Beyond poetic nostalgia: Imagination and the Sinophone trajectory of speculative fiction

Abstract

Science/speculative fiction can be recognized, both in academic research and public practice, as a resource for hermeneutic technology assessment (TA). Its reflective function operates fundamentally at the level of imagination, contributing to the interpretive foundations of TA. Theoretically, imagination should not be understood through Heideggerian nostalgic hermeneutics, but through Kant’s account of reflective judgments of beauty and sublime. According to Kant’s theory, imagination mediates social experience, scientific cognition, and practical reason. From this perspective, Chinese speculative fiction responds to the divergence between Heidegger and Kant. The aesthetic judgments in Mu Ming’s fiction, the sublime in Cixin Liu’s works, and the technosocial fields articulated by Qiufan Chen and Song Han provide non-Western-centered pathways for speculative fiction to participate in hermeneutic TA.