Material Girl:
Love, Desire and the Modern Chinese Woman in Weihui's Shanghai Baobei
By Eileen Vickery
evickery@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC), Bellingham, Washington, June 21-23, 2002
Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are entirely two different things: the former is desire—physical enjoyment; the latter is love—mutual benefit. [1]
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Weihui’s 
recent novel, Shanghai baobei 
(Shanghai baby), has become an urban phenomenon in China. The wildly popular and subsequently banned novel has stirred up a huge Internet debate regarding both the portrayal of Chinese males and the sexual content of the book. Shanghai baobei posits a dichotomous approach to love and desire. Through the female protagonist, CoCo, and her relationship with her two lovers, Tiantian and Mark, representations of love and desire discursively produce a dichotomous relationship between China and the West. These issues of love and desire are bound up in a national economic allegory and come to represent a gendered depiction of China and the West. In this paper I analyze the making of a national narrative within the highly commodified and consumer-oriented era that is modern urban China and that has produced a second wave of economic colonialism and consumerism in China. Notions of love and desire structure the novel, while consumerism and economic imperatives serve as its inexorable underlying current. [2]
The above quotation at the beginning of this paper elucidates both the theme of the novel and the predicament of the female protagonist, CoCo. Weihui employs this quotation at the beginning of the novel and as a subheading of Chapter twenty-five, “Is it Love or it is Desire?” Love and desire are used heuristically to situate the novel in the context of a national economic narrative. Shanghai baobei is clearly a contemporary Chinese novel infused with Western and American pop culture. Global pop culture permeates Weihui’s language, ideas and images to the extent that there is a dearth of Chinese culture, things and places. [3] Shanghai is the setting for the novel, but shopping trips to Ikea, frequenting chichi coffee houses, and attending premiers of foreign films helps to displace Shanghai and Chinese culture. It is also a novel that reopens the question of who is the Chinese modern woman? How does she place herself in the cosmopolitan city of 1990s/ 2000s Shanghai? And, perhaps more importantly, how does she situate herself between her two lovers and what do they each represent for her? In this novel, what different representations of the modern Chinese woman are constructed and portrayed?
It is easy to read Shanghai baobei solely as an appropriation and imitation of western culture, particularly American culture. However, the issue of being modern, of being hip, is clearly at stake throughout the narrative. Although Weihui’s narrative structure and tools are very reminiscent of Chinese writers during the May Fourth period and the 1930s, who were expressing a desire for a modern identity, the new definition of what constitutes “modern” may be changing to embrace a more economic being rather than one based upon ideas of freedom.
Through the medium of sex and sexuality, Weihui produces a modern Chinese woman, CoCo, who must choose between her two lovers, Chinese Tiantian who is an impotent drug addict, and a married German businessman named Mark. In the end, ironically, she possesses neither of them: her Chinese lover dies and her Berlin lover returns home, leaving her to ask the question, “Who am I?” This question is both interesting and provocative because CoCo’s ability to define herself is directly tied to each of these male characters. Notions of love and desire define her relationships with Tiantian and Mark. Furthermore, love and desire metaphorically come to distinguish China from the West.
In this paper, I analyze the novel Shanghai baobei in the historical context of China and particularly Shanghai’s second wave of commodification from the West that began with Deng Xiaoping’s urban economic policy of China in the early mid-1980s. [4] The intensity of capital and advertisement in China today is at a pace unequalled in the past. [5] The question of the modern Chinese woman’s identity and how it is forged through sex and sexuality is at the forefront of this discussion. Through Coco’s relationship with Tiantian and Mark, a nationalistic narrative evolves that has clear implications for China and for the modern Chinese woman. Additionally, Weihui, by using dichotomous languages and images (e.g. love versus desire, impotency versus virility, artist versus businessman), recasts China through the historical policy of China versus the West; that of China as a spiritual and cultural realm, yet weak and unprepared for the modern or global era versus the strong and virile West, which is bankrupt due its lack of culture and spirituality. Moreover, the female protagonist in the novel, Coco, and other female characters come to represent a break with traditional notions of the Chinese woman, and clearly model themselves on Western styles and prototypes.
