Author: Liu
Category: science fiction theory
Imagine Tolstoy made the following description in War and Peace:
Napoleon led 600,000 French troops to invade Russia. Russian troops fought and retreated. The French army gradually infiltrated into the vast territory of Russia and recently occupied Moscow, which has become an empty city. After a long wait for peace, Napoleon had to order the army to retreat. The winter in Russia is coming. On the way back, many French people died of cold and hunger. When Napoleon finally returned to France, he brought back less than 30,000 French troops.
In fact, Tuo Weng did write a lot of such words in that masterpiece, but he isolated these descriptions from the text of the novel and put them in some completely independent chapters. Coincidentally, another war writer Herman a century later? 6? Walker, 1, in his magnum opus The Storm of War, also made a macro account of the historical process of World War II with an independent chapter similar to the postscript, and named it "Unified Topic: Global Waterloo". If you take it out alone, it can be a good popular science reading material on the history of World War II. In this way, two writers separated by a hundred years just want to tell readers that these things are history, not an organic part of my works, and do not belong to my literary creation.
Indeed, it is impossible for mainstream literature to take the macro description of history as the main body of its works. If the macro description reaches a certain level, the novel becomes a history book, not a novel. Of course, there are a large number of novels describing the historical panorama, such as Li Zicheng in China and Spartacus abroad, but these works mainly describe the details of historical figures and reflect the historical panorama with a large number of details. Nor can they take the description of the macro-process of history as the main body, which is what historians do.
But science fiction is different. Please read the following text:
Sirius commander Rumbona led a huge fleet of 600,000 starships to explore the solar system. Humans retreat while fighting, taking away all available energy on the earth before retreating to outer space, and transforming the sun into a red giant that cannot extract any energy from it in advance. Sirius Expeditionary Force went deep into the solar system and finally occupied the earth, which has become an empty star. After waiting for a long time for peace, Lombok had to order the army to retreat. The first spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy's harsh black hole flooding period has arrived. On the way back, due to energy exhaustion and loss of maneuverability, a large number of starships were swallowed up by floating black holes. When Lombok finally returned to Sirius, there were less than 30,000 starships left in the fleet.
This is also a macro description of history. Different from the above, it is also a novel and the author's literary creation, because this is the history created by the author, and Aaron Li Bingran and his starfleet both come from his imaginary world.
This is the main difference between science fiction literature and mainstream literature. Mainstream literature describes the world created by God, while science fiction literature creates the world like God and then describes it.
Because of this difference, we must reflect on some mainstream literary elements in science fiction from the perspective of science fiction.
I. Details
Novels must have details, but in science fiction literature, the concept of details has changed greatly. There is such a science fiction novel called Singularity Fireworks, which describes that the big bang created the universe as just a group of super-conscious fireworks parties. A fireworks is a big bang, and then a universe was born. When our universe was born, there was this description:
"This is good! This is good! " When the fireworks exploded in nothingness, the subject 1 cheered.
"At least it's better than just a few," said subject 2 lazily. "The physical laws formed after inflation are evenly distributed, and the basic particles precipitated by pure energy have a good color."
The fireworks went out and the ashes fell.
"Be patient, there are many interesting things!" The subject 1 said to the subject 2 who picked up another singularity fireworks and lit it, he handed a telescope to the subject 2. "Look inside the ashes, and the cooled material has formed many interesting tiny low-entropy aggregates."
"Well," said subject No.2 with a telescope, "they can copy themselves and have tiny consciousness ... and so on. Some of them actually infer that they came from the fireworks just now, which is very interesting ..."
There is no doubt that the above words should be regarded as details, describing the conversation and feelings of two people (or anything else) before and after a fireworks display. But this detail is absolutely unusual. Really not "detailed". It's only 200 words It is difficult to describe a little kiss between the hero and heroine in mainstream literature, but it covers all the history of our universe in time and space since the Big Bang, including the history of life and civilization, and also shows the picture of a super universe outside our universe. This is a unique detail of science fiction. Compared with the "micro details" of mainstream literature, we don't call them "macro details".
The same content should be described in mainstream literature as follows:
The universe was born in the Big Bang, then stars including the sun were formed, and then the earth was formed next to the sun. More than a billion years after the earth appeared, life appeared on its surface, and then after a long evolution, human beings appeared. After going through primitive times, agricultural times and industrial times, mankind entered the information age, and began to think about the origin of the universe, which proved that it was born in the Big Bang.
Is this a detail? Obviously not. So macro details can only appear in science fiction,
In fact, such details are very common in science fiction. The description of astronauts in the last chapter of 200 1 is the best example. This passage is the most classic chapter in science fiction literature. In these details, with a stroke of a pen, science fiction writers have made the world and history covered by mainstream literature instantly become insignificant dust in the universe.
