This lecture is an open discussion of early science fiction texts, covering "canons" from diverse cultures and "science fiction" elements in works not typically classified as such. Led by a contemporary Chinese science fiction writer, the audience embarks on adventurous journeys into the mental worlds of the following authors.
A contemporary sci-fi writer guided the audience through the following texts: the Czech play R.U.R. (1921) by Karel Čapek, which introduced the term "robot" to popular culture; the Japanese novel Seisei Kaishin Hen(1857), written by Confucian scholar Gesshū Iwagaki near the late Qing dynasty and with similar political aspirations; the Russian Red Star (1908) by Alexander Bogdanov, which projects political ideals on Mars, hosting advanced communist society; Johannes Kepler Kepler's Somnium(1608), which planned an early scientific exploration to the Moon—another frequent sci-fi locus; the Italian epic Orlando Furioso (1516), which shows lunar travel is not exclusively a sci-fi motif—perhaps the question is whether and how an epic can be "science fiction," bringing The Epic of Gilgamesh into the discussion. The lecturer invites the audience to reflect on how these "science fiction" writings emerged within their socio-historical contexts and what issues they sought to address.
Speaker:
Tang Fei is a writer, critic, and member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She is the author of Odysscyber (2021), The Nameless Feast (2019), The Person Who Saw Cetus (2018). She has received recognition from the Shanghai Literature Award, Chinese Readers' Choice Awards (Gravity Awards), the Smokelong Quarterly Award, Favourite Speculative Fiction in Translation, among others.
本场讲座是对早期科幻文本的开放探讨，涉及不同国家的科幻“正典”，以及非传统意义上的科幻文本中浮现的某种“科幻”元素。以虚构进入虚构，中国当代科幻作家带领观众代入以下文本作者的精神世界，开展充满冒险精神的游历。
这些文本包括捷克作家卡雷尔·恰佩克的经典作品、将robot一词引入流行文化的戏剧《罗梭的万能工人》（1921），也包括时间与晚清科幻相近、同样表达政治抱负的日本早期作品《西征快心篇》（1857），由日本儒学学者岩垣月洲所作。前苏联科学家亚历山大·波格丹诺夫则将其政治理想寄予地外空间，其《红星》（1908）描绘了火星文明建立的社会主义体系。而作为现代科学幻想中另一个常见目的地，月球在开普勒所著的《梦》（1608）中就已有某种科学探索。但月界旅行的母题不仅“科学”的，意大利史诗《疯狂的奥兰多》（1516）即为例证。或者说，问题在于史诗在何种意义上是或者不是“科学幻想”。以此考虑，《吉尔伽美什史诗》也将被纳入讨论。通过研读与分享，讲座希望思考这些“科幻”书写是在怎样的历史社会变动下作为应激性反馈出现，又试图正面回应哪些问题。
讲者：
糖匪，作家，评论人，SFWA（美国科幻和奇幻作家协会）正式作家会员。出版作品有《奥德赛博》（2021）、《无名盛宴》（2019）、《看见鲸鱼座的人》（2018）。她的作品曾获《上海文学》奖、中国科幻读者选择奖（引力奖）、《烟长杂志》奖（SmokeLong Quarterly Award）、最受喜爱推想小说翻译作品（Favourite Speculative Fiction in Translation）等奖项认可。
