Shanghai Studies: An Analysis of Principal Trends in the Field

Abstract

This article is aimed at critically reviewing recent principal trends in the study of pre-war Shanghai (1843-1937). It will point in passing to attitudinal changes with regard to the city's past in the PRC academic discourse, but will critique in the main influential English-language monographs that have appeared in the last two decades. Cognizant of social realities in present-day Shanghai, the following passages re-visit themes such as sub-ethnicity, networking, nationalism, urban governance, institutions and the public sphere before 1937. Throughout, gaps in the existing literature will be systematically underscored with a view toward setting forth a research agenda for the future.