The Identity Vacillation of a Technological Elite: The Tension between Poetry and Technology in Liu Cixin’s “The Poetry Cloud” (Shi yun)

Abstract

This article explores Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin’s 刘慈 欣novelette “The Poetry Cloud” (Shi yun, 1997) by contextualizing it within the debate between scientism and humanism in 1990s China, an event that has been downplayed in its significance in shaping Liu’s ideas. The first section of this article will investigate how the narrative framework of science fiction represents and refreshes the symbolic meaning of poetry in the abovementioned context. Secondly, by analyzing the three main characters, Yiyi, Big-tooth, and Li Bai, with a focus on their perceptions of poetry, the next section will discuss the different opinions they represent with regard to the debate. Finally, by studying Liu’s work in the context of Martin Heidegger’s reflections upon technology, the last section examines his solution to the tension between scientism and humanism in the programming of a poetry cloud that marries poetic imagination with technological means. This article argues that the story demonstrates how Liu, a technological elite, vacillates between technological determinism and humanism, and tries to provide a possible solution to their inherent contradictions.

Keywords

Liu Cixin / identity / poetry / technology / humanism / scientism

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2014 Higher Education Press and Brill