Research Questions

Topic: The Rise and Development of Cantopop since the 70’s: An Analysis of Hong Kong
Popular Music and its Influence in Macau and Hong Kong

Research Questions:
1) How and why did Cantopop come into fashion in Hong Kong?
2) What are the changes in the lyrical content of Cantonese pop songs?
3) How is the development of Cantonese pop songs related to the economy, culture, and political status of Hong Kong or Macau?
4) What are the changes in the style or type (melody forms) of Cantonese pop songs?
5) How is Hong Kong Popular Music influenced by the trend of other countries?
6) How are the changes affected by living standards, educational level and social values of
the Hong Kong population?

Methodology:
Data Collection: I am going to analyse different Cantonese songs in terms of context, lyrics, type and melody. I will consult a linguistic professor whose PhD. research area is Cantonpop culture. I have downloaded some articles about the rise and fall of Cantonpop culture in Hong Kong.
Presentation: I will prepare a PowerPoint as my medium of presentation. I will incorporate
some video clips and songs in the file to assist the explanation of analysis.

Claims:
1) the lyrical context of Cantonese songs changes overtime
2) the content is affected by the trend or influence from other countries, social affair (economy, culture, and political status) and social values (living standard, educational level)
3) those changes influence people in Hong Kong and Macau. E.g.forms of expression (create new words or change in the meaning of words)
4) 70’s: Hong Kong TV drama series became popular (theme songs arose)
80’s: influence of Japanese culture while promotion of local creation
90’s: karaoke and idols have come into sight2000: crossover of various elements from different places