Cyberpunk course

Science fiction as literary genre can encompass an infinitely wide spectrum of subjects and themes, and because of this some argue that as a genre it is still attempting to define itself. There are no hard and fast rules about what defines a fictitious work as science fiction, it is sometimes suggested that for a work to be science fiction the imaginary elements of the story are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature, however it’s unclear whether even this maxim needs to apply, as Lester Del Rey once noted:

“Even the devoted aficionado– or fan- has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is … there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction”

Cyberpunk is a Science Fiction sub-genre, and as a sub-genre it emphasizes and focuses on a more specific set of themes. Cyberpunk literature tends to eschew far-future settings in favour of exploring dystopian near-futures in which every aspect of daily life is impacted, and often manipulated, by technology; and the protagonists in these stories are often depicted as lone-heroes fighting against some form of injustice as Lawrence Person observed:

“Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body.”

These sentiments were also echoed by Lewis Shiner in his article Confessions of an Ex-Cyberpunk:

“We believed that science fiction needed to take its cues from the present–computer technology, corporate power structures, Japanese economic ascendency–rather than the mid-century pipe dreams of World Governments and Galactic Federations. For me, the movement was about global culture, anarchy and high-energy prose.”

The term Cyberpunk has been defined by many people, however for me personally, Steve Cook provides the most succinct definition in his essay Towards a Definition of Cyberpunk, when he states that Cyberpunk is

“science fiction literature that emphasizes, to a greater or lesser degree, the three attributes of post-humanism, post-industrialism, and post-nationalism.”

It is precisely the emphasis on these three attributes that truly distinguishes Cyberpunk from other forms of Science Fiction writing.

The emphasis on Post-humanism explores the idea of humanity transcending the flesh in a myriad of different ways. Post-Industrialism explores the idea that ultimately its information that is the currency of the future, but also touches on issues around cheap labor and slavery. And Post-nationalism explores the rise of the Corporate state. Embedded below is a short film entitled “Forbidden Dream” which was created by students for a class on Cyberpunk, which touches on the attributes described above.

We can illustrate this further in the form of another more literary example: In the various Ghost in the Shell novels and movies, Shirow Masamune, depicts a future in which much of the human race has been cyberized, where cities are inhabited by a dwindling number of non-cyberized humans, androids and cyborgs. Human beings can choose to swap-out their consciousness into fully prosthetic bodies, or simply augment their natural bodies with prosthetic limbs, eyes etc. The most transcendental of the technologies is the cyberbrain, this is the implantation of powerful computers directly into the brain, greatly increasing certain mental capacities such as memory, coupled with ubiquitous access to the informational net. This allows individuals to wirelessly communication just by “thinking”, offers massive informational recall capabilities, and digitization of printed media.

Crucially though Masamune explores the ramifications and social implications of such far reaching technological change on society through recurring themes such as the criminal and corporate hacking of cyberbrains, diseases such Cyberbrain Sclerosis which are precipitated by the cyberization process, Closed Shell Syndrome where individuals are so overwhelmed by the ubiquitious and ever connected nature of the net that they exclude themselves from society, Shared consciousness and the very nature of what it means to be human if we reduce our biological selves to bits in a data stream.

Cyberpunk literature is at its most compelling when we can see the near-future it predicts beginning to be reflected in the world around us. In fact I find myself agreeing with Steve Cook when he states:

“Cyberpunk gains much of its power from the fact that, more than any other subgenre of science fiction, it’s creeping into our peripheral vision. 1984 has come and gone, but, soon enough, cyberpunk may be here.”

Additional Resources

Whