RSUSCI-2022 & RSUSOC-2022

IN22-002 SF and Sympoiesis Thinking in The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi

Presenter: Pattarapong Kongwattana
1) Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (Lecturer)2) International Ph.D. program in Taiwan and Transcultural Studies, College of Liberal Arts, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan (Ph.D. Candidate), Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University

Abstract

Wu Ming-Yi is one of the Taiwanese writers who combines his environmental and indigenous concerns with science-fiction (sci-fi) elements. The Man with the Compound Eyes (複眼人) is his first English-translated novel that has sci-fi elements. Since the storytelling that mingles sci-fi, climate changes, and environmentalism in Wu’s The Man with the Compound Eyes is akin to Donna Haraway’s concepts of “SF” that refers to a complex web of lives and narrative, this paper takes the novel as an example of creative Chinese science fictions that offer valuable thinking about the Earth system. There are two main discussions in this paper: 1) how Wu’s narrative conforms to SF and 2) how he uses the narrative to speak of the others without the anthropocentric tone. The discussion shows that first, in terms of the SF quality, the Trash Vortex in the novel serves as an implementation of “SF,” which enacts as sarcastic hyperobjects and a representation of slow violence in Rob Nixon’s sense. The Vortex reverses the predominant pattern of sudden catastrophe in a mainstreamed sci-fi film to challenge anthropocentric values. Also, the Vortex plays an “SF” role to provoke ecological consciousness and expose the environmental and indigenous problems in Taiwan. Second, in terms of the SF narrative, Wu uses his “SF” to call for listening to nonhuman others. Instead of speaking for nature, Wu rather focuses on listening to nature, which reflects that the idea of sympoiesis in Haraway’s sense is embedded in Wu’s narrative.

Citation format:

Kongwattana, P.. (2022). SF and Sympoiesis Thinking in The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi. Proceeding in RSU International Research Conference, April 30, 2022. Pathum Thani, Thailand.