Experiential futuristic science fiction: Genre and techniques

Yan Wu

Southern University of Science and Technology,China

Abstract Experiential futurism is an important subgenre of futuristic science fiction in China,with the greatest number of works and the richest content.Several important works in this genre have gained widespread influence.Experiential futuristic works focus on conveying the experience of the future through words,and often use considerable appeal to call on people to pay attention to and to think about the future.Such works can be divided into two types:those attempting to convey the experience of a stand-alone technology and those attempting to convey a panoramic experience.The methods for creating experiential futuristic fiction include wonder creation,perception reinforcement,immersion creation,emotion activation and cognitive enhancement.Experiential futuristic works play a pioneering role in today’s era of virtual reality and the metaverse.

Keywords Science fiction,experiential futurism,panorama,stand-alone technology,metaverse,virtual reality

1.Introduction

In his novellaThe Seven-Layered Shell(first published in 1997),Wang Jinkang writes:

The waves gently nudged him.Through his diving suit,he could feel the buoyancy and warmth of the water.He did a few rolls in the water,and the sensory cilia of his vestibular organ continued to point to the direction of changing gravity with precision.(Wang,2023: 10)

The Seven-Layered Shellis a science-fiction novel depicting the future technology of virtual reality(VR).The author devotes all his attention to enhancing the reader’s sense of having experienced VR.In the story,Gan Youming,a junior at Tsinghua University,goes to the United States together with his brother-in-law Stone Wu to look for the loopholes in the ‘Shell’,a VR device at the Virtual Laboratory at Base B.The Shell is an interesting device,pure white in colour,thin and soft.It is a onepiece suit with neural sensing nipples that fits the body perfectly.The nipples send virtual signals to the corresponding sensory nerves.For example,when the wearer steps on a stack of firewood in the virtual world,a burning feeling will be transmitted to the nerves in the soles of their feet.The goggles on the helmet will display new messages whenever the wearer moves their head,as if scanning the outside world.

The focus of the author’s imagination is not on external beauty or comfort,but on the experience of a special feeling on the inside:

‘Joan,what will happen if I’m eaten by a shark in the virtual world?’

‘You won’t really die,of course,but the system will“shut down” and you will have to reboot the device.Also,you will feel the real pain of the shark’s sharp teeth cutting into your body.So,I advise you not to try it.’ (Wang,2023: 11)

Here,the design of the experience of being bitten by a shark is a bit of a surprise,but totally reasonable.It is precisely this feeling of injury that adds to the experiential function of what the author calls the‘Shell’.But this is not a real experience.The real experience is that every time the protagonists find a loophole and call for a ‘pause’,they will see themselves back in the real world:

The scene before them disappeared in a flash,and they were still sitting in their chairs.Gan raised his arm to remove the helmet,and two staff members rushed over to help him.After the helmet was removed,they found themselves still in the empty hall and wearing the same white shell.

…‘OK,let’s call it a day today.Joan will take you on a tour of America.You’ve only got six days left.’

Gan nodded as he slowly peeled the white shell from his body and put on his own clothes.Freed from the confinement of the shell,he felt very much relaxed.(Wang,2023: 13–14)

However,the end is not really the end,and taking off the shell is not really leaving the virtual world,as they are still wandering in the unreal space.Wang Jinkang repeatedly uses this technique of seemingly returning to reality,but in fact lingering in virtuality,making it impossible for readers to figure out whether they are in the virtual or the real world at any particular moment.

Wang’s novels represent a subgenre of sciencefiction futurism that is particularly common and important in the history of Chinese science fiction:experiential futurism(Wu,2022).Experiential futurism aims to create a unique futuristic feeling or a mysterious and magical experience through words and plots,thus assisting people in generating unique emotions and thoughts about the future world in which science is actively involved.It can be further divided into two niche categories: panoramic experiential futurism and stand-alone technological experiential futurism.

2.Communion,crossover and integration: Panoramic experiential futurism

Little Smarty Travels to the Future,a science fiction story popular in China during the 1970s and 1980s,begins with the sentence: ‘I’m not that old—your age plus your younger brother’s age is about the same as mine’ (Ye,1978: 1).

This is a very interesting opening line,by which the author,protagonist and reader are merged into one and the same world.This vivid emotion is conveyed through the story to the target readers identified by the author,most of whom are teenagers.To this day,the primary readers of science fiction have always been teenagers.Although adult readers have also embraced science fiction,it is undeniable that teenagers are still the main audience for such works.

