Latest ArticlesWang Jinkang's science fiction The Cross embodies the author's thoughts on the issue of man's relationship with nature in modern society. The author of the article believes that the ecological thoughts such as" reverence for nature", "equality of all things" and "harmonious coexistence" in the works are the further refinement and sublimation of the predecessors' thoughts after the SARS epidemic. This paper discusses the meaning of "the cross", the idea of symbiosis, and the concept of good and evil, and argues that Wang has not only given "the cross" the meaning of "fear of nature", but has also elevated it to a philosophical and ethical idea. This idea is an inspiration for mankind to consider the relationship between man and nature, and is even more relevant at a time in the current situation of COVID-19.
Immortality has been a common dream shared by humanity as well as a lasting literary motif. In the 21st century, advanced science and technology provide further dynamics for writers, especially for science fiction writers, who use them as wings in their imagination of the future. Cloning, digitalization and cryogenics, the representatives of high technology, have become the focus of scientific experiments conducted in the fictional world, playing the crucial role of keys to the door of immortality. However, the deep penetration of science and technology into human life has caused subversion of the traditional ethical system, challenging the very nature of humanity. The works concerned here have reconsidered what it means to be human in terms of biology, sociology and ethics, making them realistic despite being science fiction.
Existing research on Chinese science fiction and popular science works in the Republican period mainly focuses on the improvement of scientific knowledge and the political criticism of the society, but less on the language form, the consideration of the reader group, and the wartime context. Taking the latter three as the starting point, this article excavates the chemist Gao Xingjian(Xiaozhu)'s life experience and most of his "scientific fiction" and classic poems of popular science written in the 1930s. It attempts to reveal another feature of science fiction and works of popular science in the Republic of China. To be specific, it is the combination of traditional Chinese literature, drama and other traditional forms, and Western scientific discourse. This is related to the wartime situation and the changes in the readership group. Placing Gao's works in the context of the war in the 1930s, this paper argues that the westward migration caused by the war made intellectuals reconsider the methods and objects of popularization of science, and they achieved to popularize science in a broader sense of "vernacular" scientific discourse rather than limiting by vernacular Chinese. It also echoes the concept of "new wine in old bottles" during the debate of "national form" in the 1930s.
In his 26 years of science fiction writing, Wang Jinkang's works often show different creative characteristics depending on their length. Wang's short stories value science fiction ideas, scientific perspectives, and hardcore science fiction, showcasing the positive value of science and warning people of the problems that may arise in the future society, which reflects certain scientist-like thinking. His medium-length novels are distinguished by rational thinking, and his narratives often start from the depths of science, observe hidden laws, and interrogate the universe from the perspective of ordinary people, showing cosmic contemplation. The themes of his long novels are diverse and complex, delving into grand concepts such as life, existence, religion, morality, and ethics, demonstrating his high-level philosophical foresight. The characteristics of the long, medium, and short stories complement each other and together form the characteristics of Wang Jinkang's science fiction novels, reflecting the different aspects of his science fiction writing.
The translation of popular science works has its unique difficulties. When translating popular science works, the translator should make the narration vivid, the explanation clear and the argument logical. The background knowledge, process scenarios and scientific principles involved or contained in popular science works all pose challenges in translation. Therefore, this paper puts forward the "three-level restoration" strategy, pointing out that popular science translators should pay attention to the "restoration" of these three levels of information. This paper selects some examples from popular science translations to illustrate the importance of the restoration of information on these three levels. The "three-level restoration" is the reconstruction and the reiteration of knowledge. Adopting the strategy of "three-level restoration" in popular science translation can effectively improve the readability and quality of the translation.
Wang Jinkang's science fiction works have a broad and majestic scope, with an epic quality of bleak pathos. In his hard-core science fictional world, many typical science fiction characters are portrayed, highlighting the infiltration of philosophy, religion and ethics into scientific thinking. At the same time, his work also reveals a strong sense of Chinese cultural nostalgia and a profound reflection on modern technology.
From the perspective of corpus linguistics, this study intends to address the descriptive paradigm, research topics, application, and prospect of translation of popular science. It sketches the well-known parallel corpora of popular science with a focus on features of ECPCPS (English-Chinese parallel corpora of popular science) . Furthermore, it discusses the theoretical and practical significance of corpus linguistics as applied to the analysis of discourse features of popular science, translation strategies, translation universals, and its application, and provides an outlook on research related to popular science translation.
Starting from the scope and concept of science picture books, this article analyses the categories of best-selling children's science picture books in the UK from 2019 to 2021. The article provides a thematic overview of the current state of science picture book writing and publication in the UK and explains the cause of the popularity of picture books with the market and the children, identifying science picture books as an integrated medium with scientific, literary, artistic and childlike qualities. Finally, the implications for the creation and publication of science picture books in China are provided.
Han Song's Subway constructs a "new space" where crisis and hope coexist. Through the viewing experience from two perspectives, it presents the "spatiality" jointly shaped by "social space" and "spiritual space". The crises of "technological alienation" and "humanistic spirit" in the novel construct a set of "enlightenment discourse" in the age of technology. This discourse does not only continue the narrative connotation of "humanistic discourse" in the New Literature of the May Fourth Movement, but also extends the speaking space of "returning to enlightenment" in the age of technology, which shows the author's criticism of "alienation" and "estrangement" caused by "technicality", his warning of the lack of zeitgeist and "spiritual space", and his reflection on the survival anxiety and identity crisis in the "new space". At the same time, the novel also implies that the "subway" should provide people with a poetic residence in the dimensions of class, space, industry and tradition, rather than being a living place dominated by "technology".
The article focuses on award-winning popular science books in the "Wenjin Book Award", comparing the differences between Chinese original works and translated works through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the publication information, subject distribution and readers' evaluation. On one hand, it is found that award-wining popular science books are rich in themes and cover a wide range of subject areas. On the other hand, there is also a high proportion of translated works in the "Wenjin Book Award". In this regard, the article suggests that the selection of popular science books should be studied to clarify the criteria for the classification of popular science books. What's more, evaluating readers'feedbacks and establishing an evaluation system for popular science books are crucial. For the creation and publication of popular science books, there is a need to expand the pool of creators and publishers, enhance the professionalism and popularity of the works, explore the characteristics of Chinese original science books, and improve the competitiveness of Chinese original science works in general.