A thesis about nightlife in Shanghai.

Hello folks,

As shown in the title, currently I am working on my thesis about nightlife in Shanghai.

Many people come into surprises that I choose nightlife as a dissertation topic, especially when they hear that I major in a graphic design, which course sounds miles away from nightlife.

I know. You might think, what can you learn from studying nightlife? How to make cocktails? Using Tinder for dating? Hunting for casual sexes? Flirting with boys and girls? But when I look at academic papers, there are indeed scholars that have studied this topic years ago(Hollands and Chatterton, 2002), whose impact related to city planning, global recognition of the economic significance of the cultural industries(Chew, 2009).


🥂

My interest in this topic arises from my previous working experience with a bunch of good buddy of different nationalities in Shanghai that taught me how to drink and dance🙂. The other motive was from a theoretical course I studied last year at my university related to branding a global city, where a lot of people in my course do not know how globalised Shanghai is. (I guess I just defended that graphic design is not only about creativity but also cultural study?)

And, well, yes. Those things that you recall of nightlife do wet edges of my subject.

To clear your tangle, the thesis is focused on how the drinking and clubbing culture, a type of nightlife consumption brought across from the west to the east, becomes now a working-class lifestyle in Shanghai(Farrer, 2009), when once it was a way of showing off one’s capital and an identity of wealthy(Field, 2008). I will also investigate in how these club scenes reflected a fast-paced economy and quickly changing consumer culture of the city as it continues to experiment with new, internationalised forms of culture while creating new class identities out of taste differentials(Field). (I know this one sounds very academic, but you could interpret it as, why there are some people think going to a bar or club to drink alcohol is a cool event but singing in karaokes is odd and outdated these days.)


💑

The other aspect I am going to investigate is how drinking and clubbing culture changes people’s attitudes on relationships and sexual liberation, and how it impacts individualism and materialism on cosmopolitan living amongst Chinese youth. Where some people think of marriage as the best end for their life, other people working and living in cosmopolitan are constantly having datings with new guys and girls through Tinder, finding casual sex in a club, focusing on pleasing their individual pleasures at nightlife places rather than taking the emotional burden on their shoulders from a relationship. (So if you have used Tinder to date with someone(could be a Chinese or people different from your nationality) in a bar, then your experience could become a case to study, as a demonstration integrated partly into my research if you are up for it. (Of course, if you want to be anonymous your name will be muted!)


💃🕺

The period to be studied is from the mid-1990s until the present when the first globalised nightclub D.D.'s near Xingfu and Pingwu Roads(Farrer and Field, 2015). (Does the place sound familiar with you, or your parents?) There are several streets once-well-known on bars and clubsin Shanghai will become my key case studies. For example, Maoming Lu(famous from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s), Xintiandi and The Bund(famous from 2000 - early 2010), and of course, the once beloved Yong Kang Lu(famous from 2010 until 2016). I will focus on the development in these places and look at how it reflects cultural globalisation has shaped the urban scene in Shanghai as well.


🙏

Therefore, I am writing here, sincerely, to ask for your help.I am looking on materials aboutnightlife in Shanghai from the mid-1990s until the present to research. They may be, but not limited to:


Visual materials that document clubs and bars, nightlife events in Shanghai, for example:

films,

documentaries,

photographies,

drawings,

exhibitions.


Literature pieces on cosmopolitan life in Shanghai, for example:

Novels(non-fiction or fiction),

Poems,

Plays.


Agents working in clubs and bars:

DJs,

Bartenders,

Waiters/Waitress.


People who study and create works on nightlife in Shanghai:

Photographers,

Journalists,

Historians,

Fine artists or contemporary artists.


Places that archive urban development of Shanghai:

Museums,

Archive Center,

Blogs.


If you or your friends might know, by any chance, of any resources I just mentioned above, please feel free to put them into a comment below or 📧me at

hi.xingyiou@gmail.com . Also, if you are up for an interview, your story or your friends’, parents’ and colleges’ ones of nightlife experience in Shanghai may help to accommodate the research.

I tried not to make this advert sounds too academic, and I hope it sounds exciting to you🌝.

Also please feel free to share this post on your social media if you want to get more of your friends to know! Certainly, if the right moment comes I would like to offer you acoffeeor a drink in return for your help:)

Thank you for your patience reading through to the end, I wish you have a great week and let’s chat soon.

Shakes & Hugs,

Xingyi




There is a Chinese version of the advert available here “一篇关于上海夜生活的毕业论文”. If you want to share it with your Chinese friends, please do.




