Royal Asiatic Society Shanghai – 17/2/22 – Thrills, Spills & Femme Fatales – Pulp Fiction & 1950s Shanghai

Posted: February 15th, 2022 | 2 Comments »

I’m giving a talk (Zoom…again) to the RAS Shanghai – “Thrills, Spills & Femme Fatales – Pulp Fiction & 1950s Shanghai”, based on my RAS China 2021 Journal essay ‘An Appreciation of Don Smith’s 1952 China Coaster and the Period of “Interregnum Shanghai” it Portrays’. February 17th 2022 – 8pm Shanghai time.

Interwar American pulp fiction loved Shanghai – spies of all nations , White Russians dames, Japanese bad guys, all-American good guys. Then, after 1949, it looked like the pulps would have to find somewhere new to write about as the Bamboo Curtain descended. But, in the fascinating integrum period between 1949 and the mid-1950s there was still a space to tell stories of Shanghai as the old pre-war city just about clung on until the Communist consolidation. Paul French argues that Don Smith’s now forgotten 1953 pulp novel China Coaster was the best of these at describing the last vestiges of old Shanghai.

You can sign up here with the RAS for the talk

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