Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2000

Universities in the West had courses in science fiction novels and culture wa y back in the 50s. In recent years , examples are often quoted from science fiction by important technoculture publications to illustrate the concern of the humanities o v e r t h e i mp a ct of t e c h n o l o g i c a l development on the h uma n race. Issues such as genetic engineering, cloning, and h uma n - a s s i s t ed r e p r o d u c t i on h a v e become importan t issues that sit astride technology and culture. What is the situation like in Chines e communities? With greater freedom of speech, a mo re efficient telecommunications n e t wo r k, a nd a mo re lively convergence of Chinese a n d Western cultures, Hong Kong should presumably en j oy greater a d v a n t a g e s in science fiction creation t h a n Taiwan a nd the mainland. Yet, ironically, its performance in this respect has been lagging behind. Taiwan, which has h ad three generations of sci-fi w r i t e r s , p r o d u c e s works with high quality in t e r ms of c u l t u r a l d e p t h , a n d g r a s p of l a t e s t t e c h n o l o g y . In mainland China, Science Fiction World, a s c i e n c e fiction journal published in Chengdu , Sz e c hu a n Province, en j oys a 40,000- s t r o ng c i r c u l a t i on . Th i s g i a nt of a publication boasts a huge team of young writers, whose setback, however, is the lack of adequate exposure to the latest technology and it s cultural implications, and their limited c omma nd of foreign languages, notably English. Most works written in Taiwan and o n the mainland are wha t is known as 'soft core' sci-fi, rather different f r om the ' h a r d core' materials written b y scientists tha t are frequently f oun d in the West. In Hong Kong, science fiction works are scarce and quit e a lot of them are of low quality. Efforts at p r omo t i on are weak and basically amateurish in nature. On e of t h e ma i n r e a s o ns for this is p r o b a b ly t h e h i s t o r i c a l d i v i s i on of students into science an d arts streams at too early a stage in their schooling, which p r o p e l s s c i enc e a n d h um a n i t i e s to opposite poles. Teachers and students alike are trappe d in an exclusive world of either arts or science. An interdisciplinary research group at The Chinese Universit y led b y Prof. Wong Kin-yuen received approximately HK$1 million from the Research Grants Council in 1998 to study the differen t traditions of science fiction writing in Chinese and Western societies. Entitled 'A Comparative Study on Chinese and Western Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Context of Hong Kong Culture', the project has two objectives. First, it is to establish the relationship be twe en the human i t i e s and the spaces mapped by science and technology in contemporary society through a study of science fiction, and to investigate th e functions of science fiction in dealing with s uch r e l a t i on s h i p s, for examp l e , t h e imp a c t of a d v a n c e d c ommu n i c a t i o n technology on our identities, how we see ourselves and relate to society and reality Representative works of Chang Shi-kuo, sci-fi writer from Taiwan Science Fiction World, enjoying a large circulation in mainland China Science Fiction a n d Fantasy