Babylon of the East : the identity of the Swedish Shanghailander in memoirs of interwar Shanghai

Few cities have had a golden age as short and defining as Shanghai during its interwar period. Its unique form of governance and vast wealth, built on a reputation for being an oasis of stability in a country ravaged by decades of civil war and the economic abuse of its poverty-stricken masses, created a flashy metropolis with an especially seductive appeal to fortune-chasing foreigners wishing to take part in its flourishing commerce and debaucherous nightlife. Through the examination of two memoirs this paper intends to highlight how one of those foreign groups, the Swedes, perceived the cosmopolitan environment around them, and their place in it. In their novels the Shanghai-Swedes offer a unique and nuanced portrayal of the city’s Chinese deniziens that varies in tone from that of Swedish missionaries, another notable Swedish group in China during this time. Some similarities in portrayal between the groups exist, and the Chinese are largely portrayed as acting in superstitious, greedy and conniving ways. Rather than believing the Chinese to be uncivilised and in need of spiritual uplifting however, they offer the view that Chinese culture is perfectly respectable and normal once an understanding of its inner workings has been reached. Despite viewing the Chinese as a clear Other, and viewing other Europeans with some sympathy, the Shanghai-Swedes don’t view the western world as split between an Oriental Other and Occidental Self which becomes clear in their portrayals of other western groups such as Americans and Russians.When viewed as different reflections of the authors Self, these Other-images become integral to the construction of a Shanghai-Swedish Self which varies both from the reflected Others and fromthe Swedish readers at home, by virtue of the knowledge and understanding of China obtained by them during their stay. In the end the Shanghai-Swedes provide an interesting example of complexity and nuance in 20th century travel writing and highlight the variation that one might encounter by studying portrayals of the foreign and unknown which aren’t undertaken for the purpose of conquest or evangelism.