DOCSLIB.ORG

Social Mix in Central Post-Reform Shanghai

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Social Mix in Central Post-Reform Shanghai UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON SOCIAL MIX IN CENTRAL POST-REFORM SHANGHAI Richard Wei-Tse Wang Thesis submitted to the Bartlett School of Planning of University College London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2010 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have submitted for examination for the PhD degree of University College London is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copy right of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my knowledge, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 Abstract Social mix can be observed in many post-reform Chinese cities, yet the topic has so far remained scarcely researched. Using central Shanghai as a focus, this research asks how socially mixed neighbourhoods have emerged, what is their internal structure, and how have locally-based social interactions been affected by the emergence of social mix. Based on a neighbourhood of 5 housing estates and other relevant examples, this study shows that mixed neighbourhoods have emerged from an unplanned and uncoordinated interplay among new market-driven commodity housing developments, counter-market retention mechanisms on traditional estates, government-led socially-orientated housing projects, residents’ resistance to redevelopment, and the lingering socialist legacy of welfare housing and unclear property rights. Significant differences were found in residents’ socio- economic attributes, living conditions, tenure and housing expenditure between the traditional, new middle-income, and new upmarket housing. The process of housing redevelopment and the creation of social mix have diminished locally-based social interactions. Residents’ intra-estate interaction is the strongest in traditional estates, lower in the middle-income estate and minimal in upmarket estates. The level of inter-estate interaction in the mixed neighbourhood is weak. The emergence of social mix has brought about a divergence in lifestyles and lifeworlds among the changed set of residents, which is reflected in the spheres of mobility, residential stability, shopping, and children’s education. The level of inter-estate interaction has reduced from the past when the neighbourhood was more socially homogenous. Findings suggest that social mix and a weakening of local social interaction will likely continue, and these will demand more scrutiny considering China’s development agenda on social harmony. Findings here concur with Western studies on mixed communities that social mix does not lead to social mixing. New policies and programmes to foster social interaction should be explored. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the unwavering support from my beloved parents and brother throughout the doctoral process. Equally, Michael Edwards, my amazing supervisor, who has been instrumental in the process for always believing in my work, and generously offered his time and intellect to help me overcome numerous barriers. I am also greatly indebted to one senior official from Shanghai’s Jing’an District Planning Bureau, whose knowledge and influence has helped this research immensely. In addition, the ORSAS award and UCL have both provided significant financial assistance to this research. Much gratitude is also due to Prof. Zhao Min and Associate Prof. Tong Min and a number of their students at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Shanghai’s Tongji University, and all the people whom I have had the pleasure to meet during the fieldworks for sharing their knowledge and stories. These experiences have greatly enriched this research. Claudio de Magalhães also offered valuable insights on the thesis in the final stage of the work. I would also like to thank my colleagues and dear friends - Sonia, Nikos, Paula, Chris, Cindy, Jun, Catherine, and Daniel - who have accompanied me during various stages of this journey. Finally, a special thanks to the medical team at Taiwan’s Shin Kong Hospital who took care of my spine injury during the research period, and helped me to regain health and complete this endeavour. 4 Table of contents Declaration .......................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. 4 Table of contents ................................................................................................. 5 List of figures ..................................................................................................... 10 List of tables ...................................................................................................... 