Double negations: Hong Kong cultural identity in Hollywood's transnationalrepresentations

This article attempts to develop a critical understanding of the reconstitu tion of Hong Kong identity in Hollywood productions involving Hong Kong fil m talents. It argues that the 'local' in the city's historical context of t he nineties no longer refers to any entity pertaining to a particular local ity and culture but is always already determined by the framework of the tr ansnational, which structures the perception of its local social reality. I n particular, the paper suggests that the remaking of Hong Kong cultural id entity in Hollywood films could be grasped in terms of the notion of a doub le negation. While the formation of such an identity is based on a negation of Chineseness, Hong Kong's transnational crossing to Hollywood initiates another negation that negates the very symbolic realm common to Chineseness . Jackie Chan's Hollywood blockbuster, Rush Hour, is used to illuminate the ways in which Hong Kong film stars and directors working for the global en tertainment syndicate re-appropriate their agency in the production of a tr ansnational narrative of their identity.