Cartoons have been a particularly resilient popular cultural product capturing and shaping the zeitgeist. The term ‘cartoon’was coined by the British Punch magazine which played a key role in the birth of cartoons across the world, and shaped how cartoons look today. Inspired by Punch, The China Punch (1867-1868, 1872-1875) was the first cartoon publication published by British expatriate W.N. Middleton in Hong Kong. This project places cartoons as the core of the transcultural and historical inquiry in the global or regional circulation of humour and satirical journalism by taking Hong Kong as a test case.

Since the publication period of Punch almost entirely coincided with the colonial period of Hong Kong, this project compares Punch cartoons with key Hong Kong cartoons produced in this era to highlight the intrinsic connection between cartoons and the history of the city from 1841 to 1997. The project uses an interdisciplinary methodology- combining archival studies with transcultural studies, incorporating theories from art history, comics, cultural, and humour studies. Therefore, it opens up a multi-layered discussion of cartoons at different historical and cultural junctions.

The archival materials also form an integral part in the scientific outreach activities, preserving and reviving the distant collective memories and cultural heritage. This project provides a transcultural history of cartoons and humour to enrich the discussion of the present-day political cartoons and the globalised internet culture of ‘virality’