Wu, Aurelia D. (2019) The cultural legacy of Oscar Wilde in modern China and beyond (1909–2019). PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

My PhD project discuss Oscar Wilde’s literary as well as cultural reception in Modern China from 1909 when his work was translated for the first time to 2019 when this thesis is done. I also study his cultural influence in popular media sphere in the Confucian Cultural Circle (China, Japan, and South Korea). After examining his literary reception history in China in Part One, my thesis focuses on his persona as a glamorous dandy appropriated by fashion and popular cultural industry such as facemasks, perfume, male fashion magazines that appeal to the Anglophile Chinese middle-class younger generation in Part Two. They consider him as a fashion guide to a Western (British) and refined lifestyle that they wish to adopt. In the last section I study his influence in popular cultural industry in the form of danmei (boys’ love) fanfictions (Mainland China), manga and video games (Japan), and a Korean musical (South Korea).

My project is in the areas of reception studies within the subfield of World Literatures and Cultural Studies more broadly. It juxtaposes literature with material culture, gender studies, big data analysis and luxury marketing. By examining the reception of British queer icon Oscar Wilde’s works and the uses of his persona in China as well as Japan and Korea, I attempt to reveal aspects of China’s interpretation of modernity within the wider East Asian context, influenced by the British Aestheticism.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 -- Influence, Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 -- Aesthetics, China -- Civilization -- Western influences, China -- Civilization -- 20th century, China -- Civilization -- 21st century, Aestheticism (Literature), Gays in popular culture -- China, Mass media -- Censorship -- China, Popular culture -- China, Masculinity in popular culture -- China
Official Date:	September 2019
Dates:	Date Event September 2019 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Forman, Ross G.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	271 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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