DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門
The article argues that “Macao” functions, in Western and Hong Kong imaginations, as a liminal space where the marginal becomes magical: a shadow zone that simultaneously threatens and seduces, particularly in narratives that mobilize the “capitalist casino,” the circulation of images, and the econo...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
April 2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40038/3150 |
| _version_ | 1877196270450245632 |
|---|---|
| author | Sheng-mei Ma |
| author_autocomplete | Sheng-mei Ma |
| author_browse | Sheng-mei Ma |
| author_facet | Sheng-mei Ma Sheng-mei Ma |
| author_sort | Sheng-mei Ma |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 38 |
| container_volume_str | 38 |
| description | The article argues that “Macao” functions, in Western and Hong Kong imaginations, as a liminal space where the marginal becomes magical: a shadow zone that simultaneously threatens and seduces, particularly in narratives that mobilize the “capitalist casino,” the circulation of images, and the economy of desire. The author maintains that although Macao plays a “decisive” role in contemporary logics of gambling and profit, it remains paradoxically “absent” from everyday life and narrative framing, transformed into a setting or cipher for other cultural experiences.
Methodologically, the text undertakes a critical-intertextual reading of media representations—above all cinema and literature—articulating them with theoretical notions of Orientalist imagery, extraterritoriality, and cultural ambivalence (including the figuration of “dark writing” as writing in the shadows). Among the cases discussed, notable are cinematic and satirical reinterpretations of Macao by authors and directors from diverse horizons (for example, Josef von Sternberg, Timothy Mo, and Johnnie To), who at times re-enact noir and detective exoticisms, and at others reconfigure the underworld in a mode of action.
It concludes that such “imagined Macaos” redirect the place into a global grammar of fantasy and risk, where local people and routines are erased, while the city persists as a metaphor and device for the circulation of capital and images. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:57Z |
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| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
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| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:57Z |
| publishDate | April 2011 |
| publishDateRange | 2011 |
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| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 The article argues that “Macao” functions, in Western and Hong Kong imaginations, as a liminal space where the marginal becomes magical: a shadow zone that simultaneously threatens and seduces, particularly in narratives that mobilize the “capitalist casino,” the circulation of images, and the economy of desire. The author maintains that although Macao plays a “decisive” role in contemporary logics of gambling and profit, it remains paradoxically “absent” from everyday life and narrative framing, transformed into a setting or cipher for other cultural experiences. Methodologically, the text undertakes a critical-intertextual reading of media representations—above all cinema and literature—articulating them with theoretical notions of Orientalist imagery, extraterritoriality, and cultural ambivalence (including the figuration of “dark writing” as writing in the shadows). Among the cases discussed, notable are cinematic and satirical reinterpretations of Macao by authors and directors from diverse horizons (for example, Josef von Sternberg, Timothy Mo, and Johnnie To), who at times re-enact noir and detective exoticisms, and at others reconfigure the underworld in a mode of action. It concludes that such “imagined Macaos” redirect the place into a global grammar of fantasy and risk, where local people and routines are erased, while the city persists as a metaphor and device for the circulation of capital and images. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles April 2011 Sheng-mei Ma |
| spellingShingle | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 Sheng-mei Ma |
| title | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_autocomplete | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_full | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_fullStr | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_full_unstemmed | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_short | DARK WRIT : MARGINAL AND MAGICAL MACAO黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| title_sort | dark writ : marginal and magical macao黑暗寫作：邊緣及奇幻的澳門 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40038/3150 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |