'O thou city that surpasseth our understanding! How impressive are they emptiness, and thy commonness, and thy bad taste!'

In the thirty eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hymn to Shanghai (上海之歌 / Shànghǎi Zhīgē), a piece by 'the little critic' himself, Lin Yutang. Joining me to pick apart Lin's biblical condemnation is the roguish raconteur and historian of Old Shanghai, Paul French. Expect to hear a lot about the virtues of liberal cosmopolitanism and the evils of Art Deco and gin liqueur.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

Yen Ooi's article in the SFRA review - Chinese Science Fiction: A Genre of Adversity
The Three Body Problem gets picked up by Netflix
a cool book I only just learned exists: Reading Lu Xun Through Carl Jung

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(黄包车 / huáng bāo chē / rickshaw)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

Little Tokyo in Old Shanghai
Do Bedbugs Exist in China? by Lin Yutang
Lin Yutang's Chinese typewriter
Extraterritoriality in China
Metropolis (dir. Fritz Lang, 1927)
The XXth Century - the Nazi magazine that Eileen Chang got her start in

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

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Ep 38 - Lin Yutang and Hymn to Shanghai with Paul French

The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

Ep 38 - Lin Yutang and Hymn to Shanghai with Paul French