Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life (Global Chinese

Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life (Global Chinese Culture)

In the dazzling global metropolis of Shanghai, what has it meant to call this city home? In this accountâ€•part microhistory, part memoirâ€•Jie Li salvages intimate recollections by successive generations of inhabitants of two vibrant, culturally mixed Shanghai alleyways from the Republican, Maoist, and post-Mao eras. Exploring three dimensions of private lifeâ€•territories, artifacts, and gossipâ€•Li re-creates the sounds, smells, look, and feel of home over a tumultuous century.

First built by British and Japanese companies in 1915 and 1927, the two homes at the center of this narrative were located in an industrial part of the former "International Settlement." Before their recent demolition, they were nestled in Shanghai's labyrinthine alleyways, which housed more than half of the city's population from the Sino-Japanese War to the Cultural Revolution. Through interviews with her own family members as well as their neighbors, classmates, and co-workers, Li weaves a complex social tapestry reflecting the lived experiences of ordinary people struggling to absorb and adapt to major historical change. These voices include workers, intellectuals, Communists, Nationalists, foreigners, compradors, wives, concubines, and children who all fought for a foothold and haven in this city, witnessing spectacles so full of farce and pathos they could only be whispered as secret histories.
Country USA
Brand Columbia University Press
Manufacturer Columbia University Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780231167178
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780231167178
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	Columbia University Press
Manufacturer	Columbia University Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780231167178
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9780231167178
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life (Global Chinese Culture)

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