In this novel, a Chinese modern woman’s identity is created and articulated through notions of love and desire by her relationship with her two lovers. Tiantian is representative of a pure unsullied love, particularly because of his impotency. However, his impotency should not be read as a marginalization of the Chinese man due to his lack of a modern identity. Tiantian is a “progressive” man in the sense that he is worldly (e.g. his mother lives in diaspora in Spain, he uses drugs, he is an artist). In so many senses he is “ modern”. However, Tiantian is not financially successful, and in the context that a modern identity in the twenty-first century is one that is defined through economic, rather than cultural prowess, Tiantian is not a successful modern man. On the other hand, Mark is a successful businessman who dominates CoCo’s landscape with his economic and sexual virility. His virility and power come to represent the West, an Other.
Before further analyzing the thematic issues that shape Shanghai baobei, it is essential to situate the novel in the contemporary historical context of globalization. Global culture permeates this novel. The term “globalization” is commonly used to imply world markets and world development that affects cultures at all levels, not just at the economic level. Fredric Jameson’s definition of globalization is very helpful to our discussion of Shanghai baobei. “I believe that globalization is a communicational concept, which alternately masks and transmits cultural or economic meanings.” [6] Globalization as an ideological concept facilitates the transmission of culture and cultural products through new avenues of communication (i.e. mass media). However, as Jameson also notes, one of globalization’s dark sides is that it displaces communication or trajectories of information for a more lucrative end, one focused rather exclusively on advertisement and profit. Thus in modern narratives, context and place, and historical figures now become detached, fragmented and free-floating; they become stylized advertisements with the intent of attracting the consumer. Shanghai baobei, with it references to Western writers, movies, musician, places, historical moments, should also be read in terms of globalization. The novel literally becomes the market place of ideas.
The novel set in Shanghai narrates the life of a young woman who calls herself Coco after one of her idols, the French fashion designer, Coco Chanel. The name Coco obviously conjures up the fashion avatar, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel—a woman who revolutionized fashion by feminizing the suit and assisted in the modern woman leaving her house. Chanel in many ways defined what it meant to be a “modern” woman, particularly with regard to the modern woman’s public identity. And, CoCo Chanel was also a woman who enjoyed her men.
Although her namesake is from France, her artistic and literary idol is the American writer Henry Miller, whom she characterizes as her spiritual father. [7] Throughout the novel, the pages and chapter headings are filled with quotations from Henry Miller, Milan Kundera, Sylvia Plath, Descartes, Nietzsche, and many others. Her tastes at times are rather eclectic giving the appearance of a shopping mall of ideas—pre-packaged images that provide no cohesive or substantial narrative, only fragmented surfaces. Also, she uses musical lyrics from Tori Amos, Dan Folgelberg, Alanis Morissette, Van Morrison, and many others. She is obviously well versed in the culture of Western pop culture. Through these writers’ and muscians’ words and ideas, Coco describes her own life using the medium of Western culture and American pop culture.
In Shanghai baobei, CoCo is a twenty-four year old Chinese woman, a writer and a recent graduate of Fu Dan University. She is also a woman who is sexual and not apologetic for her desires and fantasies. At the beginning of the novel, she is working at a coffee shop as a waitress, when she meets Tiantian. They do not speak, but observe each other for several days. Finally one day, as he leaves the coffee shop, he writes her a note, “I love you” and leaves his address and phone number. Implicit in their mutual observance of each other is their ability to communicate with each other through looks and emotions that elevate their communication to a higher plain. CoCo’s interest in Tiantian is perked. Shortly thereafter they become lovers and CoCo moves in with him.
Although Tiantian lives in a fashionable western style apartment, it is his mother who pays his rent. Tiantian does not work. His father died of heart disease when Tiantian was a child (or, as Tiantian thinks, was killed by his mother and her lover). His mother lives in Spain with her lover. Tiantian, perhaps because of the dark past of his family, is often silent and cautious—the exact opposite of CoCo. Furthermore, his personal trepidations and paralysis permeate both his personal life and his sexual life.
