„To, czego nie można zmienić, można jedynie cierpliwie znosić”: „Składający się Pekin” Hao Jingfang jako metafora rozwarstwionego społeczeństwa
“Things in Life We Can’t Change, We Can Only Accept and Endure”: Hao Jingfang’s “Folding Beijing” as Metaphore for Class-Ridden Society

Summary/Abstract: The “golden age” of science fiction has lasted since the 90s, mostly due to the fact that science fiction has become a means for writers to express everything what the so-called pure literature was unable to express, and to comment on the ever-changing present reality. In this article, a short novella written by an author representing New Generation of Chinese science fiction Hao Jingfang — “Folding Beijing” — which won the Hugo prize in 2016, is analyzed. Created with the use of methods typical for science fiction, as well as space-metaphor, the vision of a future Beijing becomes a commentary on modern-day problems such as the impassable social barriers, the petrificated social class structure, or the technological development, which renders people useless. The novella may be understood as a utopian science fiction parable, which thanks to the elaborate metaphor of the class-ridden society trapped both in the state of never-ending change and a faceless monstrous metropolis, warns about the possibility of a grim future, but above all else expresses anxieties and insecurities of a modern human facing the ever-changing postmodern reality and advanced technology.

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