YCAR is happy to welcome Kin-Wai Amelia Chu to York as a visiting scholar. Dr Chu is a postdoctoral researcher funded by Research Foundation-Flanders and based at Ghent University. Her research traverses Hong Kong studies and comics, and she has published articles scrutinising comics at the intersections of gender dynamics, nostalgia, culture and politics.
With Faculty Associate Wendy S Wong (Design), Dr Chu is recipient of a YCAR Research Collaboration Fellowship. The duo is co-editing a book project, A Hong Kong Comics Studies Reader.
On 1 February, Dr Chu gave a public lecture titled “Hong Kong Nostalgia: Narrating Childhood and Collective Memories in Graphic Memoirs.” The lecture examines the depiction of nostalgia for 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong in three graphic memoirs: How Blue Was My Valley (2006) by Hok-tak Yeung, Sheung Ha Wo Che (2009) by Rainbow Leung and Fu Chong Chok Lok (2011) by Ko Sing. Hong Kong nostalgia encapsulates a poignant longing for bygone eras characterized by the city's distinctive urban landscape, much of which has undergone profound transformation in the continual process of urban development. Drawing from the analysis, Dr Chu illustrates how the personal childhood narratives and depiction of communal spaces evoke the collective memories of shared experiences. Bridging the realms of autobiographical reflection and communal remembrance, graphic memoirs play a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of Hong Kong’s cultural memories amidst ongoing transforming urban landscape.
Dr Chu will be at YCAR until 25 February 2024.