Tiantian often said the future is a trap, which entombs one in a cerebral space. After his father died he went through a stage where he lost his ability to speak, afterwards in high school he dropped out, now he already spent his youth in solitude, thus growing up to become a nihilist (
). Towards the outside world instinctual resistance makes him spend half his time in bed, in bed reading books, watching DVD’s, smoking, and thinking about life and death, questions of the spirit and the flesh . . .the rest of the time is spent painting, accompanying me on walks, eating . . .going to the bank, and when he needs money, he goes to the post office, uses a pretty blue envelope and sends it to his mother. [8]
On the surface, Tiantian appears to have a very comfortable existence, yet his hobbies of using drugs, watching movies, playing on the computer, living off his mother, are all forms of consumption that keep him secluded in his own world. [9] Shortly after CoCo moves in with Tiantian, she discovers that not only is he impotent, but he is also rather helpless. CoCo describes their first attempt at making love.
[When] he could not enter me, he taciturnly looked at me, his whole body frozen cold, it was his first time, in his more than twenty years of life, that he had contact with another sex . . .I remember the first time that I held him while we were in bed, after I discovered his helplessness, I actually felt downright disappointed, even doubted whether or not I was able to continue to stay together with him. [10]
As she contemplates the agony that he must feel, she tries to be philosophical about this awkward occurrence. CoCo upholds male sexuality and a man’s ability to function sexually as of the utmost importance for a man. “In a male’s world, [his] sexuality, whether it is normal or not is almost equal in importance to his own destiny. If this aspect is at all incomplete, it is a type of pain that he cannot bear.” [11] As Tiantian anguishes over his inability to make love to CoCo, however, together they discover the pleasures of kissing. “He first let me understand kissing also has soul and color.” [12] CoCo also uses the metaphor of a dolphin to describe Tiantian. “He is like a dolphin, kind, and his nature of pure love draws him to a wild woman’s heart.” [13] Tiantian, portrayed as a dolphin, metaphorically represents the position of being spiritually sublime and in tune with another realm, a more spiritual realm, while failing to satisfy CoCo sexually.
The issue of impotency in Modern Chinese literature is often linked with male disempowerment due to a repressive government or is used metaphorically to represents China as a weak nation. [14] Thus it is essential to pose the question: why does Weihui portray Tiantian as impotent? Is his impotency symptomatic of disease or a thwarted modern identity? As Zhong Xueping comments in her book, Masculinity Besieged, “… issues of masculinity surface when the Chinese male subject position is challenged and questioned as China continues its quest for modernity.” [15] However, Tiantian’s identity is not one of a repressed national identity, a thwarted modern identity, or a man who is controlled by the government. In fact he possesses a very progressive identity. In China, previous definitions of “modern,” especially during the May Fourth period, were often linked with principles of the Enlightenment: individuality, civil society, democracy, freedom to choose, freedom to love. Tiantian appears to possess all of these qualities, and he even pursues artistic freedom through his paintings. However, he is impotent, and in the novel, impotency is juxtaposed with extreme virility, as possessed by CoCo’s other lover, Mark.
CoCo’s first encounter with Mark occurs at a 1930s nostalgia style party (
). [16] The party is called, “Returning to Xiafei lu Party” 
. As the narrator explains in the novel, during the 1930s, Huaihai lu was called Xiafei lu. I think it is very significant that CoCo meets Marks at this party. The name Xiafei (flying rosy clouds) evokes an era and a representation that is pre-Communist, and also gives a dreamy portrayal of the landscape. The misty imagery of xiafei is in stark contrast to Huaihai, a name that evokes one of the Communists’ important victories against the Nationalists during the Civil War (1945-1949). By meeting Mark at this party, the narrator evokes a colonial era moment, reminiscent of the past, when perhaps many young Chinese women met foreign men at dancehalls in Shanghai. Thus from the outset, the relationship between CoCo and Mark is situated in a colonial context.
Tiantian’s classmate, Madonna [17], introduces CoCo to Mark. CoCo first impression of Mark leaves Tiantian’s image very wanting. While she and Mark shake hands, she notes, “His hand had heavy body hair and was warm and dry, a type that lets people feel comfortable. Tiantian already had sat himself down on a soft sofa and was smoking. His pair of eyes wandering unfocused.” [18] While CoCo and Mark talk, Tiantian smokes hashish and falls into a stupor and then drifts off to sleep. The evening ends with Tiantian passed out and Mark offering to take both he and CoCo and home.
