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Dr. Hippocrates Cheng is currently an assistant professor of music theory and an affiliated faculty of Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University.
In this presentation, Dr. Cheng presents a critical analysis that intersects mobilities studies with music theory to dissect the representation of Hong Kong-ness in 20th-century American popular music. In these songs, Hong Kong-ness, as a concept tied to place, was viewed as a hub of mobilities—associated with trade, crime, opium, transfer, and escape. As a cultural identity, Hong Kong-ness was often stereotyped as low-wage, low social status, criminal, coolie, weak, and uneducated. Focusing on an examination of three different songs, he articulates how these songs, through their lyrics and musical motifs, perpetuate stereotypes and orientalist perspectives that contribute to the exoticism and cultural appropriation of Hong Kong-ness in the 20th century.