The Lure of the Modern
Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917-1937
1st Edition
Published on 20. April 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
440 pages
978-0-520-22064-5 (ISBN)
Description
Shu-mei Shih's study is the first book in English to offer a comprehensive account of Chinese literary modernism from Republican China. In The Lure of the Modern, Shih argues for the contextualization of Chinese modernism in the semicolonial cultural and political formation of the time. Engaging critically with theories of modernism, postcoloniality, and global and local cultural studies, Shih analyzes pivotal issues - such as psychoanalysis, decadence, Orientalism, Occidentalism, semicolonial subjectivity, cosmopolitanism, and urbanism - that were mediated by Japanese as well as Western modernisms.
Reviews / Votes
"Quite apart from her contributions as a literary critic, Shu-mei Shih is able to historicize literary developments of the period most persuasively. Her analysis of Shanghai, the city, and the literary movement it spawned, is crafted with great sensitivity to both history and literature. In many ways, it is the most inclusive historical study of modern Chinese literature in its formative period." - Prasenjit Duara, author of Rescuing History from the Nation "This is the most thoroughly researched study of Chinese modernism published to date. The author's theoretical interventions greatly enrich our understanding of colonial modernity and the stakes of comparison in cross-cultural studies. The book is a major contribution to modern Chinese literary studies and comparative literature." - Lydia Liu, editor of Tokens of Exchange"More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 line illustration, 1 table
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-22064-5 (9780520220645)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Shu-mei Shih is Associate Professor in East Asian Languages and Cultures, Comparative Literature, and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Content
Preface Introduction The Global and Local Terms of Chinese Modernism PART ONE: Desiring the Modern: May Fourth Occidentalism and Japanism 1. Time, Modernism, and Cultural Power: Local Constructions 2. Evolutionism and Experimentalism: Lu Xun and Tao Jingsun 3. Psychoanalysis and Cosmopolitanism: The Work of Guo Moruo 4. The Libidinal and the National: The Morality of Decadence in Yu Dafu, Teng Gu, and Others 5. Loving the Other: May Fourth Occidentalism in the Global Context PART TWO: Rethinking the Modern: The Beijing School 6. Modernity without Rupture: Proposals for a New Global Culture 7. Writing English with a Chinese Brush: The Work of Fei Ming 8. Gendered Negotiations with the Local: Lin Huiyin and Ling Shuhua PART THREE: Flaunting the Modern: Shanghai New Sensationism 9. Modernism and Urban Shanghai 10. Gender, Race, and Semicolonialism: Liu Na'ou's Urban Shanghai Landscape 11. Performing Semicolonial Subjectivity: The Work of Mu Shiying 12.Capitalism and Interiority: Shi Zhecun's Tales of the Erotic-Grotesque Conclusion Semicolonialism and Culture Appendix Later Modernisms: The War Years and Beyond Bibliography Index