Under the umbrellas : conceptualising umbrella movement space

Abstract

Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement” of 2014 was a significant event for Hong Kong not only politically but also culturally. This dissertation examines how the Umbrella Movement engaged with the three key elements of space, text and time. This dissertation will argue that the nature of Umbrella Movement space and its engagement with text and time shaped the cultural expression of the movement and the movement’s interactions with participants and the wider community, and has important implications for the legacy of the movement. Conceptualisations of spatiality by theorists Lefebvre, Foucault and Harvey are considered and applied to the Umbrella Movement occupied spaces, and the distinctions between public space and common space explored in the context of Lefebvre’s “right to the city”. The textual nature of Umbrella Movement space is examined, in particular applying methodologies of intertextuality and dialogism to Umbrella Movement texts and the relationship these texts had to the occupied spaces. The manner in which time interacted with both space and text in the Umbrella Movement spaces is considered, applying Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope and theories of the liminal to understand Umbrella Movement spatiality, as well as considering how the occupied spaces functioned as cultural sites of enchantment. This dissertation argues that each of these three areas of space, text and time contribute to the legacy of the Umbrella Movement and have implications for future protest movements and political and cultural expression in Hong Kong.