After this rather embarrassing evening, it is not until CoCo goes to a German painting exhibit that she meets Mark again. CoCo goes alone to the exhibit and when she arrives, she sees Mark and he kisses her “French style” on both cheeks. He asks about Tiantian not coming, and then they move through the exhibit. Suddenly they both sight Tiantian’s friend, Madonna, and her boyfriend, Ah Dick, and feel an inescapable urge to leave. Mark takes CoCo back to his home where they make vigorous love.
. . . then he entered me, his huge organ made me feel engulfed in a little bit of pain. “No” I called out, “No.” He didn’t show me the slightest bit of mercy; his thrusting wouldn’t stop. The pain suddenly turned into ecstasy. I watched him. I opened my eyes wide, half loving half hating him . . .I imagined he wore a Nazi uniform (nacui de zhifu) [19], with long boots and a big leather coat. This German man with blue eyes must be in this way cruel and an animal. This type of imagination effectively excited my body’s stimulation. [20]
This passage is very revealing and serves as a stark contrast to CoCo’s relationship with Tiantian, where this type of lovemaking is not possible. What perhaps is both titillating and disturbing about this passage is the portrayal of Mark as a domineering man whose aggressive sexual behavior is initially portrayed as elements of rape that is quickly transformed into elements heightening CoCo’s passion. CoCo fantasizes him as a Nazi and as a cruel animal, yet through all this, her body is stimulated to point of orgasm. In CoCo’s imagination the tranfomation of Mark from a Western man into a Nazi soldier is rather disturbing. However, throughout Shanghai baobei, Mark’s physical attributes and features (blond hair and blue eyes), and his sexual abilities are constantly linked to what CoCo sees as his German-ness (e.g. pure race, and his animal-like nature).
How do we read this Nazi fetishism? CoCo’s fantasy of Mark representing a Nazi perhaps can be interpreted in two different ways: first as part of the current fascination in Asia with iconic representations of Hitler and the Nazi regime; and second, as a personal embodiment of CoCo’s namesake, CoCo Chanel. Recently in both Taiwan and South Korea, the foreign press has condemned the uses of Nazi paraphernalia and Nazi images. In Taiwan, a restaurant named “the Jail” prominently displayed, “pictures of Nazi death camps”. Another restaurant in Seoul, Korea named the “Third Reich” offered a drink called the “Adolph Hitler”. When asked about these images, the owners responded that they were not aware of the historical significance, that these images and names where catchy, universally known and effective advertisements. [21] Additionally, a company in Taiwan that sold German electronics used a smiling Hitler to advertise the products. “We decided to use Hitler as the main character, because everyone who sees him immediately thinks of Germany.” [22]
Perhaps CoCo’s fetishization of Mark as a Nazi unconsciously embodies this recent fascination with the Third Reich. However, this historical amnesia is troubling. Fredric Jameson’s discussion on globalism may give us some insight as to how this amnesia or a historical perspective functions. Jameson, speaking on globalization as a communicational concept states that, “technology and information begin to slip insensibly in the direction of advertisements and publicity, of postmodern marketing . . .” [23] The recent events in Taiwan and South Korea arguably fall into this category of catchy advertisement, as well as CoCo’s imagination of Mark as a Nazi soldier. However, it is frighteningly clear that parts of Asia lack a historical knowledge about World War II. The War is no longer history; it is advertisement. It is also noteworthy that CoCo Chanel, during the war, had a German lover named Hans Gunther von Dincklage , or “Spatz”. At the end of the war, the French interrogated her for three hours accusing her of being a collaborator. After her release, she left France. [24]
Thus CoCo’s fetishization of Mark as a Nazi can be interpreted on two levels: one belonging to the new fashionable trend in Asia of wearing, buying, and displaying Nazi paraphernalia for fashionable fun and advertisement; the other embodying and imagining the biographical facts and events of CoCo’s female idol, CoCo Chanel, without having the complications and fear of being labeled a collaborator. In both these interpretations, history is divorced from the narrative, and it is only the glittery pieces and catchy images with no real attention to nuance or historical accuracy that are the imported products.