12 List of abbreviations .......................................................................................... 15 1 Introduction 1.1 The phenomena: social mix and social mixing ............................................ 16 1.1.1 Transformations in Shanghai’s social pattern .................................... 16 1.1.2 Transformations in Shanghai’s locally-based social interaction ........ 18 1.1.3 Definitions of a mixed neighbourhood ............................................... 20 1.1.4 A personal note: the author and motivations for the research ........... 21 1.2 Research questions and hypotheses .......................................................... 23 1.3 Method ........................................................................................................ 30 1.3.1 Evolution of research ........................................................................ 30 1.3.2 Case study approach ........................................................................ 32 1.3.3 Case selection .................................................................................. 33 1.3.4 Data sources ..................................................................................... 37 1.4 Thesis structure .......................................................................................... 45 2 Social mix: a literature review 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 48 2.2 Importance of social mix ............................................................................. 49 2.2.1 Problems related to social exclusion and segregation ...................... 49 2.2.2 Proclaimed benefits of social mix ...................................................... 52 2.2.3 Proliferation of social mix policies in the West .................................. 55 2.3 Existing explanations on the socio-spatial division of urban space ............. 63 2.3.1 The polarisation thesis ...................................................................... 63 2.3.2 The Welfare State approach ............................................................. 66 2.3.3 Policy-fostered socially-mixed communities ...................................... 69 2.3.4 Community resistance to urban redevelopment ................................ 70 2.3.5 Site characteristics and externalities ................................................. 73 2.4 A framework to examine the mechanisms of mixed neighbourhoods in post- reform Shanghai ............................................................................................... 75 5 3. Social mixing: a literature review 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 87 3.2 Urban restructuring and social interaction in China ..................................... 88 3.2.1 The need for meso level studies ....................................................... 88 3.2.2 Predominant approaches in studying residents’ social dynamics ..... 90 3.2.3 Current knowledge on intra-estate social interaction ........................ 91 3.3 Inter-estate social interaction: Does social mix lead to social interaction? .. 95 3.3.1 Supporting literature .......................................................................... 95 3.3.2 Contesting literature .......................................................................... 96 3.4 Existing findings from mixed neighbourhoods ........................................... 104 3.4.1 Social interaction in mixed (tenure/income) estates ........................ 104 3.4.2 Social interaction in gentrified areas ............................................... 108 3.5 Filling gaps in mixed neighbourhood research .......................................... 112 3.5.1 Gaps in current studies ................................................................... 112 3.5.2 Areas to improve the research on cross-class social interaction ..... 114 4 Urban redevelopment and mixed neighbourhoods in central Shanghai 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 117 4.2 The city of Shanghai ................................................................................. 118 4.2.1 Shanghai’s profile ........................................................................... 119 4.2.2 A brief
Load more

Recommended publications
  • University of California, San Diego
