民國時期的家電科技與家務想像：電冰箱的文化史(1930-1940)

Domestic Appliances and Imaged Housework in the Republican Era: a Cultural History of Refrigerator

本文透過追溯電冰箱進入中國的發展軌跡以及相關的討論，探討一種新技術的出現如何鞏固中國人對於現代家庭的想像。1920到1930年代，隨著西方的思想與物質文化進入上海等通商口岸，許多中國人開始受到西方的家庭觀念影響，特別是家庭電器的發明透過其便利性，讓中國人對於一個「現代」的家庭生活有了新的想像。隨著上海商業社會的出現，電冰箱被引進上海，這種新的生活想像逐漸化為可能。電冰箱以其可以自動控制溫度的特性，宣稱可以幫助家庭婦女解決家務上的難題，如飲食與經濟等。然而，這些論述不僅使婦女要學習更多家務知識，也合理化婦女對家務活動的責任。

This article explores how the emerge of a new technology solidified the Chinese imagination of the modern family by tracing the introduction of refrigerators into China. From the 1920s to the 1930s, with the introduction of Western ideas and material culture into Shanghai and other treaty ports, Chinese people began to be influenced by the Western concept and material. In particular, the invention of household appliances gave Chinese people a new imagination of a 'modern' family life through its convenience. With the emergence of Shanghai's commercial society, refrigerators were imported into Shanghai. They made this new life imagination gradually became possible. Refrigerators, with their ability to control temperature automatically, claim to be able to help housewives solve household problems, such as food and money. These arguments, however, not only lead women to learn more about housework, but also rationalize women's responsibilities for domestic activities.