The Construction of Transnational HongKongness: A Case Study of Green Bean Media

This thesis investigates the portrayal and construction of “Hongkongness” by Hong Kong diasporic media established in the United Kingdom following the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement. As this community actively uses online platforms to renegotiate collective identity, existing literature lacks the theoretical frameworks to analyse this dynamic, relational identity work. This study addresses this gap by examining how the popular UK-based YouTube channel, Green Bean Media (GBM), portray a transnational Hong Kong identity.
The study employs a qualitative case study design, grounded in an innovative theoretical framework synthesising everyday nationalism and ethnic boundary-making theory. Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MMCDA) was utilised to systematically examine a corpus of 40 videos published between July 2022 and February 2025, supplemented by an analysis of channel-endorsed audience comments.
The analysis reveals a coherent, three-part strategy utilised by GBM. First, it cultivates internal cohesion by constructing a transnational “Greater Hong Kong Community” discourse through different Hongkongers’ media images (e.g., the “Reluctant Exile”) that transform individual hardship into collective strength. Second, it establishes external distinction through “normative inversion”, constructing “Chineseness” as a monolithic “Other” and framing Hongkongness as a morally superior “tragic hero”. Third, it strategically repositions Hongkongness in relation to the West by reappropriating its British colonial legacy to assert equality (a strategy of “equalisation”) and performing a “model migrant” identity.
In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that GBM functions as an active agent in constructing “deterritorialised belonging”—a coherent, politically purposeful identity independent of territory. This research contributes significantly to diaspora studies by illuminating how digital diasporas engage in active political subject formation, extends boundary-making theory to multimodal environments, and offers a dynamic framework for understanding post-2019 Hong Kong identity.