Chinese Science Fiction Literature

Can it do for China what K-Pop and Manga do for Korea and Japan?

Abstract

There has been little success with exporting Chinese culture abroad, despite considerable eff orts made by the Chinese government. Chinese science fiction (sci-fi) has attracted increasing global attention and may be an important cultural tool to express a Chinese narrative abroad. Previous research has focused on Chinese sci-fi as a national literary product to be consumed within Chinese borders, but little has been written on Chinese sci-fi as a transnational product to be consumed globally. In this paper I examine the role of Chinese sci-fi literature as a transnational cultural tool from a bottom-up perspective. I attempt to understand the current role and function of Chinese sci-fi in the Sinosphere by looking into cultural flows within the sci-fi community and examining the routes of this transnational and transcultural voyage. The findings show that Chinese sci-fi is becoming globalised reaching consumers all over the world yet still maintaining its regional context. Thus, this paper contributes to an enhanced understanding of how Chinese sci-fi literature can create a positive and powerful image of China from the bottom-up.