On the afternoon of October 19, the 2023 Hugo Award-winning writer Hai Yi and the 2024 Hugo Award-finalist writer Gu Shi appeared together at the "Tianwen" Chinese Science Fiction Contest series of activities.
At the "Rise of the East: 2024 Hugo Award Finalist Works Transformation and Overseas Seminar", two outstanding young science fiction writers and Tian Xinghai, senior editor of Chengdu Baguangfen Culture, shared their views on the current status of Chinese science fiction publishing, translation, repercussions and influence overseas.
Talk about creation and discover new ideas in "taking things for granted".
In October last year, at the 81st World Science Fiction Convention held in Chengdu, Hai Xuan's "Time and Space Painter" won the Hugo Award for "Best Short Novella"; In August this year, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and Gu Shi's "Introduction to the Reprint of '2181 Overture'" was shortlisted for the "Best Short Novella" at the 2024 Hugo Awards.
Although the two science fiction writers had no personal relationship before attending the symposium together, they had already read many of each other's works and cherished each other. Hai Xuan told everyone: I had temporarily stayed away from science fiction creation for various reasons for a while, but it was at that time that I read Gu Shi's short story collection "Mobius Time and Space".
"There are two stories in the book that impress me the most, one is "Gambling Brains", and the other is "Introduction to the Reprint of '2181 Overture'". "It reminds me of the famous Chinese-American science fiction writer Ted · Jiang's Life Cycle of Software Bodies." ”
Hai Xuan
This "Life Cycle of Software Body" is a collection of six wonderful works by Ted · Jiang, and was selected as one of the "Ten Most Popular Translation Imported Works in the Decade" of this year's "Tianwen" Competition Special Award. The novel of the same name envisions in great detail the story of humans raising digital creatures as pets.
Gu Shi also admitted that Ted · Jiang is indeed a science fiction writer who has had a deep influence on him. "At that time, I felt like I was at a bottleneck stage in writing short stories, and it seemed difficult to write better than before." "Then I thought about the way Ted· Jiang and Liu Yukun used 'non-fiction' to create fictional novels, and I thought maybe a preface was also a possibility." The vast majority of books have a preface, which is a genre familiar to readers. ”
Ted · Jiang, The Life Cycle of Software Bodies, English edition
At the same time, the hibernation technology discussed in the "Introduction to the Reprint of "2181 Overture" has long been a technology that science fiction readers have been familiar with for a long time - when human beings fly to the vast universe across a long time, it has almost become a "convention" for most science fiction writers to stop the aging of the body through deep dormancy.
However, Gu Shi found that there were no science fiction works at that time that discussed in depth the specific impact of hibernation technology on human society, such as ethical issues, property inheritance, maintenance obligations, legal rights, etc. Using the multi-layered narrative space that comes with the fake book review structure, she discovered unprecedented novelty in "Habituality", which also made Hai Xuan admire.
Hai Xuan is always looking for new writing directions and "ideas". Although Tian Xinghai mentioned that some people think that the good ideas of science fiction have almost been exhausted, because cutting-edge science has increasingly exceeded the public's cognition, and what the novel genre can present to the public is still the "old" theory in classical science, but he and Gu Shi both believe that even if an idea has been written, injecting a new perspective into it, it can still radiate new vitality.
Talking about going overseas Chinese science fiction is entering the Western field of vision in batches
"I think the scene in "The Three-Body Problem" is particularly well written, which is the part where the 'water drop' destroys the human fleet." Hai Xuan said, "The 'strong interaction force' that gives the 'water droplet' an indestructible physique is actually a very deep physical theory, but Da Liu has given it a magnificent and incomparably dramatic presentation, which is amazing." ”
Hai Xuan also mentioned a science fiction short story "Mountain" by Liu Cixin in his early years, "It could have been written as a long story, but because the publishing environment at that time was not as good as it is now, it could only be written as a short story and published in magazines." And now we have so many awards with high gold content and a lot of exposure opportunities, which is very friendly for new science fiction authors. ”
Gu Shi
When talking about the topic of Chinese science fiction writers "going to sea", Gu Shi talked about his feelings when he went to the United Kingdom to attend the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow in August this year.
"In recent years, the opportunity for Chinese science fiction to 'go overseas' is really good, with top translators like Liu Yukun and big-name science fiction magazines like Clarke's World willing to pay translation fees to help Chinese science fiction enter the field of vision of Western science fiction readers in batches." "For Chinese science fiction writers, it's important to define who they are in their creations, so that our voices and images become clearer and clearer," she said. ”
Introduction to the Reprint of '2181 Overture', published in Clarke's World
Tian Xinghai told the audience that the popular literature writer who will rank first on the best-selling list of e-commerce in 2023 is Shi Tiesheng, "The books that continue to sell are all written by him twenty or thirty years ago." It can be said that he has traveled through time and completed his own classicization. This is also the biggest difference between books as commodities and other commodities. Tian Xinghai said, "A new mobile phone will be old in two years, but a good book may not sell this year or next year, but it may be rediscovered in ten years and become a classic in 20 years." ”
The three guests also have "classical" expectations and blessings for the "Tianwen" Chinese Science Fiction Literature Contest - "I hope that the 'Tianwen' Award will continue to be held." Gu Shi said, "When it is more than 80 years like the Hugo Awards, no one will remember me, but by then we must have a lot of excellent Chinese science fiction writers." ”
Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang editor Zeng Qi
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