The Wandering Earth among other sci-fi books on display at the Wangfujing Bookstore in Beijing Photo: Yang Lanlan/CSST

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An academic seminar titled “Foreign Ecological Literature Research and New Quality Productive Forces” was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, in late November.

New opportunities

As General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping pointed out, “new quality productive forces are green in nature.” This important assertion not only provides clear guidance for the construction of ecological civilization but also opens up a broader academic space for exploring the interconnections between environmental crises, technological development, and ecological civilization. Liu Zhongliang, vice president of Nanjing Forestry University (NJFU), noted that new quality productive forces empower high-quality development and ecological civilization construction, offering fresh research opportunities in the field of ecological literature.

Yang Jincai, editor-in-chief of Contemporary Foreign Literature and a professor from the School of Foreign Studies at Nanjing University (NJU), suggested that viewing contemporary foreign ecological literature through the lens of new quality productive forces enables researchers to focus more intently on works that merge emerging technologies with ecological themes, as well as on the humanistic narratives within multinational green industries. This perspective encourages the use of VR/AR technologies to explore new research paradigms, such as reinterpreting classic ecological literary works. Additionally, it enables scholars to engage more deeply with creative contexts through the experiential dimension of new quality productive forces, enhancing their understanding on the ecological significance of literary works. AI-assisted translation tools could also help overcome language barriers, facilitating in-depth studies of ecological literature from non-lingua franca countries and enabling comparisons of ecological literary creations across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Ultimately, this approach aims to promote global ecological literary research grounded in the construction of an ecological civilization community and mutual learning among civilizations.

Miao Fugang, a professor from the School of Foreign Languages at Shanghai University, emphasized that hard science fiction, rooted in hard technologies such as cutting-edge and disruptive innovations, represents a significant area of study under the framework of new quality productive forces. The portrayal and analysis of core elements like artificial intelligence and biotechnology in such literature enrich the theoretical scope of new quality productive forces.

Zhang Genhai, a professor from the School of Foreign Languages at Hebei University of Science and Technology, observed that since the 21st century, various new production factors have continuously integrated into social life, providing abundant materials for literary creation. This integration has strongly driven the emergence of new literary forms, including shifts in traditional creative concepts, updates to writing styles, expansions in literary content, and enhancements in creative outcomes.

Comparative studies

In the 21st century, Western writers have actively responded to the environmental crises of their era through climate change fiction, speculative fiction, and Anthropocene literature. In New York 2140, American author Kim Stanley Robinson takes global warming-induced flooding as his central theme, vividly portraying life in New York City immersed in a climate crisis. Sun Xiao, a professor from the School of Chinese Language and Literature at Xi’an International Studies University, analyzed the ecological warnings and revelations embedded in the novel’s water imagery. She argued that using material ecological criticism and ecological writing, the novel explores the ecological crises driven by climate change, envisioning a future world caught between “crisis and salvation.”

The representation of China in climate fiction shapes the country’s current and future image, making in-depth research in this area of substantial theoretical and practical importance. Jiang Lifu, a professor from the College of Foreign Languages at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, observed that 21st-century Anthropocene literature presents a depiction of China that markedly diverges from the stereotypical portrayals found in centuries of Western writing. Unlike the imaginings of earlier works, China in Anthropocene fiction is depicted with greater complexity, embodying both contemporary relevance and future-oriented elements. Jiang advocated for transcending traditional binary oppositions and Orientalist paradigms in research on this subject.

“These ecological literary works have become an important medium for analyzing the ecological texture of society and awakening the public’s urgent awareness of green transformation. However, some works still cannot escape Western-centric discourse and values, often carrying cultural biases. This calls for efforts to conduct comparative and dialogic studies from a Chinese perspective,” Yang said. Rather than simply adopting or perpetuating Western ecological criticism theories and methodologies, foreign ecological literature research should adopt new modes of thinking, viewing the field through the lens of Chinese modernization. By using comparative and dialogic approaches, researchers can explore new domains and paradigms in ecological literary studies.

Community of life

The human habitat is deeply interconnected with the entire natural world. “Lyrical poets are fully aware of this relationship, and thus, in their writing, humans and all of nature are presented as an inseparable, unified whole. This concept is particularly evident in the metaphorical systems central to poetry,” said Wu Di, a professor from the School of Literature at Zhejiang University. Both Chinese and Western poets skillfully use diverse and imaginative metaphors to express the intricate relationship between humanity and nature, conveying complex emotions and profound intellectual insights.

Liang Xiaohui, a professor from the School of Foreign Studies at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, noted that the concept of “harmony between humanity and nature” has deep roots in traditional Chinese philosophy, tracing back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century–771 BCE). Confronted with global crises, countries can no longer operate in isolation, nor can humanity position itself in opposition to nature. The integration of people across nations, alongside the unification of humanity, culture, and the natural world, is an essential path to addressing human vulnerabilities.

“The environmental changes caused by human activities involve changes to the material environment, which cannot be solely explained through social, linguistic, or ideological constructs. Instead, they should also be viewed from the inherent nature of things, the interconnections between humans and objects, and the Earth’s life community,” said Du Lanlan, a professor from the Institute of Global Humanities at NJU. She proposed that examining the entangled networks in climate change fiction through the lens of new materialism challenges anthropocentric binary thinking, situating humanity within a context of symbiosis and shared destiny with non-human entities.

Han Qiqun, a professor from the School of Foreign Studies at NJFU, echoed that new materialist ecological criticism is dedicated to dismantling anthropocentric perspectives. It emphasizes the intertwined interactions between humans and non-human entities in literary works, promoting a symbiotic turn in ecological criticism. By focusing on the coexistence, symbiosis, and co-prosperity of Earth’s species, this approach expands the research landscape of 21st-century ecological literature in China and beyond.

The seminar was co-hosted by Contemporary Foreign Literature and NJFU.

Edited by YANG LANLAN