature of creativity demonstrated by eminent artists in the 20th century; (2) the extent to which the conceptions of creativity in Cantonese opera have changed from the perspectives of practicing artists and learners; (3) how artistic creativity can be re-valued by the profession and audience. The study will be undertaken in three phases. Phase 1 involves a musical analysis of selected audio-video recordings by different artists with a focus of similarity and differences in personal interpretation. Through an ethnographic study at two local Cantonese opera institutions, Phase 2 aims to investigate how the socio-cultural contexts in Hong Kong affect the development of Cantonese opera. Through observation of classes and interviews with stakeholders, an updated understanding can be obtained. Phase 3 aims to solicit the perspectives of current practicing artists, connoisseurs and beginners on their views of creativity in Cantonese opera. A mixed method with both qualitative and quantitative tools will be employed, including a questionnaire survey of the groups, and in-depth interviews with voluntary respondents. This study will document and provide evidence to account for the development of artistic creativity in Cantonese opera. It will reveal the particular characteristics of creativity in the genre and the extent to which conceptions of creativity held by both artists and patrons are influenced by socio-cultural contexts. The findings will enrich the current understanding of Chinese creativity as applied to Cantonese opera, and serve as a useful reference for developing and implementing programmes for general education and training of future artists, as well as stimulating current artists in the pursuit of creativity.

This study aims to re-evaluate Lady Gregory and her writings. Also, the research aims at helping clarify the nature of female writing and justify Lady Gregory’s contribution to modern Irish literature.

本項目計劃研究漢語代詞的歷史發展與印度佛教，主要是佛經翻譯的關係，是申請者已經結束的 GRF 項目 “漢譯佛經梵漢對比分析語料庫建設及其漢語歷史語言學研究” 工作的繼續。

This project aims to carry out a more complete inquiry into trilingual education in Hong Kong primary schools. The research questions are: 1. What are the models of trilingual education in HK primary schools? 2. Which models are more effective in fostering trilingualism?

This project aims to examine the method and methodology of philology and philosophy, and to search for the possibility of merging these two approaches in order to apply them to the study of newly excavated Chinese silk manuscripts and bamboo slips in light of early Chinese intellectual history.

Architectural heritage conservation and research emerged as a distinct profession and critical issue in Hong Kong with the implementation of the Heritage Conservation Policy in the 2007-08 Policy Address of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Since then, heritage conservation and education has been a matter of urgency and concern in local development policies. This research aims at rigorously re-examining modern architecture, Chinese culture and tradition, and colonial Hong Kong in architectural design of the early twentieth century. Building on the PI’s engagement with a non-profit organization in which she is a founding member to raise international public awareness regarding the historical significance of the modern movement in architecture (DOCOMOMO- Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement- Hong Kong Chapter), this research will be rooted in both Western and Chinese academic discourse and research frameworks but emerge to formulate an improved direction for Hong Kong heritage policy and education in modern architecture. Research and interest in Chinese architects and architectural practices have been increasing in recent years. Wang (2008) focused on mainland Chinese architects in Hong Kong, but only in the period after 1949. Ho (2010) has noted that in the first half of the twentieth century, new knowledge was promoted by the construction industry in Hong Kong via new technology, and that contractors had promoted the modernisation of construction education and changed the traditional practice of apprenticeship starting in the mid-1930s (Ho 2010: 124). Besides contractors, architects were also at the forefront of experimentation in modernisation of the urban landscape. Research on early twentieth century architects Hong Kong architects, however, is still obscure, and only few and limited attempts exist. Until now there is only one publication of around ten ‘first-generation’ Chinese (two Eurasian) architects (Ng and Chu 2007). Ng and Chu’s publication, although important, is mainly a brief collection of the works of the individual architects, and does not go into depths to discuss how the Hong Kong architects mediated between traditional Chinese architectural forms and colonial prototypes to designing modern urban landscapes. The PI of this project has moreover discovered that one of the family members of an architect in this proposed research is related to the father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen (Kwan 1997), but to date there is no information, besides this proposed project, that has attempted to unveil the intricate relationship of this family lineage upon the early modern urban development of Hong Kong. With the first group of overseas-educated Chinese architects returning to colonial Hong Kong in the 1920s-30s and establishing themselves as the pioneers of designing the modern city, this period witnessed the first signs of urban modernisation in Hong Kong. However, compared to Shanghai, Hong Kong was often deemed as the lesser “other”, specifically that the “island [of Hong Kong] did not go through architectural transformation in the 1930s as Shanghai did” (Lee 1999: 328). A decade and a half has passed since this statement, and new discoveries in academia, including this research, will place a new dimension and perspective in the previously underrated and neglected modern architectural and urban landscape of Hong Kong. This research documents demolished buildings and aims to not only preserve surviving works of Hong Kong and Chinese architects, but also effectively repositions local architectural history and modern cultural heritage. It will lay the foundations for public heritage educational work, delineate how the architecture reacted to Western colonial prototypes while adapting to Chinese traditions in the early twentieth century, and improve the current heritage policy to preserve the unique cultural heritage landscape in Hong Kong and Chinese architecture.

With discoveries of lavish Han tombs in recent decades, material of the Han Dynasty (206 BC– 220 AD) continues to proliferate. Studies of these unearthed Han artefacts have increased, but they are primarily based on a particular category of art objects or within a specific tomb excavation. Also, archaeological materials are generally perceived as alternative sources that can complement documentary materials. This project, by contrast, attempts to focus on a very different issue, that of imitation, as the central theme to explore and rethink the materiality and identity of different ritual objects within the context of tomb, and also the wider subjects of cultural and social practices, and beliefs in the Han Dynasty. Imitation was prevalent and constant in the material world, once distinctions of value began to occur among various materials. There are myriad examples of imitation throughout ancient China, such as ceramic ding tripods (鼎), wooden bi discs (璧), etc., showing that it was popular and understandable to use inexpensive material to imitate objects made of valuable primary material, such as bronze and jade. However, the authentic situation of imitation was conceivably far more complex in the Han Dynasty. For example, the existence of jade imitation was a case of reverse logic. Moreover, imitation not only occurred among various materials, but also between genuine objects and image representations. Building on the solid foundation of a substantial collection of primary sources, such as excavated artefacts and manuscripts, archaeological reports, mural paintings, stone engravings, museum collections, catalogues, and ancient literature materials, this project will establish a solid archive and basis for both current and future related studies. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, an attempt will be made to shed light on various significant but hitherto unnoticed cases of imitation during Han times, and to understand what incentivised the choice of material, revealing the embedded cultural and social value in the objects and fabrication. Besides using conventional historical methodology to study ancient literature materials, this project will largely rely on the archaeological data and employ art historical stylistic analyses; also a sociological approach will be adopted. More broadly, it will highlight the importance of studies on material culture as a way to enhance our understanding of the religious ideologies as well as the history of Han society.

The study contends that the cultural influence of the PRC on Hong Kong was significant during the Cold War era. In addition to exploring the cultural exchange across two ideological blocs, the project also proposes a solution to the problem of reception.

本研究聚焦於民國時期的古代文學研究，並以個案研究作為主要方法。

In addition to providing a rich source of authentic spoken data, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for studying mid-20th century Cantonese, this proposed project will also focus on the possible mechanisms and the conditions involved in the development of Cantonese by comparing against 19th century and contemporary data.

本項目旨在研究戰後香港方言文學運動的成績，考察左派文人在港推動左翼革命文藝的文學史意義，並揭示香港作為一個殖民城市，如何制約左派文人的宣傳和寫作策略。