The Writing And Image Of Late Qing Courtesan Novels

This paper aims at showing the modern Shanghai city life of late Qing courtesan novel, and reveals the value and significance of the process of modernization about modern Shanghai.Introduction part of the paper firstly proposed the two main issues, and those are changes of the daily life of modern Shanghai and the impact on people's lives by modern mass media. The solutions of these two problems have to base on writing and imagination of the late Qing courtesan novel about modern Shanghai. This section also combed the previous research results, especially researches since the eighties of the twentieth century.The paper can be divided into three chapters, according to the two main issues in the introduction part.The first chapter focuses on the late Qing courtesan novel shaped by the overall image of Shanghai. "Night Shanghai "highlighted by the late Qing courtesan novel is not only presented the image of the bustling city and pleasure-seeking consumer extravagant lifestyle, but also a description of desire, which reveals the modern consciousness. On the other hand, the daily life of people has undergone tremendous changes under the impact of foreign civilization. Using West's popular foreign goods affects all aspects of people's lives. That the time is elongated by the foreign amp still shows the strict hierarchical relationship in Modern Shanghai. The improvement and expansion of urban public space show "rational", "rigorous" and other ideas of modern city life.The second chapter focuses on the main narrative fiction space-brothels. From comparison with the ancient Chinese traditional brothel, the study reveals that the highly commercialized brothel in modern Shanghai digests the romantic literary imagination about brothels. The decline of the status of the literati reflecting from it looses the fundamental social structure and traditional Concept of hierarchy. However, brothels are still valued by the public, because its unique mode of operation is not only provided a venue for social activities, but also regarded as a necessary step that the adult men enter into society. This chapter through analyzing the good dreams of several prostitutes shattered reveals that the novel embodies the feelings of the public in modern Shanghai. There is only a moment's pleasure without past and future.The third chapter describes the interaction among newspapers which regarded as the main form of modern mass media, late Qing courtesan novel and the cultures of the public. The paper points out that the creations of courtesan novel authors, who have dual identity as journalists and novelists, reflect a more realistic sense of the times and a strong business sense. Information from the newspaper provided materials to their creations. And "be seen", "being evaluated", "exposed" of the newspaper to a greater extent is the self-promotion of the novelist and develop the potential approach of "audience".A unique perspective provided by late Qing courtesan novel makes important contributions to the understanding of social changes and the evolution of emotion among the public in modern Shanghai. Although the three chapters of this paper have not formed the strict linear logic, they can be complemented and explained by each other, which can help us be more rational when considering the unique historical value of late Qing courtesan novel.