Revisiting Shanghai Urban Culture through the Concept of ‘Border' : A Study on Research Methodology of Shanghai Urban Culture in the Early to Mid-20th Century

This paper focuses on conducting a theoretical review of the issues and perspectives raised when introducing the concept of border in the study of Shanghai urban culture in the early to mid-20th century.<br/> Through the analysis, concepts such as boundary struggles, heterogeneity, and multiplicity are recontextualized from the general notion of borders. These specific concepts, highlighted in the review of border discourse, are related to the concept of the overlapping, which has not been fully appreciated in existing studies on Shanghai city culture. The concept of the overlapping can find a more appropriate place and perspective for interpretation within these specific concepts. This also applies to the concept of border, where the somewhat vague or abstract concept of border can become more concrete through the realistic and historical recontextualization of the concepts of boundary struggles, heterogeneity, and multiplicity.<br/> These specific concepts, recontextualized through the analysis, are expected to help the subaltern perspectives in Shanghai urban cultural studies find their proper place and voice in urban spaces, rather than being secondary, peripheral, or fragmentary.