Summary: "Troubling American Women: Narratives of Gender and Nation in Hong Kong" -- author Stacilee Ford discusses her book. American women have lived in Hong Kong and neighboring Macao for nearly two centuries. Many were changed by their encounter with Chinese life and British colonialism. Their openness to new experiences set them apart, while their "pedagogical impulse" gave them a reputation for outspokenness that troubled others. Drawing on memoirs, diaries, newspapers, films, and other texts, Stacilee Ford tells the stories of several American women and explores how, through dramatically changing times, they communicated their notions of national identity and gender. "Troubling American Women: Narratives of Gender and Nation in Hong Kong" is a lively and provocative study of cross-cultural encounters between Hong Kong and the U.S. and of stereotypes of American womanhood in Hong Kong popular culture. Recorded at NPG, October 19, 2011.
