Abstract
With its distinctive sci-fi realism style, Hao Jingfang’s Folding Beijing serves as a strong voice for social critique. A typical dystopian literature assumes a binary class structure, while in Folding Beijing, a middle class is introduced so the binary structure is now triple-layered. Also, setting the story in the mega capital city Beijing adds an even grimmer sense of reality. In addition to highlighting the worsening condition of social stratification and class solidification in China, the story, by pointedly disclosing some social problems, mirrors the living conditions of a proportion of the population in big cities. The story also contains a deeper theme: How would machines and automation affect the economy? Supposing that in the future more and more robots have replaced workers, what would happen to the unemployed? If the basic value of labor is jeopardized and most people’s work has lost its meaning, how would they demonstrate their existence as human beings? A somber and profound contemplation is hidden behind this seemingly mild and composed story. The advances of society create inequality, and though mankind has been devoted to studying and eliminating inequality, it appears that it only leads to more inequality.
Published Version
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