Post-Imperialism: The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Hong Kong, 1842-1997

This thesis explores the intricate relationship between postage stamps and the British representation of Hong Kong on a domestic and international level between 1840 and 1997. It examines a variety of underutilised sources through an interdisciplinary methodology influenced by scholars of visual culture, British imperialism, nationalism, and Hong Kong. Through a close reading of published accounts and postal stationery, key imagery and narratives are highlighted and scrutinised. A chronological comparison between the written accounts of visitors between 1840 and 1940, and the postage stamps produced after 1945 emphasises how key themes and icons were used across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to represent the British Colony across time. Details and narratives prominent in early newspapers provide a contextual basis to analyse the state-sanctioned postal stationery up until the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In approaching this topic, this thesis will examine how Hong Kong was represented in early published accounts and postage stamps; study to what extent local and global social and political changes influenced philatelic designs; and analyse how changes in Post Office policy affected the visualisation of Hong Kong on its postal stationery. Ultimately, this work identifies how British officials represented Hong Kong on a domestic and international level using the seemingly banal medium of postage stamps.