科幻的黄金时代 A Golden Age of Sci-Fi

每隔měi gé一段yí duàn时间shíjiān，总zǒng有人yǒurén宣称xuānchēng科幻kēhuàn的de黄金时代huángjīn shídài已经yǐjīng过去guòqù。

Every so often someone declares that the golden age of science fiction is over.

上世纪shàng shìjì五六十年代wǔ liùshí niándài，人类rénlèi刚刚gānggāng把bǎ目光mùguāng投向tóuxiàng太空tàikōng，作家zuòjiā们men凭píng着zhe几页jǐ yè草图cǎotú就jiù敢gǎn想象xiǎngxiàng整个zhěnggè银河yínhé的de命运mìngyùn。

In the fifties and sixties humankind had only just turned its gaze toward space, and writers dared, on the strength of a few pages of sketches, to imagine the fate of an entire galaxy.

那时nàshí的de科幻小说kēhuàn xiǎoshuō充满chōngmǎn乐观lèguān：技术jìshù被bèi视为shìwéi通往tōngwǎng未来wèilái的de阶梯jiētī，而ér不是bú shì悬xuán在zài头顶tóudǐng的de利剑lìjiàn。

The science fiction of that era was full of optimism: technology was seen as a stairway to the future, not as a sword hanging overhead.

相比之下xiāngbǐ zhī xià，今天jīntiān的de科幻kēhuàn常常chángcháng笼罩lǒngzhào着zhe一层yì céng阴影yīnyǐng，气候qìhòu崩溃bēngkuì、人工智能réngōng zhìnéng失控shīkòng、监控jiānkòng无孔不入wú kǒng bú rù，几乎jīhū成chéng了le固定gùdìng的de背景板bèijǐngbǎn。

By contrast, today's science fiction is often wrapped in shadow: climate collapse, artificial intelligence running loose, surveillance seeping into every crack — these have become an almost fixed backdrop.

于是yúshì有人yǒurén感叹gǎntàn，我们wǒmen失去shīqù了le做梦zuòmèng的de能力nénglì。

And so people sigh that we have lost the ability to dream.

但dàn与其说yǔqí shuō想象力xiǎngxiànglì衰退shuāituì了le，不如说bùrú shuō它tā转zhuǎn了le个gè方向fāngxiàng。

But rather than say that imagination has declined, it is better to say that it has changed direction.

早期zǎoqī科幻kēhuàn回答huídá的de是shì“我们wǒmen能néng造出zàochū什么shénme”，而ér当代dāngdài科幻kēhuàn追问zhuīwèn的de是shì“造zào出来chūlái之后zhīhòu，我们wǒmen还hái能不能néng bu néng算作suànzuò人rén”。

Early science fiction answered the question "what can we build"; contemporary science fiction presses a different one: "once it is built, do we still count as human?"

从cóng这个zhège意义yìyì上shàng说shuō，黄金时代huángjīn shídài并未bìng wèi终结zhōngjié，只是zhǐshì从cóng对duì机器jīqì的de迷恋míliàn，转向zhuǎnxiàng了le对duì自身zìshēn的de怀疑huáiyí。

In that sense the golden age has not ended at all; it has merely turned from infatuation with machines to doubt about ourselves.

一个yí gè能néng坦然tǎnrán直面zhímiàn代价dàijià的de时代shídài，未必wèibì不如bùrú一个yí gè只顾zhǐgù赞美zànměi进步jìnbù的de时代shídài。

An age that can face its costs without flinching is not necessarily inferior to an age that only sings the praises of progress.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

宣称xuānchēngto declare; to proclaim publicly

笼罩lǒngzhàoto shroud; to hang over

无孔不入wú kǒng bú rùto seep into every crack; to be all-pervasive

衰退shuāituìto decline; to wane

迷恋míliàninfatuation; to be obsessed with

坦然tǎnráncalm and unflinching; without evasion

Grammar note 语法点

与其说……，不如说…… — rather than saying A, say B

Reframes a claim instead of simply denying it: the speaker accepts that something happened but proposes a more accurate description of it.

这与其说是失败，不如说是一次代价高昂的实验。 — Rather than call it a failure, call it an expensive experiment.

被视为…… — to be regarded as

A written-style passive used for judgments and reputations; 视为 is more formal than 看作 and is common in commentary and academic prose.

他一直被视为这个领域最有希望的年轻人。 — He has long been regarded as the most promising young person in the field.

并未…… — has not at all

The literary counterpart of 没有, used to reject an assumption emphatically; 并 adds the force of 'contrary to what you may think'. Often paired with 只是 to state what did happen.

问题并未解决，只是暂时被掩盖了。 — The problem has not been solved; it has merely been covered up for now.

Check yourself 小测验

1. How does the text describe the science fiction of the 1950s and 60s?

2. According to the text, what question does contemporary science fiction press?

3. What is the author's conclusion about the golden age?

科幻的黄金时代Kēhuàn de huángjīn shídàiA Golden Age of Sci-Fi

Key words 生词

Grammar note 语法点

Check yourself 小测验

More HSK 6 reading practice