Reading Shenbao: Nationalism, Consumerism and Individuality in China 1919-37

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 12
D......Page 14
H......Page 15
L......Page 16
Q......Page 17
T......Page 18
X......Page 19
Y......Page 20
Z......Page 21
Consumers, communities, individuals: a new readership for a new China......Page 24
On the question of individuality and civil society......Page 27
Shenbao as a business......Page 33
Themes for discussion......Page 37
1 Patriotism and Gracious Living in Tobacco Advertising......Page 41
Tobacco advertisements, nationalism, and commercialism......Page 44
The emergence of commercial art and advertisements......Page 55
The self-love of women in cigarette advertisements......Page 58
Conclusion......Page 65
2 Saving for Happiness – Individual Banking Accounts......Page 68
Selling to the common people......Page 69
New options for savers......Page 74
Beyond economics: politics, regulations, and social change......Page 77
Inspiration and exhortation: a call to action......Page 82
Creating happiness: ways to attract customers......Page 89
Conclusion......Page 92
3 The Modern Housewife – A New Kind of Shanghai Woman......Page 94
Women in modern Chinese Studies......Page 96
What did 'housewife' mean?......Page 100
Common sense, emotionalized consumers, and the household......Page 108
Conclusion......Page 124
4 Shame, Guilt, and National Products......Page 126
Chinese consumers......Page 129
Re-examining 'chi'......Page 132
Spreading the sense of guilt with plain words......Page 137
Chi and the national product movement......Page 143
Conclusion......Page 148
5 'Ziyoutan' Revisited – The Literature Supplement and Its Writers......Page 150
'Ah Q characteristics' and the useless men of letters......Page 153
National language and mass consciousness......Page 159
Realism in literature......Page 164
'The Flies and the Universe': the polemic over 'Personal Essays'......Page 169
Conclusion......Page 180
6 Re-defining Shenbao's Readership......Page 181
Middle class readership: challenges and issues......Page 182
Management of content: be neutral but commercial......Page 187
Who was 'reading' the advertisements?......Page 191
Writing to Shenbao......Page 198
Conclusion......Page 206
Postscript: On Ambivalent Individualities......Page 208
Bibliography......Page 213
References......Page 227
C......Page 264
H......Page 266
L......Page 267
N......Page 268
R......Page 269
S......Page 270
Y......Page 271
Z......Page 272