China and Cinematic Science Fiction: A Lost Genre - A brief history of Chinese science fiction film and its’ narrative themes.

Abstract: This paper has its goal in presenting an overall history of the Chinese science fiction movie genre but also to give an in-depth analysis of the thematic elements that is being presented in eight selected movies. Chinese films during the 21st century, which are being distributed outside of its domestic borders, have a tendency to be historical films, wuxia films or a mixture of these two genres. How come then, foreign science fiction film is so popular in the domestic market? My aim with this paper is to gain some perspective on why foreign, mostly American, science fiction film is so immensely popular in China. Furthermore, to get a better understanding of science fiction films I will take a closer look on the development of the genre in relation to how it has been written about in the Chinese media.