Shanghai Modern: A New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945

Author: Liu Wenfan (USA)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: The choice of "literary history" over "biographies of literary masters" or "critical essays on literature" as the primary form of literary research in Chinese academia owes much to the wave of Western learning. From the transformation of literary concepts and the shifting focus of literary genres to the reform of the education system and the renewal of curriculum design, "literary history" gradually became a familiar knowledge system in China. As a form of writing that combines education and research, "literary history" in 20th-century China was remarkable for its high output and widespread dissemination. The first half of this book gradually depicts the life of this magnificent city in the midst of great times, from the buildings and scenes of Shanghai's urban landscape to the material and various forms of entertainment—cars, villas, cigars, and rackets—that swept into the city. The modernity symbolized by these materials is further extended to the subtle process of how modern consciousness exists in Shanghai. Gradually, it accumulates the sounds, images, and commodities a city can offer, transforming them into art. Shanghai then officially becomes a mediator connecting China with other cultures of the world, forming an international cultural space. Liu Wenfan's reconstructed portrait of Shanghai is not one of nostalgia but one that leads readers to see the cultural geography marked by urban culture and modern literature. This book alsos the style of cultural criticism for the new century. It is a "decadent and unrestrained" novel about Shanghai by the renowned scholar Liu Wenfan, a prose written in the "love and romance" style, a cultural topography filled with spatial and temporal disorientation, and dazzling lights and shadows. Additionally, it is an extremely serious critical monograph, with Walter Benjamin as its unseen presence behind the scenes.