AUUUUDITORIUM JUNE | Lectures: Linguistic Fiction in Frankenstein (1818) and Other Questions

Setting the stage for the collective learning programs at the AUUUUDITORIUM of the Rockbund Art Museum, Ming Wong’s installation Scenography for a Shanghai Science Fiction Opera (2024) unveils an alternative speculative fiction that is retraceable in indigenous knowledge. In resonance with Wong's scenography, Project New Small Talk presents a series of lectures and workshops around early Chinese science fiction literature.
The lecture series begins by exploring early science fiction without the purview of late Qing China, providing research perspectives through a broad range of texts. The first lecture re-examines Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein (1818). While its reference to galvanism has been thoroughly elucidated, less attention has been given to contemporary scientific studies of homo ferus-particularly the psycholinguistic aspects-which may have influenced the novel. Though Frankenstein's monster as a fiction is both biological and linguistic, the latter science is often dismissed as "softer."
Lecturer: Pandan, Curatorial Assistant at the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai.
作为开展上海外滩美术馆项目“讲---堂”共同学习项目的舞台，艺术家黄汉明的装置作品《上海科幻戏曲的舞台布景设计》（2024）呈现了一种可以在本土知识体系中追溯的另类未来虚构。
“‘新小说’计划”系列讲座首先带来晚清中国之外的早期科幻作品，通过更多元的文本提供不同的研究视角。第一场讲座的切入点是玛丽·雪莱的《弗兰肯斯坦》（1818）。作为一部科幻经典，小说对生物流电现象（galvanism）的指涉已得到充分的阐明，然而同时代关于“野人”（homo ferus）的科学考察--尤其是其中的心理语言学部分--可能对其作成产生的影响却鲜有关注。尽管弗兰肯斯坦的怪物由生物学和语言学幻想构造，后者却时常作为一种“软”科学而被忽视。
讲者：潘旦，上海外滩美术馆策展助理。