The Spatial Writing Of Shanghai In Amy Tan’s And Hongying’s Novels

Among many studies of Shanghai literature,the study of "Shanghai in the literature",that is,the image of Shanghai constructed in the text,is the most dynamic approach at present.According to Chinese writers,this magical city is not only a microcosm of modern urban culture,but also a multi-cultural identity.It’s not only a city of the gradually rising group of female but also a bridge between China and the West.Amy Tan and Hong Ying’s focus on Shanghai in The Valley of Amazement and the "Shanghai Trilogy" is particularly unique.This paper is mainly consisted by three parts,namely architectural narrative and memory origin,the spatial complexity and construction of subject,and space imagination and identity attribution.From the three aspects above the analysis of the fictional space and text structure characteristics of the Shanghai space is conducted closely and remotely.The causation and significance of texture expression is also analyzed similarly.The first chapter starts with the two kinds of remarkable buildings in the novel and analyzes the characteristics of the landmark buildings in the text and the features of that time and imagination meaning contained in it.In The Valley of Amazement and King of Shanghai,“Shuyu”(high-class brothel)is the embodiment of Shanghai style,which contains the female survival crisis and the new changes generated by the collision between China and the West.The Valley of Amazement and Death in Shanghai both focus on the theater,which is a model of heterotopian,uncovers the vanity of Shanghai city.The second chapter analyzes the spatial form of Shanghai in Hong Ying and Amy Tan’s works from the perspective of the complex of space.Hong Ying deliberately takes "Shanghai Trilogy" as a whole,using specific characters to connect the time and space of the three works.The characters experience "overlooking-walking" and "entering-leaving" in Shanghai.Strangers enter and integrate into Shanghai,but they are always estranged from it.As the title suggests,the whole space rises and falls like a valley,as the protagonist experiences the dilemma and uncertainty of life between China and the West.The third chapter further combines the background of the time and tastes the meaning of space imagination in the works of the two writers from the overall perspective.As Chinese writers facing with the world literature situation,they return to Shanghai to find their cultural roots.Probably they regards themselves as Shanghailanders on the literary level so that have deep resonance with this city.The conclusion summarizes the spatial form of Shanghai from the local to the whole in the works of the two writers,and finds out the reason and significance of the commonness and characteristics of their writing.Through the above three chapters,this paper makes a parallel comparison Amy Tan and Hong Ying,and analyzes the characteristics and overall structure of Shanghai space in the works of the two writers by space-related theories,aiming at the exploration of cultural background and deep causes of the works.Meanwhile the paper is also devoted to position the two in the map of "Shanghai in the literature".