A Study On The Flow Of Narrative Mode In Chinese Science Fiction Films (1938-2020)

The domestic science fiction films originated from the Republic of China have a long history and slow development.The narrative mode is closely related to the changes in people’s technological cognition and aesthetic interests during China’s modernization process.With the broadcast of "The Matrix" in 1999 as an opportunity,the global science fiction film market ushered in a period of rapid expansion,and it was well received in the international market with its skyrocketing imagination and shocking audiovisual effects.After 2019,the popularity of many domestic science fiction films represented by "The Wandering Earth" has ushered in a blowout period in the research of domestic science fiction movies,and a large number of scholars have devoted themselves to it.In the world,the narratives of science fiction films generally have remarkable patterned characteristics,which often lead the popular science and technology fashion culture while promoting a distinct view of science and technology.In this context,studying the narrative mode of domestic science fiction films can not only help the development of the narrative mode of domestic films,but also help domestic science fiction films to explore overseas markets.On the basis of sorting out the detailed information,combined with the reality of film narrative,the paper divides domestic science fiction films into three periods: the budding period(1938-1966),the exploration period(1978-2001),and the multiple development period(2002-2020).In order to meet the needs of the changing aesthetic demands of the Chinese people in the process of modernization,the narratives of domestic science fiction films have distinct characteristics in the three periods.In the budding period,Chinese people were full of expectations for modern scientific and technological life,which was expressed in the narrative of domestic science fiction films as a "utopian fantasy" of the future.During the exploration period,China’s modernization is rapidly increasing,and the public can more rationally examine the double-edged sword of technological progress,which is conveyed in the crisis narrative of domestic science fiction films as "anxiety about technology".During the period of diversified development,there has been a dislocation between the constantly enriched material life and the relatively deficient spiritual life,and the public has begun to demand a spiritual life with intrinsic value support.so they are more interested in films that reflect realistic issues and are both entertaining and popular.By depicting the alienated space of disaster,domestic science fiction films make people withdraw from real life and reflect on their own values,presenting a "commercialized heterotopia" narrative mode.The paper analyzes the narrative mode and changes of domestic science fiction films in various historical periods in terms of narrative background,themes,conflict settings and problem solutions.The study concludes that in the budding period(1938-1966),domestic science fiction films had a utopian narrative mode of technological vision,with a single contradiction setting and a contrasting narrative of "present" and "future","reality" and "dream".During the exploration period(1978-2001),Chinese science fiction films were characterized by a crisis narrative under the awareness of technological anxiety,which tended to express the existential dilemma and identity crisis triggered by technology in a pre-determined crisis.The science fiction films of this period have specific solutions to the crisis,usually through the destruction of the super-powered individuals or the reversion of the scientists,which leads to the resolution of the crisis,and the overall narrative chain is more complete.In the period of diversified development(2002-2020),domestic science fiction films have a commercialized heterotopian narrative mode.By presenting themes such as interstellar civilization,environmental crisis,and technological ethics in an alienated space,the creators strengthen the diversified expressions of conflicts: multiple action subjects drive the development of multiple narrative threads.The films aim to guide the public to examine the consequences of modernity and their own values,while the alienated space will eventually be filled with social visions with utopian overtones due to the need for commercial creation.In addition,the crisis resolution approach of Chinese science fiction films in this period is more Chinese in character,highlighting the traditional Chinese culture of family and nation,which usually uses the sincere emotions between human beings and the powerful call of the belief in community of destiny to promote crisis resolution.The study concludes that Chinese science fiction films have developed into the above three narrative modes in three different periods.Chinese science fiction films should optimize the narrative logic,enrich the narrative themes,and strengthen humanistic concerns.Creators should open up their technological imagination,integrate Chinese culture into science fiction narratives,tell Chinese stories in a global context,and broaden the international market of domestic science fiction films.