Smog and the Psyche: Chen Qiufan’s Reading of the Urban Anthropocene

The growing concern for environmental issues has fuelled the rise of climate fiction [cli-fi], a subgenre of science fiction dealing with climate change that has become increasingly popular in the last few decades. In China, significant examples can be fou nd, among others, in Chen Qiufan’s works, which address these problems from different points of view. In his short story “Mai” 霾 [The Smog Society], the author explores the relationship between human beings and nature from an unconventional perspective, overturning the traditional conception of the relationship between the environment and the human mind. This article aims to analyse Chen Qiufan’s short story as an attempt to subvert the causal relationship between pollution and happiness, outlining his interpretation of the urban Anthropocene. The analysis will set out from what Glenn Albrecht has defined as “psychoterratic emotional concepts”, namely earth - related mental health conditions, to explore the author’s view of man-made climate change. In particular, it will explore the depiction of the climatic emergency in the Chinese urban context and its consequences on the protagonist’s psychology and emotions, as well as on urban social life.


Dealing with Cli-fi
Over the last decade, we have witnessed an increasing attention towards environmental themes that has influenced not only today's economy, but also the sphere of cultural production. 1 Although writers have taken some time to approach the issue of global warming, lately the literary output dealing with this subject has grown together with novelists' intention to warn us by translating science into emotions. 2 the late 2000s, Dan Bloom, an American journalist based in Taiwan, referred to science fiction works dealing with climate change using the term "climate fiction" -nowadays often shortened to "cli-fi". 3Indeed, while the narration of environmental catastrophes finds its roots in ancient myths, like the story of Noah's ark, and in speculative fiction from the 1980s, what makes cli-fi interesting is the fact that it constitutes a cultural response to scientific and policy discourses. 4The expression "cli-fi" was not coined for the purpose of offering a theoretical framework; however, it was soon recognised as an official literary term and sparked a debate on a literary category whose boundaries remain blurry.Some scholars point out the intersections between climate change fiction and other genres, 5 while others suggest that we should view climate change as a topic spanning several different genres. 6Indeed, some writers have completely refused to apply the term 'genre' to the theme of climate change in fiction, feeling that to do 1 I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading and their insightful comments and suggestions. 2Tuhus-Dubrow, Rebecca, "Cli-Fi: Birth of a Genre", Dissent, 60.3.[2013], 59. 3 Bloom, Dan, "Thanks to TeleRead and NPR, 'Cli-fi' Is Now an Official Literary Term", TeleRead, 28 May 2013, http://teleread.com/cli-fi-is-a-new-literary-term-that-npr-blessed-and-approved/index.html.[Accessed 27 November 2021]. 4Whiteley, Andrea, Angie Chiang, Edna Einsiedel, "Climate Change Imaginaries?Examining Expectation Narratives in Cli-Fi Novels", Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 36.1.[2016] so would be to downgrade it. 7In this article, I will follow Bloom's view of cli-fi and explore science fiction in order to retrace the literary representation of climate change.
During the last decade, climate fiction has been blossoming on the world literature scene, following the pattern of Anglophone supremacy which constitutes the 'core' of the science fiction genre.
Although Milner and Burgmann hypothesised the possibility of China becoming a new force in science fiction,8 cli-fi has yet to develop a strong Chinese branch, in either the field of fiction or that of cinema.9 Nevertheless, if we look at the most popular works of Chinese science fiction that have conquered the global literary scene in the last few years, we can find examples of this subgenre, such as Hao Jingfang's "Beijing zhedie" 北京折叠 [Folding Beijing], Liu Cixin's "Liulang diqiu" 流浪地球 [The Wandering Earth], and Chen Qiufan's Huang chao 荒潮 [The Waste Tide].Indeed, science fiction and climate fiction share a common interest in technology,10 but among the latter's most intriguing aspects is the focus on the human sphere.How is the impact of the environmental crisis on human society described in cli-fi works?I will start from this question and try to shed new light on the representation of the interconnection between climate change and the human mind in Chinese science fiction.In particular, I will focus on Chen Qiufan's short story "Mai" 霾 [The Smog Society] and analyse it as a work of cli-fi through the prism of the psyche, in order to highlight the characters' emotional response to the environmental situation.

A Polluted World in Chen Qiufan's Fiction
Chen Qiufan 陈楸帆, also known as Stanley Chan, is one of the most popular contemporary Chinese science fiction writers.Born in 1984 in Shantou, Guangdong province, he has been publishing sci-fi short stories since 2004.Attention towards the environment has emerged in Chen Qiufan's fiction especially through his description of different forms of pollution in today's world.His first novel Huang chao 荒潮 [The Waste Tide],11 is an eco-thriller focusing on the problem of e-waste processing in China, which Sun Mengtian has defined as "one of the most environmentally conscious and outspoken science fiction novels in contemporary China".12Another text through which the author offers a reflection on the theme of pollution is the short story "Mai" 霾 [The Smog Society], first published in 2010, 13 and translated into English by Ken Liu and Carmen Yiling Yan in 2015. 14The plot is set in an urban context blanketed with smog and revolves around Lao Sun, a man who has been feeling alone and purposeless after retirement and without his late wife, and thus decides to devote his time to the environmental organisation named "The Smog Society".The status of the group is rather unclear, and it operates by collecting data that are used to carry out studies on the correlation between environmental pollution and psychological harm.
The story unfolds through an entanglement of feelings expressing how smog affects human life at the level of emotions and perceptions.It seeks to subvert the causal relationship between the increase in environmental pollution and the decrease in citizens' happiness.
of cli-fi, namely its effort to represent the impact of climate change on the human mind and on social life.This aspect is particularly relevant in the short story "The Smog Society"; therefore, I will analyse Chen Qiufan's text as an example of Chinese cli-fi by focusing on the effects of pollution on citizens' happiness and vice-versa, as it is described by the author.In order to highlight the connection between climate change and the city dweller's mind, I will employ Albrecht's "psychoterratic [psyche-earth]   emotional concepts" 21 to show the author's view of the Chinese urban Anthropocene and of its consequences on social life.These concepts describe negative and positive emotional responses to ecological and environmental change, providing an effective lens through which to understand the link between the human psyche and the Earth's transformations.

Smog and Solastalgia
Like many works of cli-fi, "The Smog Society" is a text soaked in melancholy.The protagonist Lao Sun lives on the seventeenth floor of a building and he spends his days roaming the streets to perform his duty as a member of Maixie 霾协 [the Smog Society], which is collecting data on the smog levels by taking measurements from assigned spots.His lonely existence, after his wife's disappearance many years before, gives him plenty of opportunities to observe the urban landscape and a lot of time to think about the transformations affecting the environment, as well as his own life.When observing the scenery under the gloomy sky, made murky by the high concentration of particulate matter, Lao Sun remembers how it had looked in autumn years before: but is also perceived by the protagonist as something capable of making the beauty of nature fade forever.Therefore, Lao Sun's gaze often lingers on the features of a world he knows is quickly vanishing before his eyes, contrasting the blurry present with his clear memories.
The feeling of homesickness experienced while still at home stems from a sense of impending environmental doom.But for Lao Sun it is also strictly related to the memory of his wife, who has disappeared from his life -just like the happiness he once enjoyed without realising it.A less polluted landscape is the background against which he remembers old conversations with his partner, when they let the shadow of smog and the urge to pursue economic stability take away their chance of building a family together.Moreover, Chen Qiufan's narrated dialogues take the reader a step further, becoming meta-memories of an almost uncontaminated nature associated with a long-gone enthusiasm for life: "The sky was always blue back then, and the clouds were white.There weren't so many buildings.There were big paulownia trees on either side of the road, and when the wind blew their leaves would rustle, sha sha.You'd take me nice places on your bike.There weren't so many cars back then, either.The roads were so wide and open you could see all the way from one side to the other.The sun wasn't nasty.There were birds and cicadas.
We'd ride to the city outskirts and lay down on the grass wherever we liked.It felt so good.
Lao Sun, you remember, right?"27Lao Sun's relationship with his wife becomes a metaphor for the environment: a relationship that deteriorated because of short-term goals that ultimately led to a lack of engagement.As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that he also experienced a sort of solastalgia with respect to his marriage.Once again, Albrecht's definition of such a concept as an "ongoing loss of solace and the sense of desolation connected to the present state of one's home"28 particularly fits the emotions which Lao Sun remembers having felt towards his wife, whereas in the present all he is left with is regret.

