Science as a Key to National Salvation:Sci-fi Translations in Four Late-Qing Magazines of Fiction
As internal and external crises confronting Late-Qing China deepened,Xin Xiaoshuo,Yueyue Xiaoshuo,Xiuxiang Xiaoshuo and Xiaoshuo Lin,the four major magazines of fiction in circulation at that period of time,commissioned a group of influential translators to have Jules Verne's and Shunro Oshikawa's popular works rendered into Chinese.As popular enthusiasm for science fiction was kindled by these translations,more quality European novels of this genre were introduced to Chinese readers almost immediately after they were published in their original languages,including French and Dutch.This paper undertakes a historical investigation into the sci-fi translations published in the four above-mentioned Chinese magazines of fiction,and finds that those who were involved in introducing the sci-fi genre to China's readership,through intermediate or direct translation,did so either to envision future scientific developments or to popularize new knowledge in the fields of geology,astronomy,medicine,psychology and physiology,or even to give expression to their own political aspirations by upholding martial spirit and boosting Chinese morale.The enlightening through sci-fi translation project was in line with the general trend for promoting national reform and salvation in the Late Qing period.
science fictionthe Four Novel Magazines in the Late Qing periodnational salvation through sciencetranslation and communication effect
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