In the early days of science fiction, macro details were not common. Only when science fiction literature extended its tentacles to the depths of the universe and began to think about the origin of the universe did it appear in large numbers. It is a symbol of the maturity of science fiction, and it is also a means of expression that can best reflect the characteristics and advantages of science fiction literature.
There is no intention to belittle the microscopic details in traditional literature. It is also an indispensable factor in science fiction. Science fiction without vivid microscopic details is like a giant without legs. Even though all science fiction novels are composed of microscopic details, there are many classics like The Light of the Past.
Unfortunately, while emphasizing micro-details, macro-details have not been recognized by domestic science fiction critics and readers. People generally have two kinds of comments on it: one is empty, and the other is just a long speech.
Clark Star is a classic in science fiction short stories. Its last sentence: "Destroyed a civilized supernova, just to illuminate the night sky in Bethlehem!" " It is the eternal swan song of science fiction and a model of macro details. But if this novel were written in China, it would definitely not be published, for the simple reason that there are no details. If "200 1" has a large scale of time and space description, but the connotation has already been written, there is nothing to expand it, then "Star" is really like a long synopsis. Even if the plot outline is given to an old editor of a domestic publishing house who collects science fiction, he or she may find it too rough. There are also many good works in China that cannot be published on the grounds of "no details". The most typical example is Feng Zhigang's Planting Civilization. In the discussion after the 200 1 Yinhe Prize awarding ceremony of Beijing Normal University, a MM severely accused: "The carelessness of science fiction creation has developed to such a degree that someone actually took out the introduction of a novel and pretended to be a masterpiece!" See next to Hanfei Feng's wry smile, I really want to explain a few words, but look at the appearance of MM indignant, words were scared back to the stomach. In fact, this work list is much more detailed than some foreign classics in details. If you don't believe me, you can look at the gravity deep well that just won the nebula award two years ago, the spiral of Calvino, the first and last person in some years. It is said that Hanfei Feng is developing his "content introduction" into a long story. In fact, western science fiction writers often do this, but it is intriguing that many extended novels in the history of science fiction are not as good as their short stories.
The appearance of macro details has a profound influence on the structure of science fiction. This reminds us of the development theory of application software (especially MIS software). According to the theory of software engineering from the west, software development should be top-down, that is, the overall framework of software should be built first, and then gradually refined. In China, due to the limitation of management level and information level, the development of enterprise MIS software is basically the opposite. First, small modules of various specialties are gradually assembled into a large system (which has caused quite a few disastrous consequences). The former is very much like science fiction with macro details. First, it builds a world according to its own laws, and then further enriches and refines it. The latter is definitely the way to construct traditional literature. Traditional literature cannot be written from top to bottom, because the above structure has been built, and description is not a literary matter.
Science fiction greatly expands the description space of literature, making it possible for us to express the earth more vividly and profoundly from the description of the whole universe, which is reflected in the traditional world that has existed in mainstream literature for thousands of years. It must be more interesting to watch Romeo whistling under Juliet's window from the Andromeda nebula through a telescope.
Science fiction can let us see a drop of water in the sea.
Second, the characters
The social history of mankind is a history of the rise of human status. From Spartacus rushing out of the arena with a sword, to French revolutionaries shouting human rights, fraternity and equality, man has changed from a means to an end.
But in science, man's position is evolving in the opposite direction, from God's creation (everything else in the universe is furniture given to us by his old man's house), the spirit of all things, to no essential difference with other animals, and then to insignificant bacteria on a grain of sand in the corner of the universe.
Science fiction belongs to literature that is inseparable from social culture, but it is born of science. The question now is, where do we fall in the position of human beings?
There is no doubt that mainstream literature has fallen to the former. Literature is human science, which has become a norm close to the law. A novel without characters is unacceptable.
Judging from the short history of world science fiction, science fiction has not abandoned characters, but the image and status of characters are greatly reduced compared with mainstream literature. So far, classic sci-fi works have basically failed to create characters. In all the movies we have seen, the most rigid characters are portrayed by "200 1", in which scientists and astronauts are glassy-eyed and expressionless, and their tone and speed of speech are as constant as machines. If the lack of characters in other sci-fi works is due to the carelessness or incompetence of the writers, "200 1" is intentional by Kubrick, who seems to tell us that people are just a symbol in this work. He was very successful. After watching the movie, it is difficult for us to tell the only two astronauts in the spaceship. They don't seem to have any personality characteristics except their names.
The change of characters' status in science fiction, like the change of details, is also due to the dramatic expansion of literature description space by science fiction. Another important reason is that due to the natural connection between science fiction and science, we can have a clear understanding of human's position in the universe.
