作為展現人類與外星文明相遇的三部曲，《三體三部曲》獨樹一幟地描繪人類和外星文明的相遇。對我來說，劉慈欣對於三體人和地球人之間的戰爭描繪是很有趣的，明明是兩方的戰爭，卻因文明發展等級的不同，更偏向於一種以兩個文明之間的邊界為主的持久戰。在我的論文中，我將主要關注地球文明與三體文明之間的邊界，邊界不僅是指地理上的疆界，也區別兩種不同意識形態和倫理，當人類面對宇宙中未知而更為強大的外星生物時，人類和更為強大的三體人如何服從於「巨型機器」這個集政治權力和機械運作為大成的權力複合體，使雙方都相信自己建立了強大的邊界來達成防衛或侵入的目的。然而，「巨型機器」所建立的邊界在充滿不確定性的宇宙中事實上是有風險的，而這個風險反而將兩個文明都推向了毀滅。
我想討論的另一個重點是第三部小說《死神永生》中的社會背景，以及邊界與社會背景之間的關係。我將用Francis Fukuyama提出的「最初之人」和「最後之人」（first man and last man）的概念，來探討「最後之人」的觀念是如何影響《死神永生》的主角程心的。末人社會讓程心成為小說中的「聖人」，而三體文明又是如何利用這一「聖人」形象作為武器，試圖在地球建立殖民。在小說的最後，即使三體文明和地球文明已被毀滅，邊界似乎消失了，但後人類程心面對的卻是宇宙神級文明(歸零者)建立的另一個邊界。她並沒有進入由神級文明所建構的一個幻想化的烏托邦式的邊界，顯示了她最後的能動性，使區別他者的邊界變得模糊，而這模糊化的邊界可能是地球文明得以復生的一線生機。

As the trilogy that shows the encounter between humans and an extraterrestrial civilization, Remembrance of Earth’s Past is unique in how it depicts the encounter. Interestingly, the reader cannot see a direct meeting between a human and a Trisolaran. The war between both civilizations is a battle of nerves, and the main battlefield is the border between the two civilizations. In my thesis, I will mainly focus on the border between Earth civilization and the Trisolaris civilization; the border not only refers to the geographical frontier but a distinction between two different ideologies and ethics, and when humans confront the unknown and powerful extraterrestrial creatures in the universe, how do both humans and Trisolarans modify and submit themselves to the “megamachine,” which is a power complex that is combining the definite political and religious power and the operation of mechanics, making both believe that they will build a strong border to defend against the Trisolaris civilization or invade Earth. Nevertheless, the border built by the megamachine is risky and in danger; hence, both civilizations go to destruction.
Another crucial element I want to discuss is the social background in the third novel, Death’s End, and the relation between the border and the social background. I will use the concept of the first man and last man, which comes from Francis Fukuyama, and how the idea of the last man influences the protagonist in Death’s End, Cheng Xin. The last man society makes Cheng Xin a “saint” in the novel and how the Trisolaris civilization uses this “saint” image to be the weapon to try to conquer Earth. In the end, even if the Trisolaris and Earth civilizations are destroyed, and the border seems to disappear anymore, what the posthuman Cheng Xin confronts is another border built by the god-level advanced civilization (The Returners). She does not enter a disciplined and fantasized utopian-like border made by a god-level civilization, showing her final agency to make the border ambivalent, making a potential possible futurity that future human beings may control.

Abstract I
摘要 III
Acknowledgment IV
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 The Minified & Risky Border in Remembrance of Earth’s Past 12
Chapter 3 To Make Border Ambivalent- The Utopian Hope in Death’s End 41
Chapter 4 Conclusion 85
Works Cited 88

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