No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948. Too violent no ... It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up. Any funny bear like honey
I can’t parse this
The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
11–20 of 205 posts
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have plenty of western books on that. Hopefully Chinese SF can deal with some western neglected or taboo topics!
Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.
The ones we may not realise are worth talking about.
Just because this new wave of non-Western science fiction has issues, this doesn't mean it cannot contribute some novel richness to a genre that has so far been dominated by white Westerners.
Innovation doesn't lie in perfect solutions, and that's especially true for art.
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#13No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948. Too violent no ... It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up. Any funny bear like honey
I can’t parse this
it looks like he's posting from hong kong, and he is trying to avoid the Chinese government censors or get thrown in jail.
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know if you read the article, but the investment in science fiction is state sponsored: > A big clue comes from the author Neil Gaiman’s collection of non-fiction essays, The View from the Cheap Seats, where he relates an anecdote from the time he attended the 2007 China SF/Fantasy Conference in Chengdu: > “A few years ago, in 2007, I went to China for the first-ever, I believe, state-sponsored science fictio…
That's back in 2006. Now everything has changed. Now China thrives on closing down churches, jailing pastors, censoring 'sensitive' materials in Hong Kong, indoctrinate muslims to eat pork and drink beer, etc etc etc. Doubt any book of significance will arise in this environment
CCP thrives on atheism, most Chinese science fiction novels actually are also non or anti-religion which wins them points in the censor department. At least I've read several post-2015 Chinese sci-fi and whenever religion comes up, the religious figures are always greedy, corrupt and using their religious title for power, "polygamous-cultish" or fanatically stupid.
Although the ones I've read have been remixing Cthulhu with Cyberpunk so I might be digressing. Also note that most Chinese modern sci-fi now begin life as internet and web forum novels because the web is the most important and fast-spreading medium for Chinese fiction readers now.
As well, near-future sci-fi and most importantly those kind of TV shows are pretty much banned in China.
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#15As far as I know the Chinese book market is heavily censored. I'd be curious about how this affects Chinese authors, and if and how they have to limit the topics and the creativity of their writing due to this.
Famous authors can write for the international translation market, essentially. A few months ago there was a submission about Yan Lianke's struggles: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18206445
It's still possible to read banned books on the mainland if you know the right sites, but most consumers of banned literature are probably just looking for porn, so you might need to do some digging to find something more high-brow.
I'm not sure what lesser-known authors do, but I guess they try to keep their fiction as fictional as possible.
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have plenty of western books on that. Hopefully Chinese SF can deal with some western neglected or taboo topics!
Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.
Maybe the primacy of individualism/freedoms as the only path to collective prosperity? Like, what if the Chinese model really is the best way to run a country (not an endorsement, btw)?
Not "taboo," persay, but it's something thing that's not really seriously considered by most westerners (not the ones I know, at least).
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can’t parse this
it looks like he's posting from hong kong, and he is trying to avoid the Chinese government censors or get thrown in jail.
The last line in particular seems like a reference to their current leaders dislike of cartoon bears: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/18/15993136/winnie-the-pooh-...
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have plenty of western books on that. Hopefully Chinese SF can deal with some western neglected or taboo topics!
Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.
As a westerner, I'm not the right person to ask.
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.
Maybe the primacy of individualism/freedoms as the only path to collective prosperity? Like, what if the Chinese model really is the best way to run a country (not an endorsement, btw)? Not "taboo," persay, but it's something thing that's not really seriously considered by most westerners (not the ones I know, at least).
Then you might like Han Song
Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction
#20I bet none of the books will tackle topics like censorship, big brother, and concentration camps for minorities
Liu Cixin already covers this in his well-known trilogy. Also, Folding Beijing is an award winning short story encompassing all three things plus class strife, written by a Chinese author.
Folding Beijing was linked in TFA, but in case someone overlooked it or went straight to the comments, here's the English translation: http://uncannymagazine.com/article/folding-beijing-2/