Modern(摩登) Female Images in Shanghai by 1930s : Mainly Regarding to Visualized Printed Arts

1930년대 상해의 모던[摩登] 여성 이미지 - 시각화된 복제미술을 중심으로

The term 'modern', in broader sense, refers to the concepts like modernity, modernization, modernism and the like, which came from Westernization impling the recognition of indigenous culture as being inferior to Western culture by comparison along with the expanded influences of the Empire of Japan. These concepts, however, rather than evolving from Western standards, came into being as a form of civilization led by Japan which had already tasted the fruits of modernization by 1920s. Since 1920s, the policy of, so-called, reconstructing Asian countries by Japan came to create eastern way of modernism, as a new East Asian trend mainly revealed in China which was against colonization after Japan's invasion and conquest of Manchuria. Therefore, Eastern' modern' unlike Western one could be understood in the widespread terminology, 'Modern(摩登)' in Shanghai, reflecting consciousness like 'Fashion' or 'Trend' in female images on a variety of visual media. By 1930s it was the most notable that 'modern' was accepted as something similar with 'Fashion', or 'Trend' in sociocultural contexts. These atmosphere had led commercial arts to enable to communicate with the public in a great deal of supports and success in Shanghai which was widely regarded as the citadel for the inflow of Western culture, among which transformations in female images were remarkable as a representative form of culture. It is also remarkable that 'historical modernity' transforming from the feudal age to modern society was considered a synchronic modernity, and nationalism was regarded as a sort of being modern, while involved in the newly-changed female images as a fashion mode. Changes in fashion including hair style in Shanghai by 1930s, as a way of expressions showing what was modern through commercial artistic productions, were easily noticed in visual media as an outlet of modern women's inner desire revealing their pursuit for new mode of life in metropolitan cities. As a characteristic of the time creating a new code of visual female images, it is notable that there existed another form of 'modern' satisfying socio-cultural needs of the general public seeking for being 'modern'.