This paper does not discuss the relationship between teenagers and science fiction,but instead focuses on how science fiction creates an ‘author–protagonist–reader’ world.Through this communion,landscapes that do not exist,and often cannot exist,are made to exist.This type of work has established the basic mode of writing for experiential futurism,which allows readers to sense the future based on their experience and then develop an attitude towards the future through that sensation.

Using written descriptions to stimulate audiovisual and tactile sensations in the brain that are not directly acquired by the sensory organs is a method of writing that is particularly valued in experiential futurism.Here,language conveys a general outlook on the world that can be touched by the body.Writers who have perfected this process provide their readers with sensations that are both direct and profound,but even average writers can probably convey certain kinds of primary senses of experience through their writing.

Zheng Wenguang’s novelGod’s Wingis about how a tech-powered wing assists people in improving their living conditions:

‘Okay,342,please prepare two glasses of orange juice,chilled.’

Like a magician in mythology,the door to that room flashed open again,and a small wheeled table moved into the room on its own,with two glasses of yellowcoloured,chilled orange juice on top.

‘Please,’said Zhong Kuanglu to the two dumbfounded girls.‘This is real orange juice and not a fantasy.’

The two girls reached for their glasses,and touched with their lips first,but the orange juice was so tasty and refreshing that they couldn’t help but drink it all in one gulp.As soon as they placed the empty glasses back on the table,the table automatically exited the room,and the door closed with it.

‘What’s 342?’said Feng Danqing,wiping her lips.

‘It’s a computer system that manages the catering service.There is also one that manages information,one that manages equipment,and one that manages…’(Zheng,1982: 25)

Here,with the help of the refreshing orange juice,the author tries to present to the reader the service experience that people will be able to enjoy in the AI-controlled future.The story,with a combination of hearing,sight,smell and taste,makes it easy for readers to remember a certain emotion.Such a writing style is also evident in another experiential futuristic novel by the same author,Flying to the Sagittarius(first published in 1978):

He opens his eyes—oh,what kind of world is he in?The panoramic television is still on: there is endless night in all directions.And yet what a strange night it is! There are more planets than ever,bigger and brighter.Red,green,yellow,orange and white … like brightly coloured brass nails embedded inside a large,dark orb.They are neither blinding nor flashing;they are serene and peaceful,like bright eyes in the universe.But what’s most amazing for Yabing is that in this total darkness,he could actually see a round dazzling sun,spitting flames,with rose-coloured sunbursts on the rim.Meanwhile,in a place not far from the sun,he also sees a narrow eyebrow moon—which is actually the Earth.

… Yes,he’s on board theOrient,which is speeding away from the Earth.He’s already in space.Where are his buddies? He tries to turn sideways,but he can’t.From his position,he can only see a pair of dark shadows by the couch.He finally remembers the number: ‘3025,off!’

It is truly a magic spell!In the blink of an eye,the sun,the moon,the galaxy and the universe,everything is gone.The brightly lit cockpit unfolds before his eyes.(Zheng,2019: 37–39)

In the past,people who indulged in sensory experiences were often criticized as hedonists.But a good experiential futurist writer must be able to create a feast of sensations through experience—a feast that must or can only take place in the conceptual or real future.That said,it would be a big mistake to think of experiential futurism simply as a summary of all kinds of sensory stimulation.Sensory stimulation is only a small part of the story,and the works of experiential futurism use their narratives to depict various types of cultural metaphors and diagnoses of psychological symptoms.

Again,takeLittle Smarty Travels to the Futureas an example.The story begins with a misstep by a child reporter named Little Smarty.The kid lost his camera on a reporting mission.In order to find the camera,he jumped over a railing in the dark night.He was too sleepy,so,after seeing a bench with armrests,he immediately lay down and fell into a deep sleep.When he woke up,he found that the railing he had crossed was not part of a ground facility but a guardrail on the deck of a hovercraft.At that very moment,the hovercraft took off,and the trees before his eyes were all‘running away’ from him.

This is a very experiential and suggestive passage.The crossing of the railing,the comfortable bench,going to sleep and waking up,and the world running away … all of these scenes not only present the details of an ongoing event,but also point to Little Smarty’s confusion about the world and the possibility that he is crossing the boundary into a flying-away world.Did the hovercraft docked at night cause all this,or did our times cause all this?Concrete actions and abstract ideas create mutual entrapment at this point.Ordinary readers can merely experience running,jumping,sleeping and flying,yet readers with broader neural connections—whether innate or acquired—will be able to develop deep potential insight.