The concept of characters in science fiction mainly has the following two extensions.
First, replace the personal image with the whole racial image. Different from traditional literature, science fiction may describe many civilizations other than human beings, and give these civilizations and the races that created them different images and personalities. The race that created these civilizations can be aliens or different human groups that entered outer space. The planting civilization mentioned above is typical of the latter. We call this new literary image a racial image.
Second, the world appears in the form of images. These worlds can be different planets and galaxies, or they can be different branches of parallel universes. In recent years, many virtual worlds running in computer memory have been added. This is divided into two situations: first, these worlds are owned by people (no matter what kind of people), and this world image is actually a further expansion of the racial image mentioned above. Another situation is a world without people, and then people (mostly explorers) enter it. In this case, more attention is paid to the natural attributes of these worlds and their effects on people who enter them. In this case, the image of the world is often like a villain in traditional literature, which conflicts with the people who enter it. There is also a very rare world image in science fiction. These worlds exist independently in the universe, and people have never entered them. The author uses a super-conscious position next to it to describe it. Like the library of Babel. Such works are rare and difficult to read, but they push the characteristics of science fiction to the extreme.
Neither racial image nor world image can exist in mainstream literature, because the premise of a literary image is that it can be compared with other images. The mainstream literature describing a single race (human) and a single world (earth) must refine the particles of the image to individuals. Racial image and world image are the contributions of science fiction to literature.
Obviously, the two new literary images in science fiction have not been recognized by domestic readers and critics. Our comments on science fiction still follow the thinking of traditional literature, and we cannot accept works that are not centered on traditional characters, let alone consciously shape our own racial image and world image. The creation and appreciation of these two literary images is the core content of science fiction literature. The lack of literary level of China's science fiction is essentially the lack of these two images.
Third, the reality and ethereal theme of science fiction
Domestic readers prefer science fiction close to reality, and a little detached and crazy imagination is unacceptable. In this case, most of our science fiction is in the near future.
In theory, there is not much to discuss on this topic. Science fiction exists for scientific fantasy, and now science is going to be abandoned, leaving only fantasy. Showing the imaginary world is the starting point and purpose of this literary variety. Describing reality with science fiction is like using an airplane propeller as an electric fan, which is not easy to use. One thing has always puzzled me: why do you want to read science fiction if you want to see a description of reality? People's literature is not good? Is the harvest not good? Isn't Ordinary World good? In terms of the level and depth of realistic description, science fiction can't even compare with mainstream literature.
Many years ago, I saw a Soviet comedy movie, in which there was such a scene: a large passenger plane landed on the highway and drove with the car. It obeys all traffic rules and stops at a red light like a car.
This is a wonderful portrayal of the current situation of science fiction in China. Science fiction is a flying literature, but we just like to let it crawl on the ground.
Fourthly, heroism in science fiction.
Modern mainstream literature has entered the era of mocking heroes, as the contemporary famous saying goes: "The sun is a piece of shit and the moon is a piece of paper."
In fact, this practice is not completely unreasonable. Scientifically and rationally, heroism is not a commendatory term. Are those brave German tank men and Japanese Kamikaze pilots brave in World War II? Of course, it can also be said that it is not, because they are fighting for the unjust side. But on second thought, this statement will only bring us confusion. Ordinary people are not scholars before they become heroes, and it is impossible for them to judge the justice of their profession; More importantly, even scholars find it difficult to judge a war from a moral point of view. Whether a war is just depends more on their feet than their brains, that is, which side you are on. A war with basically the same views on its moral essence as World War II is extremely rare in human history. According to the traditional concept of heroism, when the war comes, ordinary people can only rely on luck if they want to do their duty. To make matters worse, this kind of luck is not half as good as flipping a coin. Over time, people will surely think that soldiers killed on both sides in most wars are meaningless cannon fodder. If we look at heroism with this definition again, we will find that it has brought far more disasters than progress to mankind in history. Glory and the dream of the women's office for the cause of sacrifice is not just. In this way, are those tragic sacrifices at the cost of life and those magnificent feats that only human beings can make meaningless metamorphosis and farce?
It is more rational and fair to distinguish heroism from morality, and only regard it as a unique quality of human beings and an important symbol that distinguishes human beings from other animals.
With the progress of world civilization and the recognition of democracy and human rights, heroism is fading out. Literature satirizes heroes and calls for human nature from another angle, which is to some extent the progress of history. It is conceivable that if human society develops along the present track, heroism will eventually become a strange thing.
The question now is: will human society develop along the current track?
Humans are lucky. Since the emergence of civilization, the human world as a whole has never faced a disaster from outside human beings, which can exterminate the whole race in a short time. But this does not mean that such a disaster will avoid us in the future.
