In the 20th century, science fiction was considered cheap literature and not included in high literary canon. However, this genre is highly acclaimed in the 21st century for its capacity to discuss the 21st century society and its specific issues. Not only in Western countries, but science fiction is also currently on the rise in Asia, especially after Liu Cixin won the prestigious Hugo Award in 2016. To investigate further about this current literary phenomenon in Asia, this research will discuss science fiction short stories from two countries in South East Asia, namely Indonesia and SIngapore. Indonesia is still categorized as a developing country with all it's problem, on the other hand, it's neighbour Singapore is known as a global financial center. It would be interesting to see how sicence fiction as a literature of technology and change portrays the conditions of the two countries. The data of this research will be taken from four short stories (two from Indonesia and two from Singapore). Next, the short stories will be qualitatively analyzed using representation theory Stuart Hall and other theories related to elements of science fiction. The research will focus on these particular intrinsic elements: characters, setting and theme. it is expected that the result of this research can help identifying national and urban issues and concerns that are portrayed in the four short stories and contribute a new perspective in dealing with them

Nations, Representation, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Urban

• Paramita Ayuningtyas, S.Hum., M.Hum.

• Abdul Aziz Turhan Kariko, S.S., M.Hum.