From Identity to Emotion: The Institutional Production of “Being Chinese” in Hong Kong Schooling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18326/jopr.v8i3.871-898Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis, Curriculum discourse, national identityAbstract
This article analyses how national belonging is constructed in post-2019 Hong Kong education policy through three official documents: the Citizenship and Social Development Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4–6) (2021), the Curriculum Framework of National Security Education in Hong Kong (2025), and the Values Education Curriculum Framework (2026). Drawing on a historiographical approach to critical discourse studies, it examines how presupposition and affective evaluation operate as key mechanisms in the normalisation of national identity. The analysis shows that deictic and possessive formulations such as “our country” presuppose students’ inclusion within a Chinese national collective, rendering belonging implicit and taken-for-granted. In parallel, affective lexis associated with pride, obligation, and moral attachment constructs an explicitly evaluative orientation towards the Chinese nation. The article argues that national belonging is produced through a combination of presupposed inclusion and affective alignment. It contributes to scholarship on discourse and education in Hong Kong by extending analysis beyond political speech to curriculum policy, highlighting education as a central site of identity formation in the post-2019 policy landscape.
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