This is the essence of experiential futuristic science fiction.Such works are never simply about appearance,action or feeling.Through the perception of external changes,the author is creating an implicit metaphor of certain things and offering a diagnosis of the common psychological symptoms of our times.

In the story ofLittle Smarty Travels to the Future,it is the action of crossing the railing that establishes the central plot,because once the character crosses the railing,he will get the ticket to the Future City.And we,the readers,the ones called ‘you’ in the novel,will also follow the character into the new world as part of the ‘author–protagonist–reader’communion.The pulling effect of such communion is an ability that all first-person novels have.However,in general,the novels are about the world we live in and the time that has passed,and you know very well whether or not you are the person referred to in the first person,and as soon as you realize you are not,you are immediately back in the bystander’s seat.Science-fiction literature,though,is not the same because it describes a future or non-real time that does not yet exist,may exist,or exists in one way or another.Therefore,a true‘author–protagonist–reader’communion is possible.The experience of such a possibility is the major difference between science fiction and other literary genres.

Little Smarty’s ticket to the future is checked when crossing the railing.Everything we do and feel in that new world has to do with that ticket.While reading this paragraph,child readers who are still short may think about whether they could actually cross to the other world.But many more will not be thinking about that—they will be following the actions of the character.As they have surrendered their freedom of action to the protagonist,their feelings are naturally controlled by the protagonist and thus by the author.In this sense,experiential futurism is actually a form of seduction.When the writer says the character is crossing the railing,you are also following along,and you become the‘I’in the story.

China launched Reform and Opening-up in the year 1978.Crossing the railing at such a time had an extraordinary significance.It was a time when the whole of China was to be liberated from rigid thinking.In such an era,the Chinese were anxious that their country was already lagging far behind the world in development.At that time,the issue of‘Earth citizenship’ was raised again.In October 1978,when Deng Xiaoping boarded a Shinkansen train on his visit to Japan,a reporter asked him how he felt.He replied,‘I just feel fast,like somebody is pushing you to run.This is the kind of train that China needs to sit in!’ It is for this reason that the scene inLittle Smarty Travels to the Futurein which the protagonist crossed the railing and found the world rapidly flying away carries significant implications.

The plot device of crossing the railing can be designed differently and adapted in different ways in different types of futuristic science fiction of the panoramic experience type.In Guo Yishi’s bookIn the World of Science,this process is accomplished through an informative message from a teacher.Xiao Wang,a science fan,is obsessed with scientific experiments.After two failed attempts to use an umbrella as a parachute and a wooden crate as a submarine,he buries himself in reading works of popular science,includingHundred Thousand Whys,The Story of the Five-Year Plan,Things Around You,andThe Transformation of the Planets(all authored by Mikhail ll’in).As Xiao Wang’s passion for scientific experience has been temporarily suppressed after his failed scientific experiments,he gives up on this form of experience and embraces fantasy.When his parents ask him about it,he just tells them what he thought (Guo,1958).Here,the connection between fantasy and experience is established mysteriously.For Guo at least,fantasy can also be a virtual experience.And when the teacher tells Xiao Wang,‘Tomorrow you can take a jet airplane to the future world of science’,Wang’s virtual experience is finally replaced by a real one,and this type of real experience can only be found in the unique genre of science fiction.Unlike Ye Yonglie’s integration of ‘author–protagonist–reader’,Guo’s approach is to establish an overlapping structure of ‘practical experience–virtual imaginative experience–experience in science fiction’.Just like the flying-away world in Ye’sLittle Smarty Travels to the Future,Xiao Wang also sees the surging clouds retreating into the background when riding on the jet airplane.

There is a parallel or symbiotic scientific world to the world in which we live—a world that is far more advanced than ours.Such a situation used to exist only in science fiction.But,in recent years,this type of futuristic experience is more and more common in reality.With the increased emphasis on the role of large scientific devices and collective efforts of scientific research,some new districts with the clear hallmarks of ‘science cities’ have been established.In government-sanctioned construction plans alone,four science cities (Shunyi in Beijing,Zhangjiang in Shanghai,Hefei in Anhui and Guangming in Shenzhen) have already taken shape.In these places,Little Smarty and Xiao Wang can indeed discover a world very different from the area they live in.In recent years,more and more localities have allocated land for science cities in their urban planning,as if every city wants to designate an area for building a Science City or Future City.If this is the case,then the relationship between science fiction and real life will become even more complicated.At least for the subgenre of experiential futurism,an overlap between literary reality and existential reality has already emerged.

