CROSS-PERIOD ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE FOCALIZATION IN CHINESE SCIENCE FICTION FILM: A STRUCTURALIST NARRATOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

The phenomenon level box office and public response to The Wandering Earth (2019) mark the successful leap of Chinese domestic science fiction film from the margins of a genre into the mainstream context. Previous studies predominantly examine industrial policy, visual effects, or thematic content, leaving a critical gap in micro-level analysis of narrative mechanisms. This study employs structuralist narratology to investigate the selection and evolution of narrative focalization across key developmental stages of the Chinese science fiction film (1980–2019), analyzing three landmark works: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980), Wonder Boy (1988), and The Wandering Earth (2019).Through comparative textual analysis, we demonstrate how focalization strategies govern plot progression, emotional pacing, and ideological transmission. Findings reveal that focalization not only shapes information distribution and audience engagement but fundamentally mediates films’ ideological construction through its regulation of who sees and how they see. Ultimately, narrative focalization emerges as a crucial structural mechanism in Chinese science fiction films, reflecting broader shifts in cultural discourse and narrative aesthetics.