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New Shanghai nostalgia: old buildings in Blossoms

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Abstract

By analysing the descriptions of Shanghai’s old buildings within Blossoms, this essay discusses how Jin Yucheng constructs a new nostalgic narrative of Shanghai and extends previous Shanghai nostalgia. In previous Shanghai nostalgia, Shanghai is an imagination of global modernity which is different from the modernity in Mao’s era, leading to the neglect of the diverse properties of Shanghai nostalgia. In contrast, Blossoms focuses on the value of everyday, the ordinary people and their spaces, reviving the diversity of Shanghai nostalgia.

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Notes

  1. The first edition was published on Longtang website (May 2011 to November 2011) and the final edition was published in the well-known Chinese literary journal, Shouhuo (2012).

  2. These important literature prizes include the 2nd Shi Naian Literature Prize (施耐庵文学奖, 2013), the 1st Lu Xun Culture Prize (鲁迅文化奖, 2013), the 11th Sinophone Literature Media Prize (华语文学传媒大奖, 2013), and the 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize (茅盾文学奖, 2015), one of most prestigious literature prizes in China.

  3. Translated all of the sentences of this novel in this essay by my own.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SOAS University of London, London, UK

    Fang Wan

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  1. Fang Wan
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Correspondence to Fang Wan.

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Wan, F. New Shanghai nostalgia: old buildings in Blossoms. Int. Commun. Chin. Cult 7, 307–317 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-020-00188-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-020-00188-9

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