【明報專訊】Popular culture is comprised of music, movies, TV dramas, literature, comics, animated films, fashion, art and language. It is a short-term cultural trend embraced by the public, especially young people, reflecting the lifestyles and values of a particular group of people at a particular time. Popular culture is shaped by and transmitted through the media (such as TV and the internet); it and the media affect each other. Popular culture is closely related to consumer trends.
Cultural integration and conflicts
Hong Kong movies were once regarded as a hallmark of Chinese culture. According to the HKTDC, in the year 2014 HK＄675 million worth of audio and visual products were exported, while 61 Hong Kong movies were distributed in 2016. The Hong Kong movie industry relies heavily on overseas revenue, and Asia - including mainland China - is its largest export market. After the signature of CEPA in 2003, movies co-produced by Hong Kong and mainland companies have been the mainstay of the movie industry. The integration of capital and talent is accompanied by mainland China's censorship. Furthermore, as many Hong Kong TV and movie actors head north in pursuit of riches, Hong Kong is faced with an exodus of talent.
Meanwhile, Hollywood has purchased the copyright of some Hong Kong movies and remade them, an example being The Departed(無間道風雲), which was based on Internal Affairs(無間道). Some Hong Kong actors, such as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat, have played leading roles in Hollywood movies.
Collective memory
According to Professor Benjamin Ng of the CUHK Department of Japanese Studies, Hong Kong's popular culture, including music, movies and comics, invariably displays Japaneseness. The phenomenon was especially evident in the 1980s and 1990s, when 20 to 30 percent of Hong Kong pop songs were adaptations of Japanese originals. Japanese dramas and comics such as Doraemon have become many Hong Kong people's collective memory.
Soft power
Popular culture is a vehicle for cultural import and export. Cultural export is an index of a country's soft power. Some scholars believe that cultural export implies strength, as a cultural exporter can use its immense influence to change the cultural characteristics and values of another region. In 2009, Tarō Asō(麻生太郎), the then Japanese prime minister, announced that his government would hugely expand the proportion of comics, cartoons and video games in exports to stimulate the economy, in the hope that the move would enhance Japan's international standing.
In recent years, the South Korean government has been promoting the export of Korean pop culture. Its electronic entertainment business has taken the world by storm, enhancing the country's social status.
Related concepts:
．culture industry
．mass media
．local indigenous art
[通通識 第496期]
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