The Cultural Logistics of Chinese and Sinophone Science Fiction

The Cultural Logistics of Chinese and Sinophone SF Conference 2024 scrutinizes the current state of the science fiction (SF) genre in China and the larger Sinophone area. Along these lines, we invite contributions that explore the relevance and potential limitations of “Chinese SF”.

We welcome analyses of the textual and extra-textual dimensions of SF, the transformations across formats and languages, the literary and aesthetic politics, and the socio-political affordances granted by this form. Moreover, we encourage discussions of this genre as a medium for cultural exchange across linguistic, cultural, and national boundaries in the present and the past, as well as interventions that recognize the value of this genre in unveiling and questioning existing power dynamics and inequalities, and its potential to fuel global discourse against global threats such as the climate emergency and our growing geopolitical instability.

By casting a wide thematic net, we aim to establish the state of the field of Chinese and Sinophone SF studies and to collectively chart ways forward in this field.