The City Imagination Of Shanghai During Late Qing Dynasty And Early Public Of China

The thesis is intended to reveal novelists’ imagination on the urbanization of Shanghaiin the background of undergoing enormous social changes, on the basis of several novelswritten during late Qing dynasty and early Public of China and considerable critical essayson those novels. A methodology combining text scrutiny and theoretical analysis isadopted for the research.Starting from the binary interaction between novel writing and the urbanenvironment, the thesis tries to explore the unique urban characteristics of Shanghai city inthe background of significant social changes during late Qing dynasty and early Public ofChina, and how they are reflected in novels. The research focuses on the series of changesin the appearance of urban life and the inherent public values reflected in the novels.The Thesis consists of four chapters, which respectively explores the characteristicsof social change at the end of the Qing dynasty and early Public of China, the doublewriting on Shanghai described in novels, the emergence of prosperous commerce and anwesternized urban life style as well as the complicated social strata and interpersonalcommunication media at a time of revolutionary changes. Novels created during the end ofthe Qing dynasty and the beginning of Public of China is a product of changing times. Inthe background of the opening of Shanghai, those novelists of great insight either exposedsocial evils or kept detailed records of social facts. Regardless of their original intention,they indeed left us great literary legacy with their writings.