After CoCo sleeps with Mark she goes home afraid to confront Tiantian with a lie. Luckily, he is not home, and she falls asleep, exhausted on the couch. As the novel progresses CoCo and Tiantian maintain their intimacy with a spiritual understanding of each other, even though the relationship becomes more and more strained because of Tiantian’s drug use and CoCo’s inability to deceive him. Tiantian decides to head south for several weeks to escape Shanghai’s bleak, damp winter. With Tiantian gone, CoCo is free to pursue her relationship with Mark unburdened. However, when she calls Mark, she is surprised to hear a woman’s voice answer with a heavy German accent; Mark’s wife has come to Shanghai for a month long visit. Thus, as CoCo has not been upfront with Tiantian, Mark has not been straight with her. However, this does not dampen their desire for each other.
Issues of love and desire are implicit throughout the novel, and in Chapter Twenty-five, “Is It Love or Is It Desire?,” Weihui again situates these two emotions around CoCo’s two lovers. Tiantian has come back from the South and is no longer doing drugs. CoCo is delighted. Feeling that, “an empty space in my life has again been filled.” [25] Tiantian and CoCo spend much of their reunion kissing and eating, and “breathing” life back into each other. However, her relationship with Mark is not over and when she secretly wants to meet with him, she is relieved that she does not have to provide an excuse to Tiantian, because as she relates, “Tiantian is at Madonna’s house playing “Empire” on the computer.” [26]
However, before Tiantian goes out, they have a very revealing conversation, which places Tiantian, in CoCo’s eyes, in a rather unfavorable light. As CoCo is encouraging Tiantian to keep painting, she says to him, “ . . .you must continue painting. I believe you’ll become an amazing painter.” However, as Tiantian responds, “ I had not thought of that before, moreover, I’m not sure if I want to become an expert and become famous.” As Tiantian says these words CoCo realizes, “he is telling the truth. [I realized] that he has never had ambition, nor will he ever in the future.” But CoCo is not so concerned about him being famous; rather she wants him to have stability in his life.
It is not a question of becoming famous or not, rather to give yourself something stable to prop yourself up, give yourself a reason to be happy for your whole life. I also had one sentence that I didn’t say, “Perhaps it would make you rid yourself of drugs and give this aimless, leisured life a general kick.” [27]
CoCo’s relationship with Tiantian drifts further apart and in Chapter Twenty-nine, “Nightmare Returns,” Tiantian starts doing drugs again. “Tiantian again started to do drugs, and again the demons are drawing near.” [28] CoCo’s concern for Tiantian goes far beyond his lack of ambition, yet it is this nihilistic aspect of his persona that scares her and keeps him shuttered away in his comfortable Western style apartment. His drug use, seen as an all-consuming habit, has an anesthetizing effect on his person, and renders him ambitionless.
The drugs that Tiantian uses destroy his life. The fact that the Chinese male character in this novel uses drugs and is left aimless and unable to cope in life and in the new China is reminiscent of China’s own past, in which opium addiction rendered many Chinese impotent, (both metaphorically and literally), and at the mercy of the British and other Western powers who helped feed China’s addiction. It is difficult not to read Tiantian’s character as national allegory given the enervating effect of the drugs upon him.
Tiantian’s dependency on drugs is too much for CoCo to bear and on the night that Mark departs for Berlin, she does not return to Tiantian’s apartment, but instead goes home to her father and mother. At least she can seek comfort and protection from them even though she cannot share with her parents the disastrous fact that her boyfriend is a drug addict, and that she is saddened by her foreign lover’s departure for Berlin. [29]
At the novel’s end, Tiantian overdoses on drugs and dies. This tragedy, coupled with Mark’s return to Berlin, suddenly leaves CoCo entirely alone. In the final scene of Shanghai baobei, CoCo is leaving Tiantian’s mother’s restaurant when she sees Tiantian’s grandmother. CoCo offers to help her home and Tiantian’s grandmother, not recognizing her, replies, “Who are you?” 
