“Elder’s Dual Vector Foil” and the “Spectre” of Karl Marx: The Imagination of Social Form in the 21st Century Chinese Science Fictions

CHEN Shujie

PDF(467 KB)
PDF(467 KB)
Front. Lit. Stud. China ›› 2020, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (2) : 306-329. DOI: 10.3868/s010-009-020-0014-1
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

“Elder’s Dual Vector Foil” and the “Spectre” of Karl Marx: The Imagination of Social Form in the 21st Century Chinese Science Fictions

Author information +
History +

Abstract

The imagination of the social form has been an important theme in the 21st century Chinese science fictions. The imagination of a social form on the model of “Elder’s dual vector foil” contains a logical asymmetry—high-level technology and a primary social form. From the perspective of historical materialism and dialectics, this imagination and other imaginations of the social form, such as intelligent algorithms, that internally dominate or distort the social form through technology, reveal its flaws and limitations. Compared to the imagination of specific technology, the imagination of social form emphasizes the entirety and connection of multiple social factors, and it is hard to thoroughly dispense the invisible dominance of existing human experience. Marxist theory and methodology are indispensable to the imagination of social form in science fiction. Reigniting the Marxist critical imagination of future social form and activating the aesthetic power of this imagination are the future directions of the development of science fiction.

Keywords

science fiction / social form / The Three-Body Problem trilogy / Marxism

Cite this article

Download citation ▾
CHEN Shujie. “Elder’s Dual Vector Foil” and the “Spectre” of Karl Marx: The Imagination of Social Form in the 21st Century Chinese Science Fictions. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2020, 14(2): 306‒329 https://doi.org/10.3868/s010-009-020-0014-1

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2020 Higher Education Press
PDF(467 KB)

Accesses

Citations

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/