Chapter Ten: Critical Ecotopia in Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds

Abstract

“Ecotopia” describes the social ecology of a world whose socioeconomic institutions are premised on the utopian dream of the reconciliation of the human and nature. The Mars Republic of Hao Jingfang's novel Vagabonds is built through advanced technologies that allow humans to terraform the planet and adapt to the arid environment along with the construction of an ecologically sound social and economic system. But the visions of ecotopia are challenged and interrogated by cultural and political clashes and differences between environmentally degraded Earth and utopian Mars. Through planetary travels, exchange, and conflict between the two planets, Vagabonds tells a story of mutual shocks and critiques among interplanetary travelers, capitalists, artists, and Martian youth. In their personal growth, the Martian youths question and explore their identity, belonging, and the balance between society and nature.