The Lure of the Modern: Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917-1937 (Berkeley Series in Interdisciplinary Studies of China)

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. -- Publisher Introduction. The global and local terms of Chinese modernism pt. 1. Desiring the modern: May Fourth occidentalism and Japanism. Time, modernism, and cultural power: local constructions. Evolutionism and experimentalism: Lu Xun and Tao Jingsun. Psychoanalysis and cosmopolitanism: the work of Guo Moruo. The libidinal and the national: the morality of decadence in Yu Dafu, Teng Gu, and others. Loving the other: May Fourth occidentalism and the global context pt. 2. Rethinking the modern: the Beijing School. Modernity without rupture: proposals for a new global culture. Writing English with a Chinese brush: the work of Fei Ming. Gendered negotiations with the local: Lin Huiyin and Ling Shuhua pt. 3. Flaunting the modern: Shanghai New Sensationalism. Modernism and urban Shanghai. Gender, race, and semicolonialism: Liu Nao̓u's urban Shanghai landscape. Performing semicolonial subjectivity: the work of Mu Shiying. Capitalism and interiority: Shi Zhecun's tales of the erotic-grotesque Conclusion. Semicolonialism and culture Appendix. Later modernisms: the war years and beyond. Preliminaries......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 16 1 Time, Modernism, and Cultural Power......Page 64 2 Evolutionism and Experimentalism......Page 88 3 Psychoanalysis and Cosmopolitanism......Page 111 4 The Libidinal and the National......Page 125 5 Loving the Other......Page 143 6 Modernity without Rupture......Page 166 7 Writing English with a Chinese Brush......Page 205 8 Gendered Negotiations with the Local......Page 219 9 Modernism and Urban Shanghai......Page 246 10 Gender, Race, and Semicolonialism......Page 291 11 Performing Semicolonial Subjectivity......Page 317 12 Capitalism and Interiority......Page 354 Conclusion......Page 386 Appendix......Page 394 Selected Bibliography......Page 402 Author/Title Index......Page 428 Subject Index......Page 436 An account of Chinese literary modernism, written from the perspective of Republican China. Shih argues for the contextualization of Chinese modernism in the semicolonial cultural and political formation of the time and analyzes pivotal issues, such as decadence and Orientalism. Shu-mei Shih. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 387-411) And Indexes.