The Superhero and the Salted Fish: The Aesthetic of the Ordinary in ‘Doomsday’ Chinese Web Fiction

Chinese literature scholar Jin Feng discusses popular forms of Chinese web fiction that emerged during the COVID-19 epidemic and how they were shaped by the strict lockdown measures and overseas narratives about COVID-19 that stigmatized the Chinese in her academic article, “The Superhero and the Salted Fish: The Aesthetic of the Ordinary in ‘Doomsday’ Chinese Web Fiction.” Feng analyzes 20 Chinese web novels, or works of fiction published by amateur writers on the Internet, that were published and updated throughout 2020 and derives two main features from them: the apocalyptic setting and “salted fish” heroes, or protagonists who reluctantly become heroes in the face of harsh circumstances.

In dystopian worlds ravaged by natural disasters and zombie viruses, characters must develop solutions to protect their families and communities, while foreign countries are portrayed as enemies and competitors for essential resources. “The isolationist and even xenophobic tendency of this ‘doomsday utopia’ does not deter readers, who echo and relish the characters’ elation as they work side by side to combat devastating external challenges and contribute to communal well-being that transcends individual interests” (Feng 80), Feng observes. A common element of apocalyptic web novels is the “operating system,” a sentient, artificial intelligence-like entity that inhabits a character and guides them to complete tasks and reach goals in exchange for rewards, like objectives in role-playing games (RPGs). The characters’ need for the systems renders them reliant on external forces beyond their control to survive, thus diminishing the value of individual autonomy in the web novels’ construction of heroism.

Heroes and heroines of these web novels are rarely self-motivated and ambitious and are often regular people forced to use their abilities provided by the “operating system” to support their communities in times of crisis. The heroine of the web novel The Descent of the Ice River is a college graduate who wants to “lie flat,” or to live a plain, low-achieving life, but is thrust into the role of savior as a new Ice Age approaches, and she uses knowledge from her science textbook to grow crops and construct a shield to protect her village from the elements. Feng adds that protagonists often have shallow characterization, stating, “What protagonists do outweigh who they are in these works” (Feng 84), allowing readers to relate to them freely while providing an outlet of wish fulfillment.

This article examines the Chinese web novel as a genre of fictional narrative inspired and shaped by the modern Chinese context and the international influences of the COVID-19 epidemic, which informed many of the features in these web novels. “Salted fish” heroes, who are unassuming and unwilling to strive for material gains, as well as the “operating systems” that deprive the characters of autonomy for their heroic actions, are a pessimistic response to the rapid economic development of China under which people are encouraged to be competitive and ambitious, and “casts a nostalgic backward gaze at an earlier, supposedly simpler era” (Feng 85). The hostility towards other countries within web novels represents nationalist anger towards anti-Chinese narratives of COVID-19, such as how US politicians assigned blame for COVID-19 towards China and its wet markets to perpetuate new fears of a “yellow peril.”