The city as liminal protagonist in Takeda Taijun's Shanhai no Hotaru (Shanghai Firefly)

This paper examines liminality in Shanghai no hotaru (Shanghai Firefly), the last and incomplete work of post-war writer, Takeda Taijun (1912-1976). I use the term liminality here in the sense of occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold and therefore implying the ambiguity and disorientation that is a strong characteristic of the Shanghai Firefly narrative. This liminal instability derives to some extent from the international character of Shanhgai. It is also closely associated with the tension between subversion of and complicity with the policies of the invader Japanese administration that is apparent in the activities of both the city’s local Shanghai-ese and Japanese minor functionary sojourners, including the novel’s narrator himself. Shanghai Firefly is a series of fictional recollections of the author’s time in Shanghai from June 1944 until mid-1945 during which time Japan’s fanatical aspirations for victory in total war were clearly leading to disastrous outcomes for all. In this text, the author creates a narrative terrain which sees the narrator/protagonist aimlessly wandering the great Chinese city, an urban space that on occasions completely defies the young man’s understanding. I will probe the liminality that underpins Takeda’s representation of the city of Shanghai by providing a close reading of excerpts from the “Haien” (Decaying Garden) chapter – the second last – of the novel.