The tools for crossover in experiential futuristic fiction are also worth examining.InTravels in a Communist Society(Huang,1959),the protagonist travels to the ‘Henan Dongfeng Communist Commune’ in the future ‘by atomic train’.This time,the train rolls slowly out of the station.The beautiful station,the bustling crowd,the tall houses and the elegant trees gradually move backward.But that is not the most important thing about this novel.What is important is that the protagonist had not received an invitation or permission from anyone but just liked travelling,so he went to a communist commune only seven days after summer camp.Of course,he did have relatives to visit in the place,but this was surely not a trip prearranged by a mighty God.Isn’t such a spontaneous,selfmotivated and free-minded visit an implicit reflection of the author’s understanding of communism?

If we study the workLittle Smarty Travels to the Futurefrom the angle of experiential futurism,we will not skip the illustrations that make up one-fifth of its content.Those illustrations,through simple sketches,vivid postures and imaginative mixes and matches,provide a visual expression of the kind of experience people may feel when going into the future.In the future,taxis float naturally in the air.They still have to avoid crashing into each other,even in the three-dimensional space.Overpasses intertwine with tubular traffic lanes but at a height beyond that of ordinary highways.Antennas on high-rises point almost directly at the moon,and classrooms are connected with numerous locations around the globe,ready for distance teaching at any time.Rice grains the size of pearls are commonplace in rice bowls.

Every type of experience in panoramic experiential futurism presents itself and unfolds like a miracle,andLittle Smarty Travels to the Futureis a superimposition of miracles.The ‘talking box’and the‘TV watch’are,in today’s parlance,information and communication technology (ICT) gadgets.In a lecture several years ago,I discussed the relationship between these technologies and collectivism,so I will not repeat that here.The talking box is,in fact,a telecommunication tool.Considering the fact that long-distance telephony was the standard form of communication at the time,and that signals had to be reamplified at every interval and,even so,you still had to shout out loud in order to be heard on the other side,the talking box is truly convenient and effective.The TV watch,a terminal device by nature,is another miracle.Clocks are no longer needed in people’s homes.Instead,there is a clock at the centre of the world,which sends out time signals at every moment,and you can receive it just by carrying a terminal device.Like information technology,transportation is another key subject.In addition to the hovercraft that worked wonders at the beginning of the story,there are also teardrop-shaped floating cars,a multilayered urban transportation network,and space shuttles between the Moon and the Earth.Industrial and agricultural production,the daily life of ordinary households,and personal leisure activities are the three parallel themes of the evolving chapters,which together form the multifaceted human life of the future.As part of your everyday life,you will meet a robot tiger cub and find yourself surrounded by plastic—a magical material in the future.Industrial and agricultural production will also take on a completely new look.The advance of science and technology and the progress of mechanization and automation will boost development and reshape the core of the production process,and all the wonders are happening in this aspect.You can organize leisure activities for yourself,wash your clothes with wonderful stain-removing oils,watch a movie without getting out of the car,and experience all kinds of sensory simulations that are as real as they can be.Both the individual body and the external climate can be renewed by means of substitution.Artificial organs and manually controlled weather conditions satisfy people’s needs,both internally and externally.Of course,what is most satisfying to us all is probably intellectual advancement.The schools in the Future City allocate available teaching resources through a variety of means and design courses according to individual conditions and needs.The students watch movies instead of just taking instructions from their teachers,use talking machines instead of writing,and learn about geography by travelling to the sites on an atomic plane instead of reading illustrations in their textbooks.This is a time of wonders,and a future that we will soon embrace.

There are many other works of panoramic experiential futurism besidesLittle Smarty Travels to the Future.Guo Yishi’sIn the World of Science,You Yi’sFuture Fantasy(first published in 1979),and Guo Zhi’sLittle Ping Pong Has Changed(first published in 1979) are some examples.It is worth pondering whether these works are still an important area of literary creation today,especially when the world in which humankind is living is about to undergo revolutionary transformations due to technological breakthroughs.The answer given by Chen Qiufan,at least,is a resounding ‘Yes!’ His workZero-Carbon Chinahas inherited the tradition of panoramic futurism in all its aspects(Chen,2022).

There is currently a need for further literary and cultural research on panoramic experiential futurism.For example,is there a connection between panoramic futuristic worksand utopian works?Have panoramic futuristic works in China drawn any inspiration from similar works in the Soviet Union,the United Kingdom or the United States? How should we analyse works of panoramic futurism that incorporate elements of blueprint futurism or evolutionary futurism?In addition,historical research on the relationship between the metaverse and science fiction that has gained much attention recently is also valuable.For example,Zhu Jiaming has labelled sciencefiction works such asFrankensteinthe ‘classics of the metaverse’ (Zhu,2020).He is right to include science fiction in the history of the metaverse,but science-fiction works that truly fall into the metaverse category should be those with a panoramic experiential futurism.

