Emulation in Consuming the West: Western High-Cultural Consumption in Contemporary Shanghai

By:

Urban China has witnessed an increased exposure to and interest in Western performing arts over the last ten years, especially in metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai. Although China has been notorious as a manufacturing site for global commodities, another increasingly significant aspect of China’s participation in the global economy is as a consumer of Western goods and cultural products.
In this paper, I look at the pattern of Western-cultural consumption among urbanites in current Shanghai, which is a semi-colonial treaty port in the early 20th century and a strategically vital mega-city for the economic development in contemporary China. The collective memory of Shanghai being the focal point of Western and Eastern cultural encounter, and being modern and open to the world glosses upon the current conspicuous consumption of Western high-cultural performance. In both official and popular narratives, reinstall the city status as a first-tier cosmopolitan city through cultural exchange and cultural consumption is of same importance as in the economic sphere. And Western high-cultural consumption is an effective way to glorify the city's status and to enhance the ‘quality’ (sushi) of the city dwellers. This entails the construction of grand theatres and invitations to world prestigious arts troupes. Furthermore, the flourishing market and the stratified audience group indicates social inequality in the Socialist Market Economy.

My study contributes to the understanding of how the availability and accessibility of Western-cultural products influences Chinese urbanites’ daily lives, especially with the ideological and financial support from governmental level. This research is also relevant to broader discussions about the roles developing countries play in facilitating the sustainability of Western high culture amidst processes of intensified globalization.

Stream: Globalisation

Paper: Governance on the Production of Identity

I graduated as the top one student from the Advertising Department at Tongji University in Shanghai in 2003. I worked in the programme department at Shanghai Concert Hall for years, and later was in charge of the grand theatre at Suzhou Science & Culture Arts Centre in early 2007. In September 2007, I was admitted as a master student into the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, Canada. My research interest lies in the Western high-cultural consumption, e.g. classical music concert, opera, and ballet in contemporary urban China in the era of Socialist Market Economy and globalization. Its conspicuous nature and association with the West connote the social-status-seeking among Chinese urbanites. And I am interested in the emulation reflected in this consumption pattern both at individual level and at inter-city level.