Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2000

fantasy in Chinese-speaking societies, the project will be able to delineate a theory of identity in Chinese societies. (4) Cultural Studies This part of the stud y focusses o n the relationship between science fictio n and popular form s of mass media. In va r i ou s traditions of cultural theory, science fiction presents a nd critically evaluates th e concepts of me d i a a nd technology, rethinking th e relationship b e t w e e n h u m a n s a n d ma c h i n e s . P o s t mo d e r n i st s c i enc e f i c t i o n also examines relation s between cultur e and t he n e w me d i a in t he c o n t e xt of multiculturalism. The findings of such study will help Hong Kong understand h o w p o p c u l t u r e i n f l u e n c es t h e construction of cultural identities. (5) ConferencesandPublications The results of the project will be published in three collections of essays, r e s pe c t i ve ly en t i t l e d Chinese Science Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography, Comparative Studies of Modern Science Fiction, a n d Hong Kong Culture and Science Fiction. Another outcome of the project is H o n g Ko n g ' s f i r st i n t e r n a t i o n a l conference on scienc e fiction and fantasy to be organized jointly with UC Riverside in January 2001. Participants will include scholars, cultural critics, and sci-fi writers from mainland China, Taiwan, the US, the UK, Australia, and Japan. A c c o r d i ng t o P r o f . Wo n g t h e creation of Silicon Valley wa s closely related to the artistic experiments with virtual reality of the hippies i n the 60s. 'We n ow talk about building Cyberpor t in Hong Kong but we do not have that kind of cultural background. This mean s that any cyberport we build will only r ema i n o n a v e r y s u p e r f i c i al a n d c omme r c i a l level. We talk a b o u t IT without really knowing mu ch abou t I or T. We o n ly k n ow h ow t o u s e t h e computer,' he remarked. He hopes that the research project can be the first step in preparing Hong Kong for the rapi d changes u s h e r ed i n by technological advancement, so that it can gain an edge over its neighbours in different areas of development in the new century. • Prof. Wong Kin-yuen is one of the few Chinese scholars engaged in science fiction research. He has taught courses in science fiction and fantasy in the US and Taiwan, and has been promoting the genre in Hong Kong. He has also participated actively in important international academic conferences, and published in academic journals related to the subject Prof. Wong is currently chairman of the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies at The Chinese University. Science Fiction and Fantasy, 45