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LI Nok Hang Jack

2023-24 Term 2

Investigating Language Attitudes and Identities through Hong Kong Pop Music in the 2020s: A Trilingual Genre

Supervisor:

Dr. Tongle Sun
Abstract

As an intricate music genre that is gradually more trilingual in the 2020s, Cantopop no longer represents Hong Kong for the language choice of its lyrics, but rather, for how it connects with the people and “vocalize” the local cultural identity. In this paper, I propose “Hong Kong Pop”, a multilingual music genre that deploys all three dominant languages of the city, namely, Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study considers Hong Kong Pop lyrics as both a cultural product and a textual material for critical reflection on Hong Kong people’s language attitudes and identities. The study shows that multilingual resources serve stylistic functions in rap music, maximize commercial benefits in dance-pop music, and manifest the cultural and musical upbringing of the artists. In-depth analysis of the interview data offered new insights on Hong Kong people’s attitudes toward the three languages: Cantonese has remained as the local people’s robust cultural identity marker; English has risen beyond a detached sense of professionalism and social prestige, and has become an alternative cultural language of Hong Kong; Mandarin has obtained higher level of acceptance among local youths. Ultimately, participants embraced the “Hong Kong Pop” genre, and defined it in two converging directions— “for Hong Kong people” and “from Hong Kong people”.

Reflection

This individual research project is a perfectly imperfect conclusion to my four years of fruitful university life at The English Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Four years ago, I would not have never imagined I could transform my passion in Hong Kong Pop Music into my capstone research through capitalizing on my knowledge and academic sensitivity cultivated with the help of top-notch teachers and mentors at the department. Admittedly overwhelming in the initial stage, this project has lived up to its name, “capstone”, as it anchors the end of a life chapter for me and served as a testament to my perseverance, a quality much needed in my upcoming journey in adulthood.

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