Project New Small Talk: Knowledge and Fictionality in Early Chinese Science Fiction
Setting the stage for the collective learning programs at the AUUUUDITORIUM, Ming Wong’s installation Scenography for a Shanghai Science Fiction Opera (2024) unveils an alternative future fiction that is retraceable in indigenous knowledge. In resonance with Wong's scenography, the first edition of Project New Small Talk presents a series of lectures and workshops around early Chinese science fiction literature.
Largely neglected and conceptually ambiguous, this genre emerged during the turn of century, when late Qing literati negotiated with the introduction of Western knowledge and advocated for radical literature reform. To address its hybridity, which interweaves modern discourse of the scientific and traditional writings of the fantastic, David Der-wei Wang coined the term "science fantasy," destabilizing the common concept of "science fiction." Indeed, amidst a paradigm shift and the reorientation of Chinese fiction—xiaoshuo (literally, "small talk"), articulating the nexus between scientific knowledge and fictionality proves particularly challenging.
Project New Small Talk seeks to reveal or imagine knowledge systems that could contextualize these often marginalized texts. In June, four public lectures sharing research methodologies led the discourse, followed by monthly workshops dedicated to annotating selected xiaoshuo: The New Story of the Stone (1905)and Flowers in the Mirror (1828). Prospective workshop participants must submit an application and will be honored for their contributions. Application details will be announced on RAM's WeChat account.
The Epistemic Construction of Fiction: Linguistic Fiction in Frankenstein (1818) and Other Questions
The lecture series begins by exploring early science fiction without the purview of late Qing China, providing research perspectives through a broad range of texts. The first lecture re-examines Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein (1818). While its reference to galvanism has been thoroughly elucidated, less attention has been given to contemporary scientific studies of homo ferus—particularly the psycholinguistic aspects—which may have influenced the novel. Though Frankenstein's monster as a fiction is both biological and linguistic, the latter science is often dismissed as "softer."
More critically, this analysis demonstrates a consistent relationship between the fictionality of the work and the science of its time: fictionality as negation of a single scientific fact within the same thought style. The lecture then extended this discourse by examining other possible interplays between knowledge and fictionality, with case studies on legal fiction in ancient Rome and the Middle Ages, myths across cultures, and theories of void in ancient Greece, thereby fostering a richer understanding of both concepts.
Speaker: Pandan, Curatorial Assistant at the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai.
“新小说”计划：中国早期科幻中的知识与虚构
作为开展“讲———堂”共同学习项目的舞台，艺术家黄汉明的装置作品《上海科幻戏曲的舞台布景设计》（2024）呈现了一种可以在本土知识体系中追溯的另类未来虚构。与黄汉明的布景呼应，“‘新小说’计划”围绕中国早期科幻文学组织了一系列讲座和工作坊。
“中国早期科幻文学”曾被长期忽略，其概念本身也难以界定。一般认为，世纪之交的晚清（1840—1912）知识分子一边与新近引入的西方知识斡旋，一边又为“改良群治”积极推行文学改革，这一文体由此浮现，时人多以“科学小说”或“理想小说”称之。为把握其融合现代科学话语和传统幻想书写的混种性质，文学学者王德威也曾提出“科幻奇谭”（science fantasy）一词，动摇对“科学幻想”（science fiction）的惯常理解。确实，在科学范式和小说创作的双重转型中，科学知识和虚构性（fictionality）之间的关系变得尤为暧昧不明，这两个概念本身也有待重审。
因上述复杂背景，这些早期的创作往往在今日的读者眼中显得荒诞不经，而“‘新小说’计划”则希望通过考据或想象为理解这些被边缘化的文本提供语境。六月，四名研究者、作家分别进行了方法论的分享，探讨科学知识与虚构的关系、不同早期科幻文本出现的背景、晚清科学范式的变迁以及晚清科幻文学中杂糅的知识；系列讲座结束后，本项目将围绕《新石头记》（1905）和《镜花缘》（1828）组织月度的文本注释工作坊。工作坊采取申请制并提供津贴，申请详情请查阅上海外滩美术馆微信公众号。
虚构的知识构成：从《弗兰肯斯坦》（1818）的语言学幻想说起
“‘新小说’计划”系列讲座首先带来晚清中国之外的早期科幻作品，通过更多元的文本提供不同的研究视角。第一场讲座的切入点是玛丽·雪莱的《弗兰肯斯坦》（1818）。作为一部科幻经典，小说对生物流电现象（galvanism）的指涉已得到充分的阐明，然而同时代关于“野人”（homo ferus）的科学考察——尤其是其中的心理语言学部分——可能对其作成产生的影响却鲜有关注。尽管弗兰肯斯坦的怪物由生物学和语言学幻想构造，后者却时常作为一种“软”科学而被忽视。
更重要的是，上述分析表明，《弗兰肯斯坦》的虚构与同时代科学的关系始终如一：其虚构性在于同一思想风格（thought style）下对单一科学事实的否定。从这个结论出发，后半场讲座探讨了知识与虚构性的其他可能关系，主要案例分析涉及古罗马和中世纪的法律拟制、各地神话和古希腊真空学说，籍此打开对知识和虚构本身的不同理解。
讲者：潘旦，上海外滩美术馆策展助理。