3.Feeling+emotion+cognition:Experiential futurism of stand-alone technology

A greater number of works on experiential futurism only focus on one or two technological or social changes.Constructing unique perceptions and experiences through descriptions of small technological breakthroughs or social changes is characteristic of experiential futurism of the stand-alone technology type.

Xiao Jianheng’s novelThe Secret of the Iron Nose(first published in 1964)is about the enhancement of human olfaction.As algorithms concerning olfaction are now attracting increasing attention today,we should all be amazed that the author had already thought about the importance of olfaction in living organisms back in the 1960s.The main character of the story,who has lived in polluted air for a long time,is diagnosed with loss of olfaction,and the cure is a new ‘iron nose’ installed by the application of information technology.After the main character falls asleep with his new nose,the author writes:

Hey,I slept like a baby that night!When I woke up in the morning,I felt very relaxed and relieved.I lay there and took a deep breath: Huh? What’s that smell?I thought I smelled a damp,salty smell of the sea.I took another deep breath,and I was right: it was the smell of the sea! Ah,what a strong and desirable odour!I felt like lying on a boat drifting with the waves,floating around;seagulls soaring above my head,and waves … Wait a minute,what’s the smell again?Where did the odour of night willow herb come from? (Xiao,1985a:67)

The reconstruction of olfaction is like giving a person a new life,with many new feelings and even new leaps in work and life.And all this is made possible by the wonders of technology.Here,the experience of the new technology has been converted into an emotion related to future development and confidence in the power of science and technology.Such a writing style is visible in several other novels by Xiao.For example,the novel that made his name in science-fiction circles,The Adventure of Booker(first published in 1962),is about a new‘head-changing’ operation in the age of technology.With the success of research in this field,human beings will no longer have to worry about the mutilation of limbs:

Seeing Xiao Hui move around so freely reminded me of the first time she was carried to the centre of the stage by an elder actor.My eyes were blurred by tears of excitement.Surely you must know that it was not out of sadness,but true joy! Joy for science,and for human intelligence! (Xiao,1985b:33)

At the end ofThe Trail of the Tiger in the Dense Forest(first published in 1977),a story about a brain–computer interface that dramatically changes people’s views about biological and medical technology,the author writes:

Dear young readers,my report is far from over.The development of science in our great motherland is making big strides forward,and new creations and inventions are constantly emerging.How much more interesting work and how many new fields are waiting for us to develop,explore and study! Today,although you are still studying in the classroom,you should free your imagination about the future and think about our glorious prospects! (Xiao,2021:62)

The writer Tong Enzheng,a contemporary of Xiao,designed many similar endings.In the novelLost Memory(first published in 1962),which discusses how electric stimulation of the nervous system enhances human memory,the author writes:

‘Actually,I’ve come to thank you today.We have done several experiments with the radioisotopes produced in your reactors,and the results are excellent.In the future,you will be able to produce radioisotopes according to our needs,and this will be a great support for our work.’

‘This could also be considered a great collaboration in the scientific community’,said Professor Qian.

The two old men both laughed as they walked forward side by side.The fallen leaves rustled under their feet.Although it was almost dusk,the setting sun was still as brilliant as the sunrise on such a clear day.(Tong,1998: 90)

If experiential futurism emphasizes the generation of emotional feelings,such emotional feelings may also be negative.Any writer might worry about the future of technological advancement and social development.The emotion expressed in Chinese experiential futuristic science fiction is not fixed to any particular type.Although most of the works in the early days featured positive emotions,worries about technological and social development have appeared more frequently in recent years.In Liu Cixin’s novelBring Her Eyes(first published in 1999),for example,the whole story is built on worries about the speed and direction of technological advancement,as well as compassion for humanity:

The weighing psychological pressure tortured the crew of theSunset Sixlike a viper.One day,the ship’s geological engineer jumped up from his sleep and opened the insulated door of the sealed compartment he was in! Although it was only the first of the four insulated doors,the heat wave that instantly poured in still burned him to a puff of smoke.The commander of the other sealed compartment quickly shut off the insulated door,avoiding the total destruction ofSunset Six,but he himself was badly burned and died after writing the last page of the log.

