Romantic relationships and urban modernity in the writings of Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing.

摘要

Despite the vast amount of research done by Chinese and Western scholars on the writings of Han Bangqing (1854-1894) and, particularly, Zhang Ailing (1920-1995), there has been relatively little scholarship focusing on the connections between these two authors and their views on romance and urban modernity. This thesis seeks to address this problem by first exploring the connections between these two prominent Shanghai authors on three levels—personal, historical/cultural, and literary—and then examining how they portray romance and urban modernity in some of their pieces. In addition to Zhang Ailing's extensive translation work on Han Bangqing's Sing-song Girls of Shanghai, translating it first into Mandarin Chinese from the Wu dialect and then into English, a central connection between these two authors is the preeminent position of Shanghai in their writings. This thesis examines the culture and history of Shanghai and how it affected both writers. The thesis also focuses on the major themes and literary styles found in their works, which, as they exhibit a unique mixture of modern and traditional elements, is emblematic of the transitional periods in which they lived.;To illustrate Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing's similar views on romance, this study examines Han Bangqing's late Qing courtesan novel, Sing-song Girls of Shanghai (1892), and three of Zhang Ailing's representative pieces—"Sealed Off" (1943), "Red Rose, White Rose" (1944), and "Love in a Fallen City" (1943). By exploring these works, the thesis argues that Zhang Ailing's interpretation of the modern urban romantic experience was heavily influenced by Han Bangqing's novel. Similar to Han Bangqing's writing, Zhang Ailing's stories are generally devoid of lofty romantic sentiment. Instead, the modern pursuit of romance for both writers is prosaic and, at times, selfishly calculating. Finally, the thesis also focuses on the emergence of the modern urbanite, illustrated by the blatant imitation of Western ideas and customs by the courtesans and clients in the Sing-song Girls of Shanghai and concludes with an analysis of Zhang Ailing's desolate outlook on the state of the modern urbanite in her lifetime.