Hybridity and singularity: a study of Hong Kong’s neon signs from the perspective of multimodal translation

Hung over the streets and in large quantity, Hong Kong’s neon signs make a highly identifiable urban spectacle. The colonial history and geographical advantages have transformed Hong Kong into a culturally hybridised city manifested by the interaction between the bilingual texts and semiotic images on the neon signboards. This article gives the neon signs a multimodal description, and lays bare the social, aesthetic and intercultural attitudes embodied by the specific cityscape. It provides a translational approach to the neon signs by exploring the way in which they integrate different cultural sources and assume a strong local vibe that breeds new meanings and promotes a special urban landscape. In view of visual, aesthetic and sociocultural factors, it argues that Hong Kong’s neon signs present a kind of multimodal translation, and the meanings of the signboards are articulated through specific interlingual and visual mediation, which gives rise to the specificities of Hong Kong’s street scenes.