References:

1. Farrer, J. and Field, D. A., (2015) Shanghai Nightscapes: A Nocturnal Biography of a Global City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

2. Farrer, J. (2009) ‘Shanghai Bars’ in Chinese Sociology & Anthropology, 42:2, 22-38. Available at: https://www. tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2753/CSA0009-4625420201 (Accessed: 24Oct,2018)

3. Field, A. (2008) ‘From D.D’s to Y.Y. to Park 97 to Muse: Dance Club Spaces and the Construction of Class in Shanghai, 1997-2007’ in China: An International Journal, Volume 6, Number 1, March 2008, pp. 18-43 Available at: https:// muse.jhu.edu/article/233258 (Accessed: 27 Oct, 2018)

4. Matthew M. Chew. (2009) ‘Research on Chinese Nightlife Cultures and Night-Time Economies’, Chinese Sociology & Anthropology, 42(2), pp. 3-2. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2753/CSA0009-4625420200 (Accessed: 20 Oct, 2018)

5. Hollands, R. and Chatterton, P. (2002) Therosing Urban Playscapes Producing, Regulating and Consuming Youthful Nightlife City Spaces Urban Studies, 39 (1): 95-116

最后编辑于
©著作权归作者所有,转载或内容合作请联系作者
  • 序言:七十年代末,一起剥皮案震惊了整个滨河市,随后出现的几起案子,更是在滨河造成了极大的恐慌,老刑警刘岩,带你破解...
    沈念sama阅读 202,802评论 5 476
  • 序言:滨河连续发生了三起死亡事件,死亡现场离奇诡异,居然都是意外死亡,警方通过查阅死者的电脑和手机,发现死者居然都...
    沈念sama阅读 85,109评论 2 379
  • 文/潘晓璐 我一进店门,熙熙楼的掌柜王于贵愁眉苦脸地迎上来,“玉大人,你说我怎么就摊上这事。” “怎么了?”我有些...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 149,683评论 0 335
  • 文/不坏的土叔 我叫张陵,是天一观的道长。 经常有香客问我,道长,这世上最难降的妖魔是什么? 我笑而不...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 54,458评论 1 273
  • 正文 为了忘掉前任,我火速办了婚礼,结果婚礼上,老公的妹妹穿的比我还像新娘。我一直安慰自己,他们只是感情好,可当我...
    茶点故事阅读 63,452评论 5 364
  • 文/花漫 我一把揭开白布。 她就那样静静地躺着,像睡着了一般。 火红的嫁衣衬着肌肤如雪。 梳的纹丝不乱的头发上,一...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 48,505评论 1 281
  • 那天,我揣着相机与录音,去河边找鬼。 笑死,一个胖子当着我的面吹牛,可吹牛的内容都是我干的。 我是一名探鬼主播,决...
    沈念sama阅读 37,901评论 3 395
  • 文/苍兰香墨 我猛地睁开眼,长吁一口气:“原来是场噩梦啊……” “哼!你这毒妇竟也来了?” 一声冷哼从身侧响起,我...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 36,550评论 0 256
  • 序言:老挝万荣一对情侣失踪,失踪者是张志新(化名)和其女友刘颖,没想到半个月后,有当地人在树林里发现了一具尸体,经...
    沈念sama阅读 40,763评论 1 296
  • 正文 独居荒郊野岭守林人离奇死亡,尸身上长有42处带血的脓包…… 初始之章·张勋 以下内容为张勋视角 年9月15日...
    茶点故事阅读 35,556评论 2 319
  • 正文 我和宋清朗相恋三年,在试婚纱的时候发现自己被绿了。 大学时的朋友给我发了我未婚夫和他白月光在一起吃饭的照片。...
    茶点故事阅读 37,629评论 1 329
  • 序言:一个原本活蹦乱跳的男人离奇死亡,死状恐怖,灵堂内的尸体忽然破棺而出,到底是诈尸还是另有隐情,我是刑警宁泽,带...
    沈念sama阅读 33,330评论 4 318
  • 正文 年R本政府宣布,位于F岛的核电站,受9级特大地震影响,放射性物质发生泄漏。R本人自食恶果不足惜,却给世界环境...
    茶点故事阅读 38,898评论 3 307
  • 文/蒙蒙 一、第九天 我趴在偏房一处隐蔽的房顶上张望。 院中可真热闹,春花似锦、人声如沸。这庄子的主人今日做“春日...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 29,897评论 0 19
  • 文/苍兰香墨 我抬头看了看天上的太阳。三九已至,却和暖如春,着一层夹袄步出监牢的瞬间,已是汗流浃背。 一阵脚步声响...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 31,140评论 1 259
  • 我被黑心中介骗来泰国打工, 没想到刚下飞机就差点儿被人妖公主榨干…… 1. 我叫王不留,地道东北人。 一个月前我还...
    沈念sama阅读 42,807评论 2 349
  • 正文 我出身青楼,却偏偏与公主长得像,于是被迫代替她去往敌国和亲。 传闻我的和亲对象是个残疾皇子,可洞房花烛夜当晚...
    茶点故事阅读 42,339评论 2 342

推荐阅读更多精彩内容