中國科幻迎來發展之春

Many of us love stories about time travel, aliens, and the future, but most science fiction comes from the West. But one completely Chinese sci-fi work has attracted the world’s attention. On April 4, the World Science Fiction Society announced the finalists for the 2017 Hugo Awards, the top award for science fiction. Death’s End (《死神永生》), the final book in Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past (《地球往事》) trilogy (三部曲), is among the nominees (被提名者). The winner will be revealed on Aug 11.

我們中不少人都喜歡時空穿梭、外星人和關於未來的故事，但大多數科幻小說都來自於西方。然而，一部純“中國製造”的科幻作品如今引起了世界的關注。4月4日，世界科幻小說協會公佈了科幻小說界最高獎項——雨果獎，2017年的提名名單，劉慈欣的《地球往事》三部曲的終章《死神永生》就在名單之列。獲獎者將於今年8月11日揭曉。

Liu, 54, is not a Hugo Award newcomer. In 2015, The Three-Body Problem, the first novel in the series, made him the first Asian to take home the prize.

現年54歲的劉慈欣並不是雨果獎的新人了。早在2015年，該系列的第一部小說《三體》就讓他成爲了第一個捧得雨果獎的亞洲人。

Ever since it was published in English in 2013, The Three-Body Problem quickly became the best-selling Asian work of literature on US retail (零售) platform Amazon. Former US President Barack Obama even took it on holiday, while social media billionaire Mark Zuckerberg recommended it on Facebook. The novel has also been adapted into a movie starring Feng Shaofeng, which will be released later this year.

自2013年英文版面世以來，《三體》便迅速成爲了美國零售平臺亞馬遜上最暢銷的亞洲文學作品。美國前總統巴拉克?奧巴馬甚至度假也要帶上它，而社交媒體億萬富翁馬克·扎克伯格也在臉書上推薦這本書。這部小說也已經被改編成了一部由馮紹峯主演的電影，將於今年年內上映。

According to Ken Liu, the novel’s US-based translator, many of the themes explored in Western sci-fi have found their place in the Chinese trilogy. Things like space exploration, alien contact, artificial intelligence (人工智能), and life science are all included. Problems of modern development are also addressed, like environmental pollution and the negative effects caused by new technologies.

這部小說的譯者劉宇昆目前居住在美國，他表示，西方科幻作品中探索的許多主題在這部中國三部曲中都有一席之地，諸如太空探索、與外星生命接觸、人工智能以及生命科學等內容都被包含在內。書中還提及了現代發展所帶來的問題，如新科技所引發的環境污染以及其他負面影響等。

“Chinese sci-fi does have its own unique themes as well, such as the attempt to re-display the ancient history of China from a sci-fi angle (角度),” Ken Liu told The Guardian.

“中國的科幻小說同時也有自己獨特的主題，比如試圖從科幻的角度，來展現中國古代歷史。” 劉宇昆在接受《衛報》採訪時表示。

Yet most importantly, Liu’s work, like many successful works of science fiction, is popular because it voices our concern with the future.

但最重要的是，就像許多成功的科幻小說作品一樣，劉慈欣的作品因傳達了人類對於未來的擔憂而大熱。

“With the rapid development of China, the way of thinking of the Chinese people – the new generation in particular – is undergoing profound (深刻的) changes,” Liu Cixin told Wired magazine. “They have broader horizons. They view themselves as part of humanity instead of being just Chinese. They have also started to think about the ultimate (終極的) questions concerning the whole universe, which Chinese people seldom thought about before.”

“隨着中國的快速發展，看待中國人的方式 —— 特別是新一代 —— 正在經歷深刻的變化。”劉慈欣在接受《連線》雜誌採訪時表示，“他們擁有了更寬廣的視野。他們將自己視爲人類的一分子，而不僅僅是中國人。他們也已經開始思考關於全宇宙的終極問題，而這些問題是中國人先前很少會考慮到的。”

Han Song, another Chinese sci-fi writer, agreed that the development of science fiction is closely related to a nation’s development. “Sci-fi novels show a nation’s imagination and creativity,” he told Southern Metropolitan Daily.

另一位中國科幻小說家韓鬆，對科幻作品的發展與國家的發展密切相關這一觀點表示贊同。他在接受《南方都市報》採訪時表示，“科幻小說展現了一個國家的想象力和創造力。”

And Italian science writer Giulio Prisco believes that China is the place to watch for sci-fi fans. “Chinese writers are taking the lead in writing imaginative science fiction that is able to inspire whole generations,” he wrote on his blog. “China is starting to think big and is ready to take first place in the race toward a bright future on Earth and in space. Modern Chinese science fiction shows that.”

而意大利科幻作家朱里奧·普利斯科認爲，中國是一個科幻迷應當關注的地方。“中國作家正在帶頭創作能夠啓迪世人又富有想象力的科幻小說，”他在博客中寫道，“中國開始從大處着眼，準備好在地球乃至宇宙通往光明未來的競爭中取得領先地位。而中國現代科幻小說就展現了這一點。”