After that,in the deepest part of the planet,she was the only one left onSunset Six.Now,the interior ofSunset Sixis in a state of complete weightlessness,and the ship has sunk to a depth of 6300 kilometres,which is the deepest part of the Earth,and she is the first person to reach the Earth’s core.

… The grassland on that drizzly,no-sunrise morning was the last thing she saw in the terrestrial world.(Liu,2020: 14)

The protagonist ofBring Her Eyeswas on an expedition to the Earth’s mantle in a submarine,but she accidentally probed into the Earth’s core,and the bond between the burnt engine and the main cabin cracked and broke.The liquefied iron and nickel pulled the ship deeper into the Earth with no chance of ever returning.The navigator could only get the last images of the Earth’s surface through VR technology,based on the few remaining contacts with the ground staff.Readers of this novel may all be grieved by the vulnerability of mankind exposed in people’s attempt to fight nature with technology,as well as the deaths it caused.

Negative emotions in science fiction do not arise only when there is a discrepancy between the level and direction of technological advancement and humanity’s goals.Different attitudes towards social behaviours in different cultures can also generate negative experiences and negative emotions.

The Seven-Layered Shellwas first published in July 1997.Gan Youming,the protagonist of the novel,is intelligent and has a strong patriotic passion.Meanwhile,it is hinted that Stone Wu is not only the head of a technical department but also an agent of the state or government.In the era of the novel,the technological progress of the United States is much faster and more productive than that of China.Advanced devices such as driverless cars and shells can be experienced only in places like the United States.Therefore,Gan Youming,who signed up for a crossover,prize-winning mission,is experiencing both high technology and American culture and social life:

A swing dangled from the high roof,and an almost naked voluptuous lady giggled and swung over the crowd by stepping on heads.In the centre of the hall was a high platform where a bunch of men and women in white tights were frantically twisting their bodies and making all sorts of obscene movements.(Wang,2023: 14)

In another place,the author writes:

Gan saw several young men,both black and white,gabbing on a street corner.Most of them had their hair dyed red and combed in Afro-style.Joan told him that these were drug addicts and drug peddlers doing business,and that the police did not have enough hands to deal with this sporadic drug trafficking.(Wang,2023: 20)

There are many other works of experiential futurism on stand-alone technologies.In terms of writers,most works by Chi Shuchang,Zheng Wenguang,Xiao Jianheng,Liu Xingshi,Ye Yonglie,Wang Xiaoda,Wang Jinkang,Liu Cixin,Bao Shu,Xia Jia and Xie Yunning are structured in such a way.However,on the whole,the writers now care less and less about the details of experiences and changes in emotions.Is such a trend inevitable or not?We need more time to find the answer.

4.Creative techniques of experiential futurism

4.1 Wonder creation

Creating wonders is a characteristic technique in experiential futuristic science fiction.In a way,wonder is one of the original characteristics of science fiction,which is evident in the fact that many American science fiction magazines in the early days chose titles such as ‘Marvel’,‘Amazing’,‘Shocking’ and ‘Thrilling’.Of course,the wonders in science fiction are mostly created through technological and social transformation,and they can be divided into two types: wonders found in an enclave of the original time–space and wonders caused by the alien time–space itself.

Take Wu Jianren’sNew Stone Story(first published in 1905) as an example.The Taishan techvalley in the novel is discovered by Jia Baoyu,who has travelled directly from the late Qing Dynasty,so it is an enclave within normal time–space.Other works that use this technique includeLittle Smarty Travels to the Future,In the World ofScienceand Chen Qiufan’sThe Deserted Tide(published in 2012).

The alien time–space,which is significantly different from our own time–space,carries elements of wonder itself.Liu Cixin’s novelMicro Chronicles(first published in 2001) is about how humans can enter the world of nanos by modifying their bodies and survive in the nanoworld.The nanoworld here may appear to be part of our world,but,due to differences in the basic laws of physics,it is actually an alien time–space.Many more alien worlds exist in planets other than Earth,and in times before and after ours.

Chinese writers discovered early on that they could experience wonder by reading science fiction.Sun Baoxuan is one of the first to record the experience of reading science fiction.In his diary entry for 23 June 1903,he made the following comment aboutVingt mille lieues sous les mers:

The pleasure of reading lies in the opening of countless worlds in one’s mind.On the day of reading,it was like I did travel to the bottom of the sea with Pierre Aronnax,Ned Land and the other crew members.The animals and plants in the deep sea all had strange shapes and forms,unlike anything on land.There were also high mountains and steep ridges,and strange flowers and trees,the same as those on land.And the big fishes,giant alligators and similar were simply countless in number.When I was buried in the book,a gust of wind suddenly arose,and it turned dark and gloomy.Soon after that,rain started pouring down,with thunder and lightning,and a pool of rainwater formed under the stairs.Towards dusk,the sky finally cleared,and the glow of the setting sun was reflected on the roof tiles.(Editorial office of Zhonghua Book Company,2015:762)

Here the author vividly recorded the reading experience he gained.