. A seemingly innocent question but one which asked by a woman of an older generation. “Who are you?” This question prompts CoCo to ask herself, “Yes, who am I? Who am I?” [30]
The question of who is the modern Chinese woman is one that has been asked many times before, especially by female heroines who oftentimes possess contradictory desires and relationships within their modern identities. For example, in Ding Ling’s 1927 “ Shafei nushi de riji 
[Miss Sophia’s Diary], Shafei ends up leaving Beijing after feeling she has been taken advantage of by her Singaporean suitor, Ling Jishi, and repulsed by an immature Chinese suitor, Weidi, who also desires her. In Shanghai baobei, CoCo is left in a similarly precarious situation, that of two failed romances. In modern Chinese literature, a Chinese woman, as an agent of desire, often brings disastrous consequences upon herself; either she dies (as is implied with Ding Ling’s Shafei), or, as with CoCo, she is left alone to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.
Although the consequences for CoCo are not so disastrous for her as they were for many May Fourth heroines who were plagued with the dilemma of two male suitors, (one representing China and tradition; the other representing the West and modernity), CoCo’s identity is still shaped through her two lovers, and her western name. Without them, who would she be? And, what would she write about? In Shanghai baobei, Weihui constructs a Chinese woman with a veneer that lacks authenticity and depth, giving her a superficial understanding of the West that embraces material culture.
In Shanghai baobei, notions of love and desire define CoCo’s relationship with Tiantian and Mark. Tiantian and Mark become heuristic devices and allegorical tools that metaphorically distinguish China from the West. Tiantian’s emotional and financial support of CoCo enables her to pursue her writing. Yet other than financial (and at times emotional) support, Tiantian lacks the ability to participate in the new China. Whereas Tiantian lacks potency, Mark, in CoCo’s eyes, embodies qualities of a primordial man whose virility insures his genetic survival in the future. Although CoCo situates her relationship with Tiantian on a sublime spiritual level, one that is unsullied, he also provides her the material condition in order to write. The questions should be posed: Would CoCo date Tiantian if he could not offer these material benefits? Does she elevate his impotency to a sublime level because he financially provides for her? Conversely, Mark gives CoCo physical stimulation in the form of sexual gratification. Is her desire for him is purely physical and experiential, similar to a new product on the market? Or, does she embody an identity of display for the West? In the end CoCo is unable to merge these two experiences. Perhaps the Chinese internal cultivation and the Western outward veneer that Weihui invokes in this novel are emblematic tropes used to portray contemporary Shanghai’s own subservience to Western capital that is currently transforming the landscape of the city.
In Shanghai baobei’s afterword [31], Weihui notes that just as she had written the very last word of the novel, the phone rang and on the other end, she heard a German accent say, “I love you.” Weihui also states that Shanghai baobei is semi-autobiographical 
. The phone call indicates that this foreign man still desires her. And, that this is important to share with her readers. Thus, the quality of display becomes inherent in her new modern identity. Through the afterword, the reader is given clues as to Weihui/CoCo’s potential future—will she become Mark’s mistress? Or will she become involved with another man, who gives her new sexual pleasures? Or will she follow her own advice to Tiantian and seek some greater ambition, such as being a writer, in which to ground herself. For CoCo, a representation of a modern Chinese woman, her identity it still derived from her two lovers, and without them, the reader is still at a loss as to who she really is.
NOTES
[1] Unless otherwise noted, the translations in this paper are my own.
[2] Historically, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the author Tang Xianzu, in his play Mudan ting¸ (Peony pavilion) used the concept of passion (qing), to elevate love and passion to an unprecedented eminence in Chinese literature. Qing was a concept that, in Tang Xianzu’s works, existed outside of reason, and had the power to transform life and death. It was an unadulterated form of passion. This notion of qing existed in the sublime world and was diametrically opposed to both reason (li) and desire (yu) which, was considered lustful, base, and temporary. The use of qing in fiction continued into the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and is one of the foundational themes in China’s most famous novel Shi touji (The story of the stone). Additionally qing, as an emotive force, was also employed as a literary device in early twentieth century novels and popular fiction. Although historically, passion and desire have often been pitted against each other, it has not always been the case. From the early twentieth century, through to post-Cultural Revolution literature and fiction of the 90s, passion has also been juxtaposed against Confucianism, rationalism, revolution, and other forms of hegemonic thought. For a more thorough historical analysis of qing, please see Wai-yi Li, Enchantment and Disenchantment: Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
[3] Shanghai is China—but a very select China .
