Text·wuhan-interpretating The Spaces In Chili And Fangfang’s Local Color Fictions

The local color fictions written by female Wuhanese writers Li Chi and Fang Fang are the research subject of this dissertation. The aim is to "read" the architectural and urban spaces of Wuhan in time-the forming of streets, architecture styles, and functional organization of spaces-from those texts in fictions. As this new way of observing space generates original thinkings, we could acquire a unique cultural and historical picture of the city, reading a city as we read its texts.Six chapters are included.Chapter One-Introduction. This chapter introduces the origin and research background of this dissertation, defines the concepts of "Wuhan local color fiction" and "Wuhan local color space", decides that Li Chi’s and Fang Fang’s Wuhan local color fictions are research subject. Then, it clarifies research methodology and evaluates the potential contribution to observing, preserving and developing Wuhan culture, as well as to richening architectural research methodologies and broadening the field of architectural research. Finally, it discusses the structure of the dissertation.Chapter Two-Related Researches. This chapter is combing related researches in the clue of relationship between literature and architecture. Two levels of relationship are analyzed, one for architecture being the subject of literature and being reflected in literal texts, the other is the two are influencing and reflecting each other. Based on the knowledge of precedent researches in this area, the profits and limitations are evaluated.Chapter Three-In this chapter, the texts depicting the urban scale space of Wuhan in Fang Fang’s and Li Chi’s fictions are quoted, and so are included the related pictures. Then it unveils the relationship of the fictional texts and the spatial changing facts of Wuhan city in history. In addition, the evolution of urban space and the morphological difference of street among three Wuhan sub-towns are analyzed.Chapter Four-Similar to Chapter Three, the texts from the two writers’ local color fictions are quoted, which in this chapter are texts describing the street spaces. At the same time, related pictures are illustrated. Reading those texts, Jiqing Street and Hualou Street are analyzed in the view of location, spatial scale, context and evolution. Lastly, in a more macro view, how "water" effects street space in Wuhan is discussed.Chapter Five-Using the same method, this chapter is reading the architectural spaces in Li Chi’s and Fang Fang’s local color texts, firstly residential spaces, then public spaces. For residential buildings, three types chronologically happened in Wuhan-"Lifen""Henan Shed" and "Workers’New Village"-are included. For public buildings, the informations and analysis explains that from late19th Century to early20th Century Wuhan’s urban morphology had greatly evolved.Chapter Six-Epilogue. This part makes conclusions and summarize in higher level.