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Paris in the Orient: a spatial micro-history of the French in Shanghai (1942)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2020
Abstract
In this article, we rely on a census of French residents in 1942 to conduct a quantitative micro-history of the French community in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. On the basis of this snapshot, we examine this group from the perspective of long-term demography combined with a spatial approach drawing on the geospatial resources built over a decade in Shanghai. We argue that the system of power in the French Concession shaped the structural traits of the French population as a self-contained community. It created a politically, culturally and linguistically defined space where French nationals were presented with opportunities and even privileges. It sheds light on the social characteristics of foreign communities in a transcolonial city and on the spatial patterns they created in a non-western urban setting. Methodologically, we harness Geographical Information System tools to bridge demography and spatial history.
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References
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19 The authors thank Christine Cornet, previously a historian affiliated with the Institute of Political Science in Lyon, for pointing out and sharing this document.
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32 To examine the age structure of the population, we delineated six age groups: 16–25, 26–35, 36–45, 46–55, 56–65, +65. This analysis includes only the heads of family, but not the spouses and children.
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34 ‘Liste nominative des propriétaires’.
35 ‘Recensement de la population sur la Concession française, année 1878’. The census did include the Catholic missionaries, even if most of them lived outside the settlement proper.
36 This categorization is based on the categories of the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which we adapted and simplified for our purpose.
37 Virtual Shanghai Project: http://virtualshanghai.net, accessed 21 Jan. 2019.
38 The term lilong (alley) refers both to the small alleys that criss-crossed the built-up space between the main roads, and to the most popular type housing in Shanghai.
39 A previous survey in 1939 had identified 81 buildings. ‘Vaccination anti-choléra-typhoïdique’, SMA, U38-5-524.
40 Henriot, Shi and Aubrun (eds.), The Population of Shanghai, 58, 176–7.