This article focuses on the science fiction published in the journal Kexue Wenyi/QiTan (Kexue Wenyi renamed as QiTan in 1989) from 1984 to 1990, revisiting the mid-to-late 1980s, a nadir in the history of Chinese science fiction that has long been neglected by the academics, and identifying the symptoms of the times in the science fiction of the period of societal transformation. Compared to the beginning of "the New Era", science fiction in the mid to late 1980s reflected a lot of social problems that emerged in a more advanced stage of modernization, as well as the ensuing confusion and reflections. It has developed significantly in terms of subject range and ideological tension, providing us with a new perspective on China's unique and tortuous modernization process since "the New Era".

Kexue Wenyi  /  QiTan  /  Science Fiction  /  the 1980s