Panel 11 (Red Salon/ Volksbühne)
Science Fiction from China
With Chen Qiufan (CHN), Han Song (CHN), Song Mingwei (USA), Regina Kanyu Wang (CHN) (panel fully prerecorded).
Moderation: Kapsel-Magazin (live)
Authors Han Song and Chen Qiufan are considered the most important and prolific voices of their generations. Han Song is one of the pioneers of modern Chinese science fiction. He has been writing since the 1980s and today enjoys cult status in China. Chen Qiufan belongs to the younger generation, which also includes Regina Kanyu Wang.
In the stories of Han Song and Chen Qiufan a recurring theme is the complex relationship between man and nature. What is particular about both of them is their view of the evolution of mankind. In the worlds they depict, people have learned to adapt to climate change.
In Han Song's "Red Ocean", the terrestrial ecosystems were destroyed. Humans had to adapt to this new world and live as fish-like creatures underwater in a red ocean. In "Waste Tide", Chen Qiufan tells of the so-called garbage people on an island in southwestern China. Amid toxic gases controlled by modern technology, they collect and recycle the electronic waste of the entire world. Anyone who resists is punished - until one day an uprising takes place.
The panel will begin with a brief introduction by Song Mingwei, who is one of the most important researchers of science fiction in modern Chinese literature. He will then talk with Han Song about nature, climate, and related topics, using the literature of Han Song and other writers of his generation as examples.
In the second part, Chen Qiufan and Regina Kanyu Wang discuss the influence of the Chinese understanding of nature on their writing and their generation's. As humans are in the process of replacing nature more and more with technology, the role of artificial intelligence concerning current climate and environmental challenges also becomes a topic of discussion.
Felix Meyer zu Venne and Lukas Dubro from the editorial team of ↗Kapsel, the German-language magazine for science fiction from China, are the curators of the panel and will host the event.
Chen Qiufan (a.k.a. Stanley Chan) is an award-winning Chinese author, translator, creative producer, and curator of speculative fiction. He is honorary chairman of the Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association and holds a seat on the Science Fiction Advisory Board of the Xprize Foundation. His works include the novel "Waste Tide" and the story collection "AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Futur", which he co-wrote with author Kai-Fu Lee and thereby outlines a positive vision of technology. Chen Qiufan is also a member of the Climate Fiction Writers League.
Titles:
• AI 2041, 2021
• Waste Tide, 2019
Regina Kanyu Wangis a bilingual Chinese writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Oslo as part of the CoFUTURES project. Her research interests include Chinese science fiction, especially from gender and environmental perspectives.
She has received several awards for her stories. She is also co-editor of "The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories", an anthology of all-female and non-binary Chinese speculative fiction.
Titles:
• The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, 2022
• A Cyber-Cuscuta Manifesto, 2020
Han Song is considered one of China's most prolific and esteemed science fiction writers. His most important works include "2066: Mars Over America", "Red Ocean", "Subway", "High-Speed Rail", "Tracks" and the "Hospital Trilogy". He has won the Galaxy Award, China's most prestigious science fiction award, several times. In addition to his literary work, he works for the state news agency Xinhua.
When reading his works, it becomes clear that science fiction is merely a "slightly distorted mirror reflecting modern Chinese society" (Paper Republic). For this reason, many of his books are not published in China.
Titles:
• A Primer to Han Song, 2020
Song Mingwei is professor of Modern Chinese Literature at Wellesley College. His field of research includes modern Chinese literature, youth culture, and science fiction. He is the author of numerous books and research articles in both English and Chinese. Among them are "Young China: National Rejuvenation and the Bildungsroman, 1900-1959" (Harvard, 2015), and "Fear of Seeing: The Poetics and Politics of Chinese Science Fiction" (forthcoming). He is co-editor of "The Reincarnated Giant: An Anthology of Twenty-First-Century Chinese Science Fiction."
Titles:
• The Reincarnated Giant, 2018