Based on the mystery novel "13·67" by Hong Kong writer Chan Ho-kei, this study aims to analyze how it embodies the genre norms of mystery novels, the changes in Hong Kong's urban space, the interaction of crime with the real world of Hong Kong that i ...
Based on the mystery novel "13·67" by Hong Kong writer Chan Ho-kei, this study aims to analyze how it embodies the genre norms of mystery novels, the changes in Hong Kong's urban space, the interaction of crime with the real world of Hong Kong that it conceals, and the protagonist's attempt to find subjectivity in borrowed history and space. Additionally, I would like to examine Chan Ho-kei's unique literary world, which is completed through this work.
"13·67" consists of six independent stories in reverse order. Each story focuses on a Hong Kong police officer with excellent reasoning skills who solves a criminal case from 1967 to 2013. The study can be divided into two main parts.
In the first part, we will examine "Temis' Libra" and "Prisoner's Pride," focusing on the changes in Hong Kong's urban space, the interaction with criminal events, and the dark reality of Hong Kong concealed by criminal cases. With the development of modern civilization, humanity has entered a new form of life, making the city's complex spaces and countless strangers - the crowd - a perfect place to hide traces of people. In this sense, strangers can come and go comfortably to hide their identity at any time, and Hong Kong's urban space, where Hong Kong's history is fading away like dust over time, becomes the most suitable place for individual traces to disappear. Furthermore, criminal incidents that occur amid changes in history and space reveal the reality that the modern city, which is materially rich and looks spectacular, benefits from high-tech technology, but is also concealing a darker side.
In the second part, we will examine "Rent Space" and "Rent Time," focusing on the identity the main character Guan Zhen-duo tries to maintain as a police officer and Hong Kong citizen in the rented space and time, not in the space and time he can control. In "Rent Space," attention is paid to "a strange space where the occupied person tries to localize more and more, and the occupied person becomes more and more like foreigners." The last story, "Borrowed Time," is the tale of the main character's excellent wit and reasoning ability to prevent a bombing in advance, but it also suggests the beginning of a journey to find a person's identity as a Hong Kong citizen and police officer. Without being trapped in a dichotomous ideology, he aims to achieve justice by protecting the safety of Hong Kong citizens and bringing criminals to justice, and tries to find an independent identity within it. This perspective reflects the current situation of Hong Kong and its people, who not only have returned to China after a long colonial history, but also have not completely escaped the colonial consciousness that still exists.