The idea that science fiction needs to create wonders was not particularly highlighted for a long time after the founding of the People’s Republic of China,mainly because science-fiction writing had long been placed under the management of popular science.To the early workers in popular-science theories,stressing the wonder element of science fiction while ignoring its scientific aspect seemed like missing the focus.Such a situation lasted until the beginning of the twenty-first century,when the literary status of science fiction was fully displayed,and only then was the legitimacy of the wonder technique fully accepted.

4.2 Experience reinforcement

Chinese writers have long held the idea that reinforcing experience should become a function of science fiction.In the late Qing Dynasty,when philosophical science novels (which later evolved into science novels and then into science fiction) were in their infancy,Liang Qichao once talked about the four powers that can be felt in reading novels.The first power is edification,which is ‘like walking into a cloud of smoke and being warmed or touching the ink and getting stained’.He also stated,‘When reading novels,my eyes are dazzled,my mind is freed,and my nerves are tightened’ (Liang,1902: 3).‘Those who read novels are destined to think of themselves as the characters of the books’(Liang,1902:5).

As for how to create experience,it has taken us a long time to finally think it through.An important way to create experience is to strengthen the details of science fiction,especially those about future technologies,as well as to enhance the perceptive depiction of the future environment and the harmonious relationship between the environment and the characters.For example,Ye (1980) included a special section titled‘Typical characters and typical environments in science fiction’ in his bookOn Science Literature and Art.In that section,he suggests that typical characters and typical environments are interlinked.The characters should have a distinct rather than a hollow image,and more attention should be paid to portrait description,while typical environments are determined by the plotting of science fiction and the plotting of novels,and they make the novels more artistically appealing.He also cited the example of works such asDeadlight on the Coral Island(first published in 1978),Shark Scout(first published in 1979),The Magic Flute of the Snowy Mountains(first published in 1978) andCat and Mouse(first published in 1979) to prove his point.

Tong (1980) also discussed the issue of experience generation in connection to typical environments and stressed the necessity of lifelike details in science fiction.He pointed out that science fiction must be lifelike.Being lifelike does not mean becoming reality,because the setting of science fiction is fictional.This means that the details cannot be ambiguous or mentioned only briefly.On the contrary,the writer must make an extra effort in the description of details in order to give readers a vivid,lifelike experience.This will significantly boost the artistic appeal of the novel,which,in this context,is the sentimental attachment generated.

Liu (2014) also proposed that there is a unique and precious element about experience and the future in science fiction,which is the so-called‘apocalyptic experience’.He also noted that only science fiction can bring such an important thought experiment to humankind.‘In fact,since the birth of humankind,human civilization as a whole has never suffered an apocalypse.Because of this,the“apocalyptic experience” is a very precious thing to us.It’s like how a patient who has been misdiagnosed with cancer feels after learning the correct result.Life obviously has a new meaning to him or her’(Liu,2014: 120).

Contemporary science fiction works on the theme of information technology often put future experiences at their centre.Bao Shu’s novelEverybody Loves Charles(first published in 2014) tells a story about the change of medium using an experiential futuristic approach,which bears a strong resemblance to the British TV seriesBlack Mirror.

The depiction of the speedy development of contemporary and future societies in Han Song’s science fiction novels is widely recognized as an important practice in creating contemporaneity or futurity.In both his ‘Rail’ series and his ‘Hospital’ series,Han uses words and actions to make readers feel that they are sitting in a high-speed train and that the future is moving from one fixed goal into many possible ones.The collapse of the deterministic world and increased uncertainties evoke all kinds of psychological reactions.

Women writers also have a special preference for experiential futurism,and many have shared their views about how they create experience in science fiction.For example,Cheng Jingbo argues that science fiction is a love letter (cited in Zhang and Liao,2023),while Xia Jia believes that creating science fiction is a way to resist despair (cited in He and Xie,2023).Although Xia’s novelWaiting for the Cloudsis a lyrical account of the experience of new IT products,its inclusion in the encyclopedia seriesAbout Chinaalso makes it a classic manifestation of the optimistic spirit unique to the Chinese people.

