Abstract: Urban literary interdisciplinary studies has emerged in the western academia in the past decade， in which the Finnish School， by proposing the concept of “citiness”， explores urban literature in the interdisciplinary context of both literary studies and urban studies. By examining the formative logic of this trend and the theoretical significance of “citiness” with representative works of the Finnish School and frontier theories in urban studies， it can be found that as the research target of the Finnish School， the studies on “citiness” represent a quest for the disciplinary identity of urban literature. Though this concept is in itself an uncertain signifier， a comparative analysis of urban， social and regional issues offers a macro contemplation on the research scope and orientation of urban literary interdisciplinary studies: issues of cities should be distinguished from issues in cities to avoid the excessive extension of the research scope; particular issues of a certain city should be distinguished from general issues of cities around the world， thus reorienting the vision from local “citiness” to global “citiness”.

Key words: urban literature; urban study; citiness; Finnish School