This thesis analyzes the fictional works of Gu Junzheng (1902–1980), an important writer and editor of Chinese science fiction and scientific essays. As a representative writer of science fiction of his time, Gu Junzheng’s works provide a chance for us to take a glance into a particular moment in the history of Chinese science fiction—the late 1930s and early 1940s, a period that has not been sufficiently studied. Because science is such an important concept in the modern world—C. P. Snow (1959) argues that there is a “scientific culture” in industrialized societies—examining literary representations of science can be helpful for understanding how science gradually yet profoundly changed people’s view of the world. My study sets Gu’s work in the genealogy of Chinese science fiction, which flourished in the late Qing period into early Republican period, fell into a low tide in the 1930s, experienced another round of peak and valley between the 1960s and 1980s, and then has prospered again from the 1990s to the present. Ever since its beginning in China, the genre has been highly political, because science, conceived as a progressive force, was always intertwined with the national discourse. Yet there were also other perspectives in science fiction, and Gu’s works, in particular, brought many new elements to the genre.
Gu was one of only two science fiction writers commonly recognized to have written in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The focus of this thesis is on his four science fiction stories. Other materials—including his scientific essays, prefaces, and editorial work—produced by Gu and his fellow editors are also referred. Through reading the stories in their historical context, this thesis analyzes Gu’s intentions in writing them, and reveals some of the contradictions behind these intentions. These contradictions sometimes lead to dilemmas that reflect broader issues surrounding the genre at the time. The introduction situates Gu’s science fiction in the traditions of the late Qing “kexue xiaoshuo,” Western “science fiction,” and its relationship with kepu wenxue (literature for popularizing science). Chapter 2 examines of Gu Junzheng’s views of science fiction, expressed in a foreword that he wrote for his story collection and articles in the magazine Scientific Taste, which he edited. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 provide close readings of the four stories. Chapter 3 deals with political issues: memory and righteousness in wars, and the topic of intellectuals. Chapter 4 reads the stories from the perspective of gender and morality. Through scrutinizing Gu’s works on the textual level and analyzing the relationship between his works and his literary thought, this thesis seeks to reveal the multiple voices that are reflected in Gu’s science fiction, which was particular to his time. By doing so, I hope to further our understanding of the social and intellectual climate of the 1930s and 1940s China.