On June 1, a new book, Troubling American Women: Narratives of Gender and Nation in Hong Kong by Stacilee Ford, will launch at the bookstore at the University of Hong Kong (Ground Floor, Run Run Shaw Building). The event begins at 4 p.m.

For nearly two centuries, American women have lived in Hong Kong and neighboring Macau. Many changed after encountering Chinese life and British colonialism. Their openness to new experiences set them apart. A certain “pedagogical impulse” gave them a reputation for outspokenness that sometimes troubled those around them.

Using memoirs, diaries, newspapers, film and other sources, Ford tells the stories of several American women and explores how, in dramatically changing times, they communicated their notions of national identity and gender. Troubling American Women is a lively, provocative study of cross-cultural encounters, shedding light on links between the histories of Hong Kong and the United States, even on how Hong Kong people used stereotypes of American women in popular culture.

Communications Office, University of Hong Kong

(May 30, 2011)



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