Chiara Cigarini，意大利威尼斯大学亚非系副教授，
研究方向为中国文学与电影。
展开剩余93%Chiara Cigarini, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, 30123, Veneto, Italy.
2 ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDSAbstract:
In a time of anxiety about environmental annihilation and human extinction, many literary science fiction (sf) authors from the Sinophone area have explored and expressed their ecological concerns through depicting a devastated environment populated by supernatural beings. This article traces a similar trend in cinematic sf by analyzing the 2016 film The Mermaid (Meirenyu 美人鱼), a science-fictional fairy tale written and co-produced by Stephen Chow 周星驰. The choice of merfolk, half-human half-fish creatures employed in the movie, differs, but not completely, from Han Song’s 韩松 portrayal of“aquatic humans”(shuiqiren 水栖人) in his 2004 novel Red Ocean (Hongse haiyang 红色海洋). I believe that the marine humans present in both works, reminiscent of supernatural figures belonging to Chinese and global mythology that embody a harmonious relationship between humans and nature, can be read as an attempt to decolonize science fiction, via a symbolic display of multispecies entanglement.
摘要:
在对环境破坏和人类灭绝感到焦虑的时代，许多来自华语地区的科幻文学作家通过描绘一个被超自然生物栖息的荒废环境，探讨并表达了他们的生态关切。本文通过分析2016年由周星驰编剧并执导的电影《美人鱼》，追踪了这一趋势在科幻电影中的表现。电影中呈现的美人鱼——半人半鱼的生物，虽与韩松在2004年小说《红色海洋》中描绘的“水栖人”有所不同，但并非完全无关。本文认为，两个作品中所呈现的海洋人类，令人联想到中国和全球神话中体现人与自然和谐相处的超自然物种，象征性地表现了多物种之间的纠缠。
Keywords: Indigenous mythology; Sinophone science fiction; ecocriticism; mermaid
关键词：
本土神话；华语科幻；生态批评；美人鱼
3 A GLIMPSE OF THE ARTICLE文章提要
In his opening to The Anthropocene Unconscious (2021), Mark Bould notices that “the art and literature of our time is pregnant with catastrophe, with weather and water, wildness and weirdness” (Bould 2021, 3). Recalling Amitav Gosh’s account of mundane fiction shortcomings in describing and engaging with the environmental crisis, Bould stresses the symbolic, indirect, oblique presence of these topics in works that, in our time, are not “immediately and explicitly” about climate change (Bould 2021, 4), while further noticing the presence of environmental preoccupations in films, including blockbuster movies. Expanding these considerations to such environmental catastrophes depicted by works from the Sinophone regions of China and Hong Kong – such as The Mermaid (Meirenyu 美人鱼, 2016), a film written and co-produced by native Hong Konger director Stephen Chow 周星驰, and Red Ocean (Hongse haiyang 红色海洋, 2004, 2018), a novel by Chinese author Han Song 韩松, I explore the concept of Indigenous mythology, focusing especially on the trope of the mermaid.
在《人类世无意识》（2021）的开篇中，马克·博尔德（Mark Bould）指出，“我们这个时代的艺术和文学孕育着灾难、气候与水源、野性与奇异”（2021, 3）。回顾阿米塔夫·戈希（Amitav Ghosh）对世俗科幻在描述和应对环境危机方面的不足之处，博尔德强调，这些主题在当代科幻作品中往往以象征性、间接性和隐晦的方式存在，而不是“直接且明确”地表现气候变化（2021, 4）。此外，他还注意到了包括大片电影在内的诸多电影作品中有生态关切的呈现。将这些观点扩展到中国大陆与中国香港这些华语地区所描绘的环境灾难，例如由香港本土导演周星驰编剧并执导的电影《美人鱼》（2016）和中国作家韩松创作的小说《红色海洋》（2004，2018），本文聚焦美人鱼这一主题，探讨了本土神话的概念。
01
Addressing Colonial and Environmental Apocalypses through Indigenous Wisdom
通过本土智慧应对环境末日
Some critics have observed that James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) may be read in relation to a crisis of environmental annihilation as a by-product of colonial violence - a reading I believe also applies to The Mermaid and Red Ocean. In both works, the cause (capitalist colonialism), the effect (human and environmental apocalypses), and the solution (an emphasis placed on Indigenous wisdom) are thematized, presenting alternatives to the myth of progress, thus contributing to undermine binaries - such as the opposition between technology and shamanic tradition that Franciska Cettl identifies in her analysis of Avatar - and functioning as a decolonizing attempt to put into question the hierarchies of the genre (Cettl 2019, 225). As demonstrated by John Rieder - who, in Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction (2008), recognizes both colonialism and early English-language science fiction’s tie with the notion of progress and other complex ideas related to evolutionary theory (2) - colonialism and the historical development of science fiction share a special historical bond. This entanglement is also addressed by Nathaniel Isaacson in the context of Late Qing science fiction (2017).