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Shanghai in Contemporary Chinese Film A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Comparative Literature by Xiangyang Liu Committee in charge: Professor Yingjin Zhang, Chair Professor Larissa Heinrich Professor Wai-lim Yip 2010 The Thesis of Xiangyang Liu is approved and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2010 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………………… iii Table of Contents…………….…………………………………………………...… iv Abstract………………………………………………………………..…................ v Introduction…………………………………………………………… …………... 1 Chapter One A Modern City in the Perspective of Two Generations……………………………... 3 Chapter Two Urban Culture: Transmission and circling………………………………………….. 27 Chapter Three Negotiation with Shanghai’s Present and Past…………………………………….... 51 Conclusion………………………...………………………………………………… 86 Bibliography..……………………..…………………………………………… …….. 90 iv ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Shanghai in Contemporary Chinese Film by Xiangyang Liu Master of Arts in Comparative Literature University of California, San Diego, 2010 Professor Yingjin Zhang, Chair This thesis is intended to investigate a series of films produced since the 1990s. All of these films deal with
    [Show full text]
  • The Flâneur in Shanghai: Moviegoing and Spectatorship in the Late Qing and Early Republican Era
    1 The Flâneur in Shanghai: Moviegoing and Spectatorship in the Late Qing and Early Republican Era SUGAWARA Yoshino 上海の遊歩者 ― 清末民初の映画鑑賞について 菅 原 慶 乃 本稿は、上海における映画受容を、都市と娯楽文化の近代化の総体的文脈の中に位置 づけたうえで、（1）遊歩や観劇文化の近代化の文脈における映画受容と、（2）知的な文 明、あるいは近代教育の工具としての映画受容の二つについて明らかにするものである。 上海において、映画は観劇文化を代表とする伝統的娯楽文化と強い親和性を持ち、伝統 的娯楽文化の近代化の過程においてその文脈の内に包摂されていった。数々の日記資料 が明らかにするところによれば、映画鑑賞とは近代的娯楽の中核を成す遊歩という行為を 構成する諸々の遊興行為の一要素であった。映画は遊歩に従属する行為であり、遊歩の 過程で人々が目にする様々な都市の風景の一断片であった。遊歩に依拠した映画鑑賞態 度は、1910年代には遊楽場という遊興施設を誕生させ、1920年代には国産映画の美学へ 強い影響を及ぼすこととなった。他方、映画は娯楽文化とは全く異なる文脈においても受 容された。西洋式の学校や公共施設、宗教団体の会所などで上映される映画や幻灯は、 西洋（あるいは近代）がもたらす「啓蒙的」で「知的」なメディアとしても受容されていた。 このような空間における映画上映は、「健全」なものとして市井の商業上映とは全く異な るヘテロトピア―映画の教育的ミリュー―を創造した。1920年代の国産映画が社会教化 を強く志向したのは、このような映画受容に直接のルーツを求めることができるのである。 2 Preface The development of digital technology and archival efforts to preserve and publish early movies through various media and opportunities has dramatically improved the ac- cessibility of those unseen movies. Although many movies are to be repaired and re- searched yet, many early works are no longer antiques stored in the darkness of film ar- chives, unseen for decades. Yet, some important questions about movie exhibition and spectatorship in the initial movie years remain unanswered or unexamined; they encapsu- late the attitude of movie spectators, the social and cultural milieus of the movie exhibition venues, and the recognition and acceptance of movies as a new media by the early audi- ence. Among the early studies on movie spectatorship and audiences, Miriam Hansen’s Babel and Babylon should be marked as one of the most unique and insightful due to its methodology, which utilizes both aesthetic and historical methods in analyzing early spec- tatorship in the United States. One of Hansen’s achievements in this work is her theoriza- tion of the different stages of early film spectatorship, based on her analysis of a profound number of early movies.
    [Show full text]
  • Rural Migrants in Shanghai
    The Making of the Chinese Working Class: Rural Migrants in Shanghai by Li Ma This thesis/dissertation document has been electronically approved by the following individuals: Nee,Victor (Chairperson) Swedberg,Richard (Minor Member) Strang,David (Minor Member) THE MAKING OF THE CHINESE WORKING CLASS: RURAL MIGRANTS IN SHANGHAI A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Li Ma August 2010 © 2010 Li Ma THE MAKING OF THE CHINESE WORKING CLASS: RURAL MIGRANTS IN SHANGHAI Li Ma, Ph. D. Cornell University 2010 My dissertation analyzes the institutional mechanisms that cause the persistence of class and status inequalities between rural migrants and urban residents in post- socialist Shanghai. I examine how remnants of China’s socialist institutions , after the gradualist market reform, continue to stratify rural migrants and their second generation through sociopolitical processes. Making two thirds of the labor force nowadays in China, rural migrants experience social forces in China’s emerging market capitalism as well as repercussions from the socialist legacy. Drawing from historical archives and a 12-month ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, I demonstrate how rules, norms, organizations and beliefs in contemporary Chinese society make rural or urban residence identities the most salient sites of social distinction. I examine the blending and segregating processes of rural migrants’ life in the city. I also analyze how rural migrants respond to social exclusion with a variety of strategies. I argue that since rural migrants and urban residents have been classified into two different forms of citizenship that were deeply rooted in the ideological and organizational structures of Chinese socialism.
