Multimedia Stardom in Hong Kong : Image, Performance and Identity

This book explores how media stars in Hong Kong are formed, how they relate to popular culture and to media industries in Hong Kong and more widely, and how the phenomenon of stardom is evolving. It considers stardom across a range of media, discusses how Hong Kong stars have been a product of Hong Kong’s particular cultural conditions, and how Hong Kong stars have adapted to the new conditions of Chinese rule. It concludes by examining how Hong Kong stars are increasingly popular internationally, and how the case of Hong Kong stars demonstrates the changing nature of media stars worldwide.

This book details original research into the practices and discourse of multimedia stardom alongside changing social and cultural landscapes in Hong Kong since 1980. It examines the cultural and sociological significance of stardom in the region, and the conditions which gave rise to such famous stars as Jackie Chan. This book elaborates the distinction between multimedia stardom and celebrity, asserting that in Hong Kong stardom has been central in the production and consumption of local media, while demonstrating the importance of multimedia stardom as part of the ‘cultural Chinese’ mediascape and transnational popular culture from both historical and contemporary contexts.