When the earth is facing a full-scale invasion of alien civilization, in order to defend our civilization, there may be one billion people who need to be cannon fodder under the laser of aliens; Or when the solar system enters an interstellar dust, the deteriorating earth ecology must kill 3 billion people to prevent 6 billion people from dying together. In this case, should our literature continue to laugh at heroism? Can shouting humanity and human rights save mankind at that time?
From the perspective of science fiction, our race is extremely fragile. In this cold universe, human beings must bravely sacrifice a part in exchange for the continuation of the whole civilization, which requires heroism. Now that human civilization is in an unprecedented stage of smooth development, heroism is really not very important, but it does not mean that the future considered in science fiction is not important.
Science fiction literature is the most unsuitable place for heroism and idealism, so let them stay here for a while.
Fifth, the third image in science fiction.
As mentioned above, science fiction literature has two unique images: racial image and world image, and it also has a third image that mainstream literature does not have: scientific image. Because science fiction is the direct product of the development of science, whether it is traditional hard science fiction or later soft science fiction, science always exists in it, either bright or dark. It fills the lines of science fiction like blood, and as a ubiquitous image, it is shaped by science fiction.
China science fiction has been learning from mainstream literature, but it is not a good student: we pay attention to characters and language skills, and as a result, our works are only primary school students' compositions; We pay attention to reality, but compared with others, it is nothing more than a group of inexperienced students groaning; We also play postmodernism, and the result is even worse. But one thing, science fiction is more important to mainstream literature than Shine on You.
That is the uglification and demonization of science.
In fact, up to now, mainstream literature has only kept a certain distance from science and has not deliberately hurt her. On the one hand, the pastoral scenery in traditional literature has little to do with science. On the other hand, the uglification of science needs to know her first, and mainstream literature may have some obstacles in this regard. But science fiction has a natural advantage in this respect, spare no effort to do it!
I think we all know what the scientific image in our science fiction has become.
Yes, western science fiction writers have done more in this respect than we have, but this is not the reason why we do so. Science is quite popular in western society, so it may be necessary to reflect on its consequences. But even so, this tendency has been unanimously condemned by western scientific circles and science fiction critics. In China, science is still a small candle seedling in the wilderness among the masses, and a gust of wind can blow it out. The first task now is not to predict the disaster of science. The real disaster faced by China society is the loss of popular scientific spirit.
The power of science lies in the public's understanding of her, which is a profound insight. Although it is a great cause to let the scientific spirit take root in the public, science fiction is insignificant compared with it. Originally, the two are not contradictory. The older generation of China science fiction people had hoped to make science fiction a part of this great cause. Now it seems how naive this hope is. But at least, science fiction should not hurt this cause. Science is the mother of science fiction. Are we really willing to be her enemies?
If we don't describe science in a negative way and make it terrible, but it can't attract readers, then let's stop writing. It's nothing. There are many other interesting things to do. If one day China's sci-fi really disappears, as a loyal old sci-fi fan, I sincerely pray that she will die clean.
Six, the old shackles
It wrote some comparisons between science fiction and mainstream literature, without any intention of belittling mainstream literature. The advantages of science fiction mentioned above are determined by its nature, so it is not higher than mainstream literature in level. Instead, I didn't make good use of my own advantages. In fact, compared with mainstream literature, I often feel ashamed. What makes us most ashamed is the courage of mainstream writers to explore and innovate literary expressions. From the stream of consciousness to the dazzling performance of post-modern literature, it is constantly developing with the persistent spirit of going its own way. Let's look at science fiction again. We didn't create our own expression skills. The new wave movement only used the expression tools of mainstream literature for my use, but later found it inappropriate. The whole movement is called "an effort to make way for the value and status of science fiction" by science fiction theory researchers. As for the macro details, racial images and world images mentioned above, they are all unconscious behaviors of science fiction writers, which have not risen to the theoretical level and have not formed conscious expression techniques. In China, these technologies are not even recognized.
In fact, some traditional literary elements, such as the description of characters and details, have been expanded and subverted in the above-mentioned science fiction literature, and are being drastically changed in mainstream literature. Mainstream writers such as Borges and Calvino have long abandoned those traditional dogmas and achieved great success.
On the other hand, domestic sci-fi critics are piously picking up the broken shackles thrown away by others, solemnly putting them on themselves, screwing the bolts on them the most tightly, and cracking down on those sci-fi works that have crossed the line a little bit, just like guardians of literary dignity. Looking at those comments on the internet, they are full of trite dogma, without the keenness and vitality of young people. Sometimes I really want to ask: How old are you?
Innovation is the life of literature and science fiction. In the face of this literature that sees a drop of water from the sea, we must first have the mind of the sea!