Reproduction, resistance and joint-production of language power: A Hong Kong case study

This paper presents an analysis of a political meeting in contemporary Hong Kong, involving the British Hong Kong governor, Christopher Fatten, and members of the Hong Kong public. The meeting was the first time that a Hong Kong governor had made himself openly and directly accountable to the Hong Kong people in a public forum. Taking place at the beginning of Fatten's governorship, and in the form of question and answer, the meeting was presented by Fatten as a demonstration of the more democratic, participatory, public discourse he wanted to promote under his governorship, in preparation for the change of sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China, in 1997. The analysis shows that although Fatten promoted the meeting as a democratic forum, his ultimate control of the discourse meant that he was able to reproduce the dominance that his status as governor accords him, and that in spite of attempts to resist his dominance by some questioners, members of the public, either willingly or unwillingly, participated in the joint-production of Fatten's language power.