    [Show full text]
  • Effectiveness of a Peer-Led Self-Management Program for Older People with Type 2 Diabetes in China
    Effectiveness of a peer-led self-management program for older people with type 2 diabetes in China by Huixia Shen MHSc (Nursing), RN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of philosophy School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology 2008 Abstract Type 2 diabetes is a common chronic disease, which has a negative health impact and results in enormous economic burden. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically and it affects older people disproportionately. The healthcare system in China is faced with an overwhelming burden due to a large ageing population, high prevalence of diabetes and limited healthcare resources. Self-management has been widely accepted as the cornerstone of the clinical management of type 2 diabetes. Since self-management usually involves complex behaviour change and can be emotionally challenging, effective education is essential to facilitate this transition. However, there has been no existing program of type 2 diabetes self-management for older patients in China until now. Furthermore, the generalisation of any health education programs is often hampered due to limited healthcare resources in China. The primary purpose of this study was to develop a socially and culturally suitable self-management program, which addressed self-efficacy and social support to facilitate behaviour change and subsequent health improvement, for older people with type 2 diabetes living in the community in China. The secondary purpose was to test a feasible delivery model of the program through involvement of peer leaders and existing community networks. i This study was conducted in three phases.
    [Show full text]
  • Proefschrift Lena Scheen
    Shanghai : literary imaginings of a city in transformation Scheen, L.M. Citation Scheen, L. M. (2012, January 26). Shanghai : literary imaginings of a city in transformation. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/18418 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral License: thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/18418 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). 2 MAPPINGS DRAWING MENTAL MAPS OF MEMORIES Figure 2-1 The cover of the collection City Map (middle) and two of its stories’ first publication in the journal Shanghai Literature. For sure, I live in Shanghai, but Shanghai is just the land of my dreams. Ever since I began remembering things, she has been the land of my dreams. […] Perhaps Shanghai is big, sailing in the time and space of civilization like a giant ship. We are like passengers on this ship. Although we are familiar with the city and have been to many streets, roads and shops, we know only part of it. Or perhaps Shanghai is small, packed in our minds. Wang Xueying 2×ñ (2006: 125 and 133; translation by Sylvia Yu and Julian Chen) The cliché is that there are eight million stories in the city. But really, it’s more like there’s eight million different cities, each created within each of our memories. Jake Barton on the City of Memory project (cited in Mooney 2008) “Passing 97th Street in Far Rockaway still makes me hungry, and gives me vertigo.” Thus starts one of the stories on the website www.cityofmemory.org, an online community map of New York citizens’ stories.
    [Show full text]
  • The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: Wang Anyi’S Tale Of
    THE SONG OF EVERLASTING SORROW: WANG ANYI’S TALE OF SHANGHAI BY Nancy Schneider Submitted to the graduate degree program in East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s of Arts. Committee members * ____________________* Keith McMahon, Advisor ____________________* Elaine Gerbert ____________________* H. Faye Xiao Date defended: 02/03/2011 The Thesis Committee for Nancy Schneider certifies that this is the approved Version of the following thesis: THE SONG OF EVERLASTING SORROW: WANG ANYI’S TALE OF SHANGHAI Committee: ____________________* Keith McMahon, Advisor ____________________* Elaine Gerbert ____________________* H. Faye Xiao Date approved: 02/03/2011 ii Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One: Wang Anyi’s Life and Writings...................................................................... 3 Chapter Two: The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: Interpreting the Subtextual Meaning of “Everlasting Sorrow” in Wang Anyi’s Tale of Wang Qiyao...............................................15 Chapter Three: Writing Shanghai: One City, Two Different Approaches – A Comparative Analysis between Zhang Ailing and Wang Anyi................................................................. 40 Chapter Four: Conclusion....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • UC Davis Recent Work
    UC Davis Recent Work Title Motorization, Vehicle Purchase and Use Behavior in China: A Shanghai Survey Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kn849h1 Author Ni, Jason Publication Date 2008-09-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California 中國之機動化暨交通工具購買及使用行為： 上海調研及案例分析 ii ABSTRACT Motorization is the transition from non-motorized travel means (e.g., walk) to motorized travel means (e.g., car). China, as the most populous country in the world, has started the motorization process, and its results will have huge impact on the whole world in terms of transportation, energy, environment and automobile market. At the national level, motorization is usually measured by the growth of auto ownership, and average income (GDP per capita) is usually considered the major driving force. However, this dissertation is focused on studying motorization at the individual or household. To do so, a pilot survey of 122 residents of Shanghai was conducted in late 2005, and a final survey of 1,037 people was conducted in mid-2006. Research methodology, motorization pathway, and vehicle purchase (and use) behavior are three topics of this dissertation. Basically, this dissertation attempts to answer the following three questions: How to conduct survey research in China? What are motorization pathways in China? What is the vehicle purchase and use behavior in China? Regarding the first, trust from respondents is an important factor affecting people’s motivation to participate in the study. A short, straight-forward questionnaire and a team speaking the local dialect help to facilitate survey research. In terms of motorization pathways, the survey shows that motorization pathways in Shanghai are diverse, complicated (multi-staged), and as one would expect at this point, do not include cars for many households and individuals.
