In dialogue: contesting the politics of globalization in Hong Kong literature in English

When considering the future of English in Asia, eventually we need to ask whether the English language and English literature are able to become features of, not just in, Asia. This is an echo of the observation made by renowned linguist Braj B. Kachru: “The English language is generally discussed as a language that is in Asia, but not of Asia. And this perception raises challenging questions about the immigrant status of a language and the rights of a language to naturalization” (1998: 90). While much has been (and is still being) written about the English language in Asia, it is high time literary scholars based throughout Asia discussed Asian literatures in English. In my view, there are at least three things we can do to help Asian literatures in English flourish: teaching Asia-themed literary works, encouraging our students to write creatively in English, and cultivating a field where rigorous critical exchange on such literature can take place. It is the second and third points on which I want to focus here. This chapter proposes postcolonial studies as a possible perspective through which to reflect on the development of Hong Kong English writing and explores some preliminary thoughts on what postcolonial studies can offer to the study of Hong Kong literature in English