Isolation and Emotional Death
Chen Qiufan's short story is an account of the mental and social impact of smog as the most tangible effect of the urban Anthropocene.The most striking feature that the majority of citizens seem to have in common is a tendency towards detachment.Having been published in 2010, "Mai" could not foresee various governments' reluctance to actually implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, reflecting the lack of any genuine concern for the future of our planet. 29However, what the short story does portray is the general apathy bred by the constant presence of smog, which in turn hampers people's will to act against it.The first consequence of this pollution which encourages detachment is the need to wear masks.Since the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has become accustomed to the need to filter their social interactions through the ubiquitous use of face masks, but in China the habit of wearing some kind of protection against particulate matter has a longer history.This way of living in a polluted city has a heavy impact on interpersonal relations, and the picture emerging from Chen's narrative suggests not only apathy, but also a sense of not belonging to the world: For Lao Sun, aside from bronchitis, acute emphysema, asthma, pharyngitis, strokes, and the other physical ailments, the most immediate consequence of smog was the sense of removal from the world.Whether you were dealing with people or things, you felt as though you were separated by a layer of frosted glass.No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't really see or touch.
That the masks meant to protect from smog added a second layer was especially ironic.The detachment, the numbness, the estrangement, and the apathy now all had an obvious physical excuse for existing.
The city was cocooned.The people were cocooned. 3130 Chen, Qiufan 陈楸帆, "Mai" 霾 [The Smog Society], 41. 31 Chen, Qiufan 陈楸帆, "The Smog Society".The author's narrative stresses the twofold effect of the mask as both a hindrance to spontaneous socialisation and a pretext to avoid imposed interpersonal relations.Sometimes, the layer added by masks also serves as a mark of social status, bringing forward the problem of inequality generated by climate change.When roaming the city streets, Lao Sun comes upon rich people exiting fancy buildings wearing filter masks that "sav[e] them the trouble of greeting him." 32He knows that many wealthy women "would apply a thirty-nanometer-thick layer of imported facial spray before putting on their masks", but only those who "had a face precious enough."Yet, he even bumps into people with "bare faces", namely "manual laborers unable to afford masks." 33Smog permeates life in the city, but it does not penetrate everyone's lungs with the same degree of severity.
Finally, the sense of isolation fostered by the need to protect oneself from the environment ends up worsening the problem.In a lifeless and dirty city, people would rather use cars to safeguard their living space, so they "hid in their four-or five-square-meter metal cans and kept a safe distance from the world and other people". 34The kind of apathy and detachment Chen Qiufan describes evokes Albrecht's concept of emotional death.Lao Sun and his fellow citizens suffer from the effect of smog on their happiness, and their lack of vitality, in turn, affects their will to fight pollution.As Albrecht puts it, emotional death "occurs when some humans no longer even have a reaction to the end, death, or loss of nature"; 35 technology -he argues -is a crucial factor in the process of losing one's connection with nature.Similarly, in "The Smog Society", it seems that the impelling need to cope with the toxicity of the 32 Ibid. 33Ibid. 34Albrecht,Glenn A.,Earth Emotions,67.environment distracts the urban population, and technology is portrayed as a means to collect data about smog, rather than as a tool to take action against it.This conception of technology fosters the establishment of a subject-object relationship between people and the environment, encouraging detachment and, ultimately, impotence.This dynamic could explain the main focus of the short story, namely the fact that the causal relationship between the worsening of pollution and the decrease in citizens' happiness works in both ways.In Chen Qiufan's narrative, the "reversed outcome" is ascribed to the effect of bioelectrical fields on the distribution of aerosolised particles.Employing Albrecht's concept, we could argue that, in our society, people do not merely suffer psychological damage because of smog, but that their depression is likely to lead them to a state of emotional death and, by letting the climate crisis slide, to eventually damage our environment even more.