    [Show full text]
  • Communitas School Magazine
    SHANGHAI COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL SEP/OCT. 2019 Transitions TABLE OF CONTENTS Features Community Campus Highlights P. 22–23 // Teacher Spotlight P. 16–17 // Hongqiao Campus Highlight P. 4 // Director of Schools’ Letter Farewell to an SCIS Gem Back-to-School Connections P. 5–7 // IB Corner P. 24–25 // Family Spotlight P. 18–19 // Hongqiao ECE Campus Highlight Transitioning to the Upper School and the Meet the Ong Family International Literacy Day: Celebrating our Middle Years Programme Multilingual Readers Getting a Real Time Glance into Your Child’s P. 26–27 // Student Spotlight Progress with Seesaw Dragons in Action SCIS Swimmer Wins Bronze P. 20–21 // Pudong Campus Highlight at Nationals Welcoming Friends, Old and New! P. 8–9 // Synchronized Accreditation One Community Celebrating Diversity Together P. 32–34 // PAFA for United Nations Day Meet our New Parents and Friends Association Members P. 10–11 // Conselor Connection Surviving in Stride: A Guide to Culture Shock and the Expat Life P. 12–13 // Language Acquisition A look at the PYP Mandarin Language Acquisition Program at SCIS P. 14–15 // China Host Culture SHANGHAI as Seen Through Our Eyes 18 P. 28–29 // Sports Recap Meet the XpertHealth Athletics Trainers Behind the Scenes 22 P. 30–31 // Librarian Corner 8 4 DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS’ LETTER In response to the need for a space to the knowledge they are to acquire and share our varied experiences within SCIS, understand as well as the skills and “Communitas” was created. Entering its character qualities that are embedded tenth year of publication, it continues to within our program.
    [Show full text]
  • Uv-Higher View-Aug 2014
    SHANGHAI Sizzling Shanghai 64 In the past decade, China’s trendsetting metropolis has become a gastronomic powerhouse. Sarah O’Meara explores the city’s innovative dining scene ugh Grant and John decades. Rewind 20 years and the city was Cusack were here last dominated by a small selection of conservative, weekend,” says our host state-run restaurants. Now there are more brightly, as my husband than 90,000 dining venues, according to and I walk along the restaurant review website Dianping. And “Hcorridor to the Mandarin Oriental’s Yong Yi while that number might include every little Ting restaurant. dumpling stand, it also represents a significant Above our heads, lampshades inspired by influx of high-end restaurants. Chinese wine jars light our way towards a With its booming economy and robust modern dining room that feels fresh, yet investment scene, the city is the perfect traditional, with translucent embroidered launchpad for budding restaurateurs, both screens separating the tables, chilled music from China and the west. Shanghai restaurants and an avant-garde waterfall feature. The currently take five spots in the prestigious top glitzy five-star hotel in Shanghai’s Pudong 50 best restaurants in Asia list. district has barely been open a year, but it’s “The western food scene is pretty cutting-edge,” already made its mark – and not just when it says Shanghai-based food writer Crystyl Mo. comes to welcoming A-list movie stars. “Everyone wants to be here because you can Yong Yi Ting has been acclaimed by critics get financing, find collaborators and open as offering the most innovative examples of contemporary Chinese cuisine in the city.
