Shanghai Narrative And Nostalgic Writing Of Cheng Naishan

As one of the important writers of “Old Shanghai” writing,Cheng Naishan is a writer who cannot be ignored in the contemporary literary world.Her novels have been widely followed and praised for their relatively open cultural perspective,unique artistic style,warm feelings,and the different writing styles that are different from the literary mainstream.In general,Cheng Naishan's works have been divided into two periods,the segmenting line is “Financier” written after she moved to Hong Kong,which is companion volume of the “Shan Shui You Xiang Feng”.The critics and the research community have basically maintained an appreciation for Cheng Naishan's works in the previous period,affirming her creative spirit and creative value.However,they evaluated her the creations written in the later period and believed that the both in her creative abilities and creative consciousness have declining trends.This essay basis on Cheng Naishan's fiction writing and takes "Shanghai nostalgia" as the primer point,then,finds out the cultural connotation of "Shanghai nostalgia" through several steps,including combing of its creation vein,discussion of its text content,exploration of its text form,and analyses of its choice and innovation.Cheng Naishan's novel begins with Old Shanghai story,which aims to show the mysterious and wonderful old Shanghai to the readers who could not be able to touch those beauties,through the artistic representation of the legendary figures who live in the old Shanghai garden house and the ordinary characters living in the corner alleys.The nostalgic color displayed in her works has been fitted with the consumerism culture and been satisfied with the public's desire for knowledge of the old Shanghai full of magical colors.Thus,her works was widely sought after by readers and commentators for a certain period of time.Unfortunately,her novel is too persistent in telling a positive story,ignoring the expression of negative in real life,as a result,making it difficult to create profound and complex characters.Due to the limitation is difficult for her to make deep-literature.In addition,although Cheng Naishan has always denied that she is a nostalgic writer,her choice of the structure and the content in her novels always accompany with a strong nostalgic color of old Shanghai.There is no deny that Cheng Naishan's enthusiasm for writing for over 30 years and her adherence of original heart is worth admirable.In addition,her constant recall and excavation of the memory of the city in Shanghai shows her strong sense of social responsibility as a Shanghai writer,and also provides a new perspective for readers to understand the story of Old Shanghai.