Popular culture in contemporary China : the life of modern China city dwellers through the eyes of 21st century China novelist Xue Xinran

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to explore popular culture which is a mixture of contradictory ideas, symbols and practices among the modern city dwellers of China. It strives to examine categories of thinking, textures of feelings, horizons of aspiration, patterns of resignation-in the rapidly globalizing economy and culture of the late twenty and early twenty-first century as seen through the works of Xue Xinran such as Miss Chopsticks and Good Women of China. Xue's works, labeled as "autobiographical literature" and "social documentaries", tried to realistically portray lives of Chinese women via their socio-cultural and historical backgrounds and their struggles adapting to life in the city. In the light of cultural studies theories, this research work aims to provide a fresh look at popular culture among modern China city dwellers, identifying certain distinguishing characteristics of ideological and cultural changes in contemporary China through the novels of Xue.