Abstract

“Demonstrations” is a collection of six short stories which follow protagonist James Kou, a young, middle-class, Hong Kong Chinese-Canadian immigrant studying English literature in Lennoxville, Québec, and later, returning to his birth place of Hong Kong, as he navigates the multiple facets of his personality and begins to understand who he is and where he comes from. These stories explore issues of internal and external racism, familial relations, the rediscovery of culture, language, ancestry, place, and redemption in the form of restorative relationships. The settings of Lennoxville, a majority white and rural area in Québec, and Hong Kong, a majority Chinese, former British colony, reflect the complications of identity exemplified by James. The historical moment of spring and summer 2019 in which majority of these stories take place, as well, imbues James’s visit with an added significance, as it is in this year China attempts to pass an extradition bill which allows detainment of Hong Kong citizens or citizens from other territories such as Taiwan who are deemed dissidents or criminals. The fear however is that such power would be used to suppress political dissent; the proposed bill as of summer 2019 is another example of China’s encroachment upon Hong Kong, an island which is and is not a part of China. Hong Kong in the summer of 2019 saw some of the largest pro-democracy demonstrations yet.