Hearing (Technological) Anomalies: An Analysis of Han Song’s “The Rebirth Bricks”

Abstract

Contemporary Chinese science fiction author and journalist Han Song’s works often cross the lines dividing reality from imagination, science fiction from literary mainstream, technology from the supernatural. This article, focusing in particular on Han’s novella “The Rebirth Bricks” (Zaisheng zhuan), aims to investigate the role played by the senses in a shift from the science fictional novum to the fictional “uncanny.” Featuring technological bricks, haunted by sounds of the dead which are perceived through sight and hearing, this novella is analyzed from the standpoint of this perceptual complementarity which expresses Han Song’s “science fictional re-enchantment,” a re-use of supernatural themes of the past that allow him to express the (technological) anomalies of China’s current reality.

Key words： Chinese science fiction; Han Song; science fictional re-enchantment; zhiguai; sensory