一些批评家指出，可以将詹姆斯·卡梅隆的《阿凡达》（2009）与环境毁灭危机关联起来解读，将其视作强制入侵的暴力副产品。本文认为这种解读同样适用于《美人鱼》和《红色海洋》。在这两部作品中，原因（资本主义的强制入侵）、影响（人类与环境的末日危机）和解决方案（对本土智慧的强调）都被主题化，提出了对进步神话的替代方案，从而有助于削弱诸多二元对立，例如法朗西斯卡·切特尔（Franciska Cettl）指出的《阿凡达》中的技术与萨满传统之间的对立。此类主题化也可作为一种祛强制入侵的尝试，对这一类型中的等级体系提出质疑（2019,225）。约翰·里德尔（John Rieder）也曾揭示过早期英语科幻小说在进步观念及相关进化理论的复杂联系（2008,2）。
02
Genre and Species Entanglements: Mermaids for an Ecological, Kincentric Hope
体裁与物种纠缠：为生态希望与亲缘希望而设的美人鱼
While, like Avatar, both The Mermaid and Red Ocean thrive at the intersection of environmentalist and colonialist narratives, teaching us how to “stay with the trouble” and how to navigate different ideological conflicts, Franciska Cettl’s use of the term paradox, referring to something that displays seemingly contradictory traits, is also helpful in describing works that straddle the boundaries of different literary and cinematic genres. One of the most intriguing contradictions in the context of the present analysis is associated with the scientific-technological aspect of science fiction – deeply rooted, as Darko Suvin argues in his structuralist understanding of the genre, in a new, yet rationally plausible technological invention or alternative setting (Suvin 1977, ix) – and the supernatural elements of myth. Indeed, in some Sinophone sf literary works expressing ecological concerns, we find narratives that depict the damage of the Anthropocene while simultaneously drawing upon mythological themes such as mermaids, hybrid creatures, and deities to propose alternative solutions to what Raede calls environmental nihilism (1).
与《阿凡达》相似，《美人鱼》和《红色海洋》同样在环境叙事与强制入侵叙事的交汇处展开，教导我们如何“与困境共处”，以及如何应对不同的意识形态冲突，而法朗西斯卡·切特尔使用“悖论”一词来指代那些展现出看似矛盾特质的事物，有助于描述那些跨越不同文学与电影类型边界的作品。达科·苏文（Darko SUvin）从结构主义视角来理解科幻小说时所指出的，科幻作品的科学技术维度深植于一种新的但理性上可信的技术发明或另类设定（1977, ix）。在本文的分析语境中，最引人注目的悖论之一就是科幻小说的科学技术维度与神话的超自然元素之间的对立与融合。实际上，在一些表达生态关切的华语科幻文学作品中，我们可以看到这样的叙事：一边描绘人类世带来的破坏，一边又借助美人鱼、混合生物和神祇等神话主题，提出应对雷德（Raede）所谓的“环境虚无主义”的替代解决方案。
03
Conclusions
结语
While these science fiction stories may not fit a strict definition of Indigenous narratives, they nevertheless merge local culture with a global Indigenous sensibility, enhancing the potential of these works’ practical use: besides the depiction of environmental devastation connected with colonial and capitalist practices, they promote a kincentric ecology and ancestral teachings. To address global environmental challenges and envision alternative approaches, they offer potential solutions rooted in an Indigenous wisdom and mythology that, as argued by Raede, is “brimming with lessons on resiliency, hope, and untapped possibilities” (Raede 2022, 8).
尽管这些科幻故事可能不完全符合严格意义上的本土叙事定义，但它们将地方文化与全球本土意识相融合，增强了这些作品在实践中的潜在价值：除了描绘与强制入侵和资本主义实践相关的环境破坏外，它们还倡导了一种亲族生态学（kincentric ecology）和祖先智慧。为应对全球环境挑战并设想替代方案，这些作品提出了根植于本土智慧和神话的潜在解决路径。正如雷德所言，这种智慧“充满了关于韧性、希望和未被发掘的可能性的启示”（2022, 8）。
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Journal of Chinese Film Studies
《中国电影研究》
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主编：王海洲 金海娜
Journal of Chinese Film Studies立足中国，面向国际，旨在搭建一流国际学术平台，发表国内外高水平的中国电影研究成果，加强不同文化背景的研究者之间的对话和沟通，促进国内外电影研究界开展交流与合作，推动中国电影研究的全球发展。期刊由德古意特（De Gruyter）出版社出版，目前已进入Scopus索引。想与国内外知名学者一起探讨中国电影吗？赶快行动投稿吧！
编辑：许倩
发布于：山西省