    [Show full text]
  • Shanghainese Autumn Ding, Bryn Mawr
    A vanishing langnage: Shanghainese Autumn Ding, Bryn Mawr College [email protected] December 2014 1 Introduction As a native Shanghainese speaker, there are two memories that stuck out to me. One was when I was an elementary school student, our teacher taught us not to speak Shanghainese in class. Being a "good student" I helped by reminding other students of this rule whenever I caught them conversing in Shanghainese. The other one, however, was when I visited my uncle's house for a family reunion where everyone was speaking Shanghainese, I was struck by how beautiful my mother tongue sounds to me. It dawned on me that this language is the essence of Shanghai's soul, like the unique patterns of one's palm, the richness ofShanghainese language branches through Shanghai's past and present, whispering her own stories. Unfortunately, the very patterns that formed Shanghai's palm are beginning to fade away nowadays. Amidst its skyscrapers and growing population, the number of Shanghainese speakers has been dwindling in recent decades. The social circumstances of Shanghai created a unique situation where language endangerment happens despite of its economic achievement and international attention. For the past few decades, government policy, economic development, education and media have spun a convoluted web in favor of the promotion of Mandarin as the standard national language. It is not surprising that the changing political milieu and language policies in China have caused quite a few challenges for the Shanghainese language. According to a report from the Shanghai 1 Academy of Social Sciences in 2012, about 40 percent oflocal children cannot understand or speak the lanugage, which indicates the gloomy situation for Shanghainese.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chinese Metropolis:Shanghai in Comparative Perspective
    Chinese Metropolis Shanghai in Comparative Perspective Syllabus Department of Sociology, Fudan University 2012-13 Second semester 1 Staff of the Course Course Coordinator Prof. Yu Hai, Department of Sociology, Fudan University Email: [email protected] Telephone: (M) 13321859728; (H) 65304777; (O) 55665380 Office: Rm. 929 in Arts and Literature Building (Wenke Building) Homepage: http://www.oldssdpp.fudan.edu.cn/yuhai Assistant Nathan Sperber, Department of Sociology, Fudan University Email: [email protected] Telephone: (M) 15001726013 Course Description Shanghai is one of the most powerful cities in China, in East Asia, and in the World. Its global stature is evident from the powerful architecture – a mix of cutting-edge contemporary designs and grand Western-style edifices dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. At the same time, it is distinctly Chinese and yet occupies a unique place with challenges and issues arising from its position as the financial lead in China‘s rapid economic development. Shanghai took shape after China was forced to open itself to the outside world in the second half of the 19th century, amidst the clash between, and interaction of, Oriental and Western cultures. Its history taken into consideration, there is no doubt that Shanghai presents an excellent case study of Western influence on Chinese cities in their modernization process and their adaptation and creation of local cultures in the past 170 years. 2 To researchers, Shanghai may best display the interaction of such elements as geography, economy, humanism and society. As the economic center of China, Shanghai's transition from planned economy to market economy is also worthy of further study.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Towards an Itinerant Sinophone: Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki 2015 © copyright by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Towards an Itinerant Sinophone: Transnational Literary Collaboration in the Writings of Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She by Clara Chiyoko Iwasaki Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor Shu-mei Shih, Chair The increasing prevalence of literature which pushes the boundaries of national literatures as well as the difficulty that the methodology of comparative literature has with negotiating texts without a clear-cut national provenance has led to the increasing interest in reviving the term “world literature.” While most of the current theories of world literature are concerned with the migration of texts or authors unidirectionally, from the periphery to the center, this study is interested in tracing the migration of authors and texts along their itineraries. The benefit of this model is the way that it allows multidirectional movement, texts and authors move back and forth between countries, languages, and literatures in ways that current models of both comparative literature and world literature do not account for. The itineraries of the three writers and their texts also reveal the ways that the geopolitics of the time influenced literary movement: writers moved south to avoid Japanese conquest in the 1930s and 1940s and moved westward to the United States in the 1950s.
    [Show full text]