China's path to modernity as reflected in contemporary Chinese science fiction

Authors

VÁVRA Dušan

Year of publication 2021
Citation
Description "Modernization" (xiandaihua) belongs among the key terms used in China to conceptualize the process of forming Chinese identity in the 20th-21st c. A lot of research has been done on how modernization shapes Chinese traditions (including religious ones) or how modernization in China is shaped by its traditions. In this paper, I focus on a different aspect of the dynamic relations between tradition and modernity in Chinese context. I address the contemporary forms of the strain in modern Chinese thought that questions the process of modernization as something alien to Chinese culture and society. I use selected essayistic and fictional works by authors of two periods - beginning of 20th c. and beginnning of 21st century - to show the continuity of a peculiar sentiment in Chinese thought - the problem of China’s monstrosity vis-a-vis modernity.

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