What would Chinese immortals say to Miss Coca Cola? : An essay on the gender and religious dimensions of economic development in Hongkong and Macau during the 1950s
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2004-06-17
Author(s)
Abstract
I examine how a sexual worker's career developed in colonial Hong Kong and Macau. Although the refugee question elicited many newspaper articles in the 1950s, few scholarly studies have so far focused on the survival strategies and individual beliefs of the displaced population in the two territories. In this paper I rely on a biographical approach to address the ethical issues that are born from the confrontation of modernity and tradition. I suggest that Taoist images of paradise and immortality may have helped distressed women from the South China coast. Miss Coca-Cola's tale can be understood as emblematic of women's interactions with crude forms of capitalism, and therefore may open an alternative perspective on modernity in the British and Portuguese colonial empires.
Language
English
Keywords
Chinese religion (Taoism)
colonial studies
economic development
gender studies
Hong Kong (1950-1960)
Macau (1950-1960)
modernity
prostitution
China
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Event Title
SHSS, University of St. Gallen
Event Location
St. Gallen
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
215211