Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945 (Interpretations of Asia)
Lee is a distinguished professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University who has had a long association with the founders of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Being thus well versed in both Chinese and Western literature allows him to define Chinese modernity in Shanghai during the foreign occupation, when "culture" was at its height. Lee points out that China's adoption of Quaker Oats and cigarettes as nationalistic commodities was less important than the unprecedented use of the female body to advertise these products. Lee describes the surging modern atmosphere by examining the proliferation of cinemas, coffeehouses, theaters, dance halls, parks, and race courses. He also details the literary contributions of six writers to describe the popular demand for modern literature. Like Geremie R. Barm?'s In the Red (LJ 4/1/99), this book examines many different types of media in China, although Barm?'s focus is contemporary. Recommended particularly for libraries with collections in modern literature and Chinese studies.APeggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, ILCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.