From Ecoparalysis to the Hope for a Symbiocene
"The Smog Society" shows how the effects of smog on human psychology are not only related to people's emotional states, but also affect their life choices.The inability to take action against climate change is indeed a result of the sense of apathy described in the previous section, but it is also exacerbated by the overwhelming feeling caused by the menace of a global environmental catastrophe.The human mind struggles to process the scale of the problem, so it develops what Timothy Clark has termed "the Anthropocene disorder," namely the imbalance between the day-to-day perception to which we are used and the lurking danger of long-term destruction.This disorder is a cognitive overload, deriving from the attempt to process the magnitude of climate change in terms of everyday life choices.At the heart of this psychological condition there lies the difference between the human sense of time and the slow rhythm characterising the onward march of the catastrophe. 36Just as humanity is letting its chances to fight climate change slip away because of its incapability to realize the scale of the problem and act promptly, so Lao Sun seems unable to manage the timing of his own life, letting his goals slip away because of the smog he breathes every day.When thinking of his wife, he remembers how badly she wanted to have a family, a desire that often triggered fights between them: "Fine, fine, let's not argue.I promise you, five more years.""Five years!Can I still bear a child in five years?" "There're plenty of thirty-year-olds having kids nowadays.Our finances are only soso, and with our surroundings a dirty mess like this, it would be unfair to the kid.We'll work hard for another few years, and then we'll go somewhere better to have a child, let them grow up somewhere nice." 3836 Clark, Timothy, Ecocriticism on the Edge: the Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept [London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015], 140. 37Chen, Qiufan 陈楸帆, "Mai" 霾 [The Smog Society], 41. 38 Chen, Qiufan 陈楸帆, "The Smog Society".Italics in the original.The couple's decision to postpone having a child because of the condition of the environment in which they live is a symptom of their incapability to realize the scale of the problem.It ends up shattering their dream, as Lao Sun's wife eventually disappears and their desire remains unfulfilled.The inability to acknowledge the time-scale of the environmental crisis and to act appropriately results in no action, exemplifying the manifestation of ecoparalysis, defined by Albrecht as a "psychoterratic condition that maintains people in a state of limbo." 39The choice to wait for cleaner air before procreating -just as many people will wait for an elusive better deal before purchasing sustainable technology -40 does not help the cause of the environment, as the result is just a never-ending state of paralysis, in which the idea of a better future dies along with the unrealistic hope of a perfect combination of factors.
Despite the general apathy described by Chen Qiufan, the author does not let his protagonist succumb to the negative emotion induced by climate change.After completing his measurements, Lao Sun becomes aware of the real research project behind them, namely the attempt to demonstrate that citizens' depression increases pollution.The research report triggers the government's reaction, leading the Smog Society to be disbanded.Nevertheless, Lao Sun is not left with a purposeless life.One of the sites where he used to take his measurements is an exclusive daycare built like a sort of greenhouse, in which children are able to study and play without wearing masks thanks to the protection of a layer of glass.The data showed that areas characterised by a high density of children corresponded to higher psychological health scores and lower pollution levels.Lao Sun is particularly struck by that carefree 39 Albrecht,Glenn A.,Earth Emotions,84. 40 Ibid.
atmosphere, so he decides to continue visiting the daycare even after the end of the Smog Society.He stands before the glass and entertains the children with tricks and songs: The melody, which was so cheerful that it verged on the absurd, pierced the glass.
The children began to move to the music, following the clown in his gymnastics.They laughed unabashedly, singing, dancing, crowing, every bare face shining golden.
Lao Sun looked up at the sky.The smog seemed to be thinning too. 42e bright note on which Chen Qiufan ends his short story lets the reader see a glimmer of hope.Lao Sun realizes that there is an effective way to take action against pollution, and that is to make children happy.Despite his apathy and paralysis, he is ultimately able to find a means to have an impact and actively contribute to lessening the problem while easing his melancholy for the family he never had.
What the reader is left with, then, is a positive feeling that points to the possibility of a positive future.
Albrecht conceived the idea of a solution to the problem of climate change and named it the Symbiocene.
As the etymology of the words suggests, the Symbiocene is "that period in the earth's history where humans symbiotically reintegrate themselves, psychologically and technologically, into nature and natural systems". 43It is a concept that rejects the idea of a toxic empty criticism of pollution and highlights the therapeutic effect of envisaging a possible way out of environmental catastrophe.Although Chen Qiufan does not envisage a time in which the problem of pollution has finally been solved, by stressing Lao Sun's short-term success he takes a step towards a positive idea of the future, in which the creation of solutions -regardless of their scale -triumphs over the destructive tendency characterising the Anthropocene.

Conclusion
In the short story "The Smog Society", Chen Qiufan provides a picture of the urban Anthropocene by stressing the impact of smog on human minds.As a work of cli-fi, this work portrays some of the most common psychological effects of climate change, exemplifying their consequences on everyday life.I have employed some of Glenn Albrecht's psychoterratic emotional concepts to underline the author's views on the psychological burden of the urban Anthropocene, showing how the story traces a possible evolution of the human mind's reaction to the climate crisis.Solastalgia and melancholy pervade the whole narrative, as a result of the protagonist's sense of loss concerning his present life and of the regret he feels for his past choices.The emotional death caused by the incapacity to cope with the problem of pollution affects Lao Sun's personal and social life to the point that he is unable to make some important choices for the future of his family, embodying the concept of ecoparalysis.Nonetheless, the author advocates the possibility of a Symbiocene.Indeed, in the end Lao Sun is finally able to take action and find a new purpose in life by making children laugh, thereby contributing to the dissipation of smog.