"shanghai Nostalgia" Phenomenon In The Urban Literature Since The 1990s Study

The discoursing on the "nostalgia for Shanghai" phenomenon, originating from the 1990's in literary circles, serves as a medium for researching into the current urban literature. "Nostalgia for Shanghai" cannot be regarded just as recalling sentiments or popular subject matters. It reflects the social, economic, and cultural formation under reformation and displays the spiritual stance and orientation of values on the part of urban literature writers.This dissertation, exclusive of the preface and the conclusion, falls into three parts. Chapter one is entitled Shanghai and ""nostalgia for Shanghai". It first traces back to the 30's and 40's of the last century the achievements of the modern urban civilization and the urban literature, so as to justify the realistic significance of "nostalgia for Shanghai". In addition, it multidimensionally elaborates at length on the upsurge, the development, and the accomplishments of the phenomenon since 1990's. Genealogically analyzing writers dealing with "nostalgia for Shanghai" facilitates the thorough understanding of the phenomenon. Chapter two is the exposition of essays belonging to this literary phenomenon. It expands the features of these essays through analyzing Cheng Danyan's , Su Su's, and other writers' texts of this kind. The common characteristics are: firstly, these works reflect selective,consumption-oriented and commercialized nostalgia, and secondly, the popularity of these works is closely related to the establishment and expansion of the middle class discourse. The third chapter handles "nostalgia for Shanghai" shown in novels by Wang Anyi, who is one of the most significant and typical writers of this type. This chapter, through careful critical studying of Wang Anyi's Anecdotes during the Cultural Revolution and The Elegy, sheds light on her efforts in disclosing the city's urban temperament and the citizens' psyche from the non-governmental perspective.This thesis intends to make systematic research on "nostalgia for Shanghai" and take it as a literary phenomenon closely associated with realistic social requirements and the writers' value orientation. It focuses on nostalgia as a channel and a comparison between the highly-developed Shanghai urban civilization in 1930's and 1940's and the present-day rising city under urbanization, thus unfolding the diverse connotations and multi-meanings of "nostalgia for Shanghai" to manifest the panorama of the existing urban literature.