4.3 Immersion creation

Experiential futurism enables the reader to briefly construct a new identity by replacing their identity with that of the characters in the book,and such a new identity allows the reader to revisit,reflect on and comprehend their own way of action and code of conduct.For those readers whose values and world views are still being formed,the experience of identity reconstruction will help them revise their identifications and perceptions of the world in their future lives.

An interesting thing about experiential futuristic science fiction is that these works employed some contemporary VR technologies at a much earlier time.Whether it is the immersion created by panoramic experiential science fiction,the shuttling,travelling or crossing between different worlds,or the readers’ psychic interactions with the characters in role-playing,and their feelings when exiting the experiential world,all of these bear the hallmarks of VR in our world today.In the future,when adapting these works into films,TV series and games,we can not only directly use these elements but also add a second layer of experience on top of the first layer to reinforce the experience and emotion generation of the story.

4.4 Emotion activation

Experiential futuristic works contain multiple layers,some very simple,others quite complex,but all of them ultimately lead to the creation of emotions.Experience is more about generating people’s disposition towards content than processing sensory information,and the disposition that comes with perception is emotion.Experiential futuristic works in simple forms do not require much analysis.Technology/society–perception–emotion is the basic pathway for such works,and the ultimate emotion can be directed either towards technology or towards the future.However,in more complex works,emotions may be somewhat implicit.For example,Bao Shu,the author ofThe Ruins of Time(first published in 2013),argues that time can inevitably be found in the depths of human consciousness.The human perception of time is constantly flowing,evolving and changing,which makes it impossible to create timebased science-fiction works that are separated from emotion:

So in a sense,time is something emotional,or at least sensual…

In an earlier article,I said that although we need the support of some scientific theories in writing fantasy novels about time,what really moves people’s hearts is the inner experience of time and place in their everyday lives,which is indeed the treasure trove of human emotions.(Jiang and Cheng,2023)

Since I have already discussed how experiential futuristic works activate readers’ emotions in the earlier sections,I will not repeat my point here.

4.5 Cognitive enhancement

Even the simplest experiential futuristic works contain some sort of philosophy within them.These future philosophies are not necessarily the future equivalents of the philosophies of Nietzsche or Wittgenstein,but more likely novel concepts and rational thoughts created by the writers in order to construct a complete structure for their works.Such enhancement may be accomplished through the narration of scientific knowledge,principles and methods,or through plotting and the process of experience.Xiao Jianheng’sDreams(first published in 1979) goes through centuries of cognitive research on the subject of memory in the discipline of psychology by recreating the scenes in dreams.Tong Enzheng’sThe Man Who Tracked Dinosaurs(first published in 1980)provides a lecture on scientific methods by showing how archaeology students learn to excavate antiquities.Liu Cixin’sBring Her Eyes,for its part,tells us through the story about the construction of the Earth and the ways in which humans discovered the secrets in the depth of the planet.In Wang Jinkang’s ‘New Humanity’tetralogy,there is also a great deal of content about biology and medicine.

In addition to science,experiential futurism also enhances social awareness.For example,in the panoramic experiential futuristic workLittle Smarty Travels to the Future,the future travel connected by the three parallel themes seems to lack historical depth.In order to evoke deeper philosophical thinking about matters other than miracles,the writer added a chapter titled ‘The history of Future City’to the book.In that chapter,the writer cited Lu Xun’s famous quote that ‘The Earth had no roads to begin with,but when many men pass one way,a road is made’.When Little Smarty read the second half of the history of Future City,he saw many blank pages.The author transcribed the last written page of the history of Future City,which reads:

A blank sheet of paper is perfect for drawing the latest and most beautiful pictures.What will become of Future City in a hundred years,in a thousand years,in ten thousand years,in a hundred thousand years?This is the latest and most beautiful picture,drawn by our diligent hands.This hardworking spirit is also needed to make our city more beautiful and our lives happier.(Ye,1978: 108)

Obviously,it is the chapter about history that makesLittle Smarty Travels to the Futurea comprehensive,panoramic experiential futuristic work,and such construction is successful only because it has gained historical depth.

Overall,experiential futurism is the most common subgenre of futuristic science fiction in China.Experiential futurism focuses on conveying the experience of the future through words and uses its strong appeal to urge greater attention to the future.Due to its lower threshold,it is more easily accepted by readers than blueprint futurism or evolutionary futurism,but more research efforts are needed to reveal the innovative literary techniques and philosophical connotations contained in these works.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Center for the Humanities and Innovation Culture in the Great Bay Area,Southern University of Science and Technology.