Multi-temporalities and Parallel Spaces: Utopia, Dystopia and Digital Worldbuilding in Chinese Online Alternate History Fiction

Alternate history fiction (jiakong lishi xiaoshuo 架空历史小说) ranks among the most popular genres of online fiction in China. It constructs utopian and dystopian worlds to explore avenues of alternate history, expressing social critique through metaphors to escape political censorship. Time travel appears as a favorite plot device to set up narrative frames in alternate history fiction, making temporality a crucial narrative tool to connect representations of both perceived reality and imagined utopian and dystopian worlds. Time travel distorts and deconstructs the linear sequence of past, present and future, leading to other forms of temporality such as cyclic time, eternal time and timelessness while remaining rooted in traditional Chinese culture and religion. This paper examines the co-existence of different forms of time in four online fictional narratives: Qing yunian 庆余年 (Joy of Live) by Mao Ni 猫腻; Zhang gongzhu 长公主(The Princess Royal; aka the TV drama Du huanian度华年, The Years of Life) by Mo Shubai 墨书白; Xin Song 新宋 (The New Song Dynasty) by A Yue 阿越; and Lingao qi Ming 临高启明 (Inspiring the Ming Dynasty from the Top) by Chuiniu zhe 吹牛者. They all illustrate how multi-temporal representations of the world in popular fiction use utopian and dystopian visions to reflect on perceived reality. We argue that alternate history fiction manifests Chinese netizens’ nostalgic longings for a glorified past while contributing to digital worldbuilding, providing insights into the dreams, nightmares, self-awareness and social aspirations of China’s younger generations including millennials, Gen Z and Gen Y—the children of the digital revolution. The study aims to enhance our understanding of Chinese popular and vernacular cultures and online literature.