Author: Fangning Bao

Abstract: This paper investigates the re-contextualization of scientific knowledge discourse in Chinese translated science fiction from 1902 to 1911, situating these texts within the broader epistemic transformation of late Qing intellectual culture. It argues that science fiction translation during this period functioned as a dynamic site of knowledge negotiation, in which scientific discourse was continuously reshaped in response to shifting political and cultural imperatives. Based on a corpus of representative translated texts, this study identifies three major stages in the evolution of knowledge discourse. In the first stage, translation practices construct a highly politicized knowledge framework centered on military and technological science. Through strong domestication strategies, scientific narratives are mobilized to serve reformist agendas, thereby foregrounding the authority and urgency of Western scientific epistemologies. In the second stage, the scope of scientific knowledge is significantly expanded beyond a predominantly political paradigm. Translations increasingly incorporate elements of natural and social sciences, producing a more diversified epistemic configuration while still retaining an underlying reformist orientation. In the final stage, translation practices exhibit a relative shift toward textual fidelity and narrative preservation. Ideological intervention is attenuated, and greater emphasis is placed on the transmission of scientific content itself, marking a transition from hybridized knowledge production to more differentiated and stabilized forms of scientific discourse. These evolving re-contextualization strategies demonstrate that translated science fiction operated as an important epistemic instrument in late Qing intellectual life. The paper further argues that such translational practices not only responded to immediate socio-political demands, but also contributed to the gradual restructuring, expansion, and normalization of scientific knowledge in modern China.

Keywords: Discourse; Knowledge Discourse; Late Qing science fiction; Re-contextualization.

Article Info: Received: 28 Apr 2026; Received in revised form: 25 May 2026; Accepted: 01 Jun 2026; Available online: 08 Jun 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.56