[4] Yunxiang Yan, “The Politics of Consumerism in Chinese Society,” in China Briefing 2000: The Continuing Transformation, (London: M.E., 2000), 165.
[5] Arlif Dirlek noted in a lecture titled, “Markets and Modernity” that the Chinese are under assault from advertisement. The advertising expenditure spent in China in comparison to other countries has dramatically increased. In 1990 China was thirty-sixth in the world. In 1995 it was eleventh, and in 2000 it was sixth. Lecture given at the University of Oregon, March 9, 2001.
[6] Fredric Jameson, “Globalization as Philosophical Issue, ” in The Cultures of Globalization, (Durham: Duke University Press, 1998), 55.
[7] Weihui Shanghai baobei, (Shanghai: Chunfeng wenyi chubanshe, 1999). 9.
[8] Ibid., 4.
[9] In Zhu Tianwen’s novel, notes of a desolate man, there is a male character, Fido, who possesses similar qualities as Tiantian. Fido is younger and much more unconscious in his consumption than Tiantian. However, he and Tiantian both share in their lack of ambition, and are financial kept by their parents. See Zhu Tianwen, notes of a desolate man, trans., Howard Goldblatt and Syliva Li-Chun Lin. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 67-88.
[10] Weihui, Shanghai baobei, 5.
[11] Ibid., 5.
[12] Ibid., 5.
[13] Ibid., 5.
[14] See Zhang Xianliang. Half of Man is Woman, trans., Martha Avery, (London: Penguin Group,
1986) and Yu Dafu, “ Sinking” in Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas 1919-1949, ed Joseph M. Lau, C.T. Hsia and Leo ou-fan Lee (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981).
[15] Zhong Xueping, Masculinity Besieged, (Durham: Duke University Press, 2000), 29.
[16] Weihui, Shanghai baobei, 26.
[17] Madonna is another example of an imported Western identity in this novel. She embodies her namesake “Madonna” (the singer) by sharing in a similar childhood of poverty and exploitation, but still having dreams of being an artist. She is street smart and savvy, and is finally in a financial position to pick her lovers.
[18] Ibid., 27.
[19] The reference to a Nazi uniform is omitted in the English translation. See Wei Hui, shanghai baby, trans., Bruce Humes, (New York: Pocket Books, 2001), 63.
[20] Ibid. 61.
[21] Kyong-Hwa Seok, “Nazi Bar in Seoul Provokes Anger,” The Associated Press, 7 March, 2000.
[22] Huang Jui-ming, “Fascination with Nazis is shameful for Taiwan,” Taipei Times, 17 January 2001.
[23] Jameson, “Globalization as Philosophical Issue,” 56.
[24] For more details on CoCo Chanel’s life during the war see Axel Madsen, Chanel: A Woman of Her Own, (New York: Henry Holt and Co., Inc., 1990), 238-270.
[25] Weihui, Shanghai baobei, 203.
[26] Tiantian playing the computer game “Empire”´is another sign of his impotency. His playing is ironic because he passionately plays the game on the computer, but cannot play it in real life. Ibid., 207.
[27] Weihui, Shanghai baobei, 207.
[28] Ibid., 247.
[29] Coco’s ability to rely on her parents for emotional support reiterates the question that Lu Xun raised nearly a century ago, “What Happen When Nora Leaves Home?” CoCo’s ability to explore romantic relationships without the severe condemnation of her parents softens the “failure” at having to return home. However, CoCo is in a similar situation to that of Ibsen’s Nora, Ding Ling’s Shafei, and many other female protagonists in Western and Chinese modern literature. See Lu Xun, “What Happens After Nora Leaves Home?” in Selected Works Volume Two, trans. Yang Xiangyi and Gladys Yang (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1980), 91.
[30] Weihui, Shanghai baobei, 266.
[31] It is noteworthy that the English translation does not contain an afterword. In the Chinese text, the afterword helps to maintain the blurred boundary between the author, Weihui, and the character, CoCo. This connection lends itself to a voyeuristic stance that allows the imagination of the reader to link the sexual desires and actions of CoCo to the author Weihui.
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