DaryaLit

Darya's Literary Analysis
Wei Hui, the author of // Shanghai Baby //, is part of the literary genre in Shanghai known as the New Generation Writers. These writers are typically sexually explicit, materialistic andsensationalist. // Shanghai Baby //is all that and much, much more. It is raw and fast-paced; many times it's shocking and unbelievable. The reader is caught up in the narrator, Nikki's, whirlwind of a life. She goes by Coco, after Coco Chanel. Coco Chanel is one of her idols; next on the list is Henry Miller.

Coco is a writer and every page of this book is evidence of her creative and word-oriented mind. Each chapter is also explicitly representative of the new generation of Shanghainese who are more defiant of their parents than past generations. And more open about their sexuality, as represented in this passage. "I began to arrange the scented white lilies in a large jar of water. So delicate, that feeling when my fingers touched these seductive white petals. My love of flowers may be conventionally feminine, but I believe the day will come when I look in the mirror and compare my face to a poisonous plant. And my shocking bestselling novel will reveal the truth about humankind: violence, style, lust, joy, and then enigma, machines, power, and death (9)." Coco is a fiesty twenty-five year old. Her dreams are typical of people of her age. She wants to become famous by writing a bestselling novel. She disobeys her parents, moves out of their house and into Tian Tian's (her boyfriend) apartment. She quit her high-paying job as a journalist to work at a cafe and work on writing her popular novel. The lilies in this passage accurately describe how Coco thinks of herself. She knows how to use her seductive femininity to get men and women to like her but she knows this ability is fleeting. She realizes that she can't be pretty forever so she has her writing to fall back on. She is also witty and sharp, which she pours into her novel.

In the following conversation with her father Coco discusses the reality of the young people growing up in Shanghai. They feel very disconnected from their parents' generation and are struggling to rectify the differences between tradition and modernity. " "The day will come when you realize that a steady, down-to-earth life is the most important thing. Even Eileen Chang says that human life needs a stable foundation," said Daddy.... "The way we think is just too different. We're separated by a hundred generation gaps. We'd best respect one another rather than argue our cases," I said. "Anyway, it's a waste of time. I'm twenty-five, and I want to be a writer. Even though the profession's totally passé, I'm going to make writing up-to-date again (19)." " Coco's mind is made up about what she is going to do with her life. She will be a writer and lead a life that is against her parent's wishes. According to her, they are failing to see the value in being a professional writer and do not understand what it is like to be a young Shanghainese person. She still cares for her parents deeply and loves both of them but it is hard for her to have a relationship when they are so disapproving of her life. She tried to do things their way once, when she was working as a journalist. That lifestyle was not working for Coco so she decides she needs to 'live' and work as a waitress. That is where the reader meets Coco, she is waitressing in a café where she meets Tian Tian.

Wei Hui's novels are typically written like this. She is up front with her characters and they are struggling to live lives that their parents would approve of while also following their own dreams. Writing at the end of the 20th century is a key part of Wei Hui's stories. China is a country of shifting values, leaving the new generations extremely distant from the older ones, like Coco tells her father. // Shanghai Baby // is a pseudo coming-of-age story, about a young woman searching to find herself amidst the bustling metropolis of Shanghai. At the end of the novel, she has really only lost everything that she loved but Coco returns in Wei Hui's sequel, // Marrying Buddha. // This novel may seem trashy if only taken at face value. The relationship drama, amount of sexual encounters and partying depicted in this book may not normally add up to a classic work of fiction. Once the layers are peeled back there is a more introspective soul to the story. It relates the tale of a generation of Chinese young people who are struggling to separate themselves from their parent's generation. They are looking for themselves and trying to figure out what sort of mark they want to make on the world. It is a coming-of-age story about a generation wrapped in a sensational, sexually-charged and materialistic package.