The paradox of exclusion and multiculturalism in postcolonial identity

Abstract

This article analyzes the discriminatory representation of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong advertisements through a semiotic analysis of a TV commercial for an insurance company. The ridiculing of a foreign domestic helper through a colorist representation is inscribed in an ethnographic inquiry that explores how the representation of the foreign “other” in terms of dark skin color serves to project a common conceptualization of Hongkongers’ own identity. The discussion explores the paradoxical understanding of Hong Kong as a multicultural and global city, in contrast with the apparently homogenous Chinese mainland, while excluding from the concept of “multiculturalism,” non-Chinese ethnicities through discrimination based on skin color. Thus, the role the TV commercial plays is to shape and reinforce this paradox, perpetuating the idea of the Hong Kong identity as Chinese, but multicultural at the same time.†† An early version of this paper was presented at the Kern Conference in Visual Communication, Rochester, New York, April 2014.

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