A Beautiful Future? Environment, Aesthetics, and Inequality in Chinese Science Fiction

Abstract

Abstract: How does contemporary Chinese science fiction respond to the current environmental crisis? This essay uses eco-criticism to analyze Hao Jingfang's “Folding Beijing” (2012) and Chen Qiufan's “The Fish of Lijiang” (2006). I investigate how these two stories describe the relationship between protagonists and their natural surroundings. I argue that “Folding Beijing” and “The Fish of Lijiang” can shed light on the challenges that economic development poses to ecological aesthetics.

Key words: Chinese science fiction, aesthetics, ecocriticism

摘要： 当代中国科幻小说如何应对目前的环境危机？本文从生态批评的角度来分析郝景芳的“北京折叠”(2012)和陈楸帆的“丽江的鱼儿们”(2006),通过观察这两个短篇小说的主人公与其自然环境的关系,本文认为它们显示了经济发展对生态审美带来的挑战。

关键词: 中国科幻小说, 美学, 生态批评

Melissa A. Hosek. A Beautiful Future? Environment, Aesthetics, and Inequality in Chinese Science Fiction[J]. Comparative Literature in China, 2022, 0(3): 15-33.

Melissa A. Hosek. A Beautiful Future? Environment, Aesthetics, and Inequality in Chinese Science Fiction[J]. 中国比较文学, 2022, 0(3): 15-33.

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