There are different opinions about the definition of science fiction, and the scales vary greatly.
More closely: "to express the influence of scientific and technological prospects or social development on human beings in the form of fantasy art."
The broadest view is: "As long as the story contains surreal factors, it can be counted as science fiction."
The definition of "science fiction" in Ci Hai is: "According to the new discoveries and achievements of science and technology and the predictions that may be realized on these bases, the novel describes in a fantasy way that human beings use these new achievements to accomplish some miracle."
The fourth volume of The Concise Encyclopedia of Britain is defined as "a literary genre developed in the 20th century, whose novels are based on the discovery of real or imaginary scientific theories."
Orthodox sci-fi fans advocate that science and fantasy are indispensable. If there is no scientific basis, it can only be classified as fantasy, magic or surreal works; On the contrary, if fantasy is not paid, it is just a scientific and realistic story.
There is a folk classification among sci-fi fans in Chinese mainland: hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi and porridge sci-fi, and the scientific possibilities of the three types of sci-fi decrease in turn. These three types of science fiction are eternal debates among science fiction fans. Hard science fiction fans are often called science fiction because they can't tolerate pure fantasy without scientific color, while soft science fiction fans and porridge science fiction fans are relatively tolerant.
Nabokov, a famous Russian novelist, has an intriguing famous saying: "Science cannot be separated from fantasy, and art cannot be separated from reality", which is perhaps the best portrayal of science fiction.
Science in science fiction has no limits. Astronomy, physics, biology, chemistry, mechanics and electronics can all provide good subjects. Besides natural science, social science can also be used as the material of science fiction.
In fact, the scientific possibility must be kept moderate to ensure the attraction of science fiction. Too strict fantasy often limits the expansion of imagination, and the scientific content of fantasy is too low, losing the original meaning of science fiction.
A "world's shortest science fiction novel" popular with science fiction lovers is like this: "The last person on the earth is sitting in the room. Then there was a knock at the door. " It can be said that this can better summarize the characteristics of science fiction than a precise definition.
According to recent media reports, in the 1980s, there were at least thirty or forty kinds of professional sci-fi publications and newspapers in China, 170 or 80 kinds of popular science periodicals, and hundreds of original sci-fi works were published every year. However, in the next 20 years, the number of sci-fi publications dropped sharply, leaving only a "sci-fi world" and becoming the only child of 65.438+0.3 billion people.
However, we don't have the living space for science fiction popular science newspapers now. If the world of science fiction had not stood out independently, China's science fiction would have become an extinct dinosaur. Why is it so far?
Now we have no living space for science fiction popular science newspapers. If the world of science fiction had not stood out independently, China's science fiction would have become an extinct dinosaur. Why is it so far? Wei Yahua, a popular science writer, analyzed that the decline of science fiction was first caused by the dispute between the surname of 1982 and the surname of "Wen". Therefore, science fiction is considered as "literature". Since 1982, domestic popular science newspapers and publishing houses have regarded science fiction as heresy. The General Administration of Publishing issued a document for many times, which swept science fiction out of the door, and China science fiction lost more than half of its status.
Investigation on the current situation of popular science in China
In a "popular science forum", a survey on the current situation of popular science in China shows that in China, there are 1 superstitious people seeking visas; Of the 4 people, 1 person is superstitious about constellations; Of the 5 people, 1 person is superstitious about Duke Zhou; Only 1 of every 50 people in China has basic scientific literacy. The results of this survey are shocking. Although the credibility of the news was questioned as soon as it was disclosed, we can't avoid the fact that the scientific literacy of the public in China is not optimistic.
What China people lack more is the scientific spirit.
As early as the spring of 1998, an old man told his friend privately that nearly 80 years after the May Fourth Movement, people almost ignored another slogan of the May Fourth Movement-science, and seemed to think that science was "self-evident" and had taken root in China. "But I don't think' science' has taken root in China at all. Some scientists are even' academicians', and I doubt how much scientific spirit there is. " Seven years have passed and the old man has already left us. Looking at today's popular science survey figures, we can't help thinking of the sad words of the old man. His concern is not only the popularization of simple scientific common sense, but the rooting and growth of scientific spirit.
Comparison between Chinese and Western Science Fiction
Comparing China's science fiction with American science fiction is like putting a baby and a giant together. However, despite the disparity in strength, they are still two different individuals. We regard "learning from each other's strengths" as the highest realm of learning and learning. But the key is to find out what others have, which are long and which are short. The characteristics of China's science fiction do not exist because of its weakness. It is an important premise to understand the differences between Chinese and American science fiction when learning from the development experience of American science fiction.
I hope China Sci-fi has a good journey.
Not long ago, seven popular science works won the second prize of national science and technology progress at the national science and technology conference, thus breaking the history that popular science works missed the highest national science and technology award. This is not only a symbolic signal, but also a clarion call for the prosperity of popular science creation. We expect scientists and popular science writers to move towards the realm of free imagination and novel creation. With the encouragement and support of policies, it is a national blessing to stimulate the enthusiasm of the whole people to revive China's sci-fi through the prosperity of popular science and sci-fi newspapers and creations.