The trend of “rewriting the history of modern Chinese literature” has been gaining momentum since 1990s. One of the most concerns is to doubt and criticize the mainstream idea of “grand narrative” in literature settled since “May Fourth”. And by challenging the classical discourse, a large part of modern literature resource which was ignored before get reevaluated. During the process of rediscovery, late Qing literature becomes a field of importance in the domain of modern literature study because of its historical significance. As the main object of study, Flowers of Shanghai is recognized as one of the best novels in late Qing characterized by its stylistic and formal innovations in the realistic representation. However, considering the previous views from the intellectuals of “May Fo...[ Read more ]

The trend of “rewriting the history of modern Chinese literature” has been gaining momentum since 1990s. One of the most concerns is to doubt and criticize the mainstream idea of “grand narrative” in literature settled since “May Fourth”. And by challenging the classical discourse, a large part of modern literature resource which was ignored before get reevaluated. During the process of rediscovery, late Qing literature becomes a field of importance in the domain of modern literature study because of its historical significance. As the main object of study, Flowers of Shanghai is recognized as one of the best novels in late Qing characterized by its stylistic and formal innovations in the realistic representation. However, considering the previous views from the intellectuals of “May Fourth” or contemporary scholars, I could always find out some blind spots or limitations. Therefore, a further observation should be made.

The research will summarize comments on Flowers of Shanghai during the last century. By filling the gap, the research plans to offer a further exploration. The discussion will be carried out from two main perspectives: one is to make an orientation of the work’s place in the history of fiction as well as in the background of culture and literature tradition; another is to make an analysis on the relationship between the text and its time. The thesis’ main body will be divided into three parts: The first part concentrates on the issue of narration of Flowers of Shanghai. With the history of Chinese fiction as a frame of reference, this part carries out a discussion on how the work employs innovations on the use of narrator, narrative techniques as well as narrative structure, in what ways the text differs from traditional practice, and what kind of effect it brings about. The second part focuses on the significance of “space” depiction. In this part, by observing how the text shapes and represents two kinds of space (the brothel and the private garden) respectively, a grasp of public experience as well as individual experience could be reached. And by binding two contradictory kinds of space together, special implication is achieved. The third part emphasizes the subjectivity of creation. By probing into the multiple identity of the subject, the study tries to reveal a specific individual position within the text. Based on an integral reading of Flowers of Shanghai, the thesis intends to carry out a comprehensive discussion, within a combination of historical as well as textual context. Hopefully, the study will open up new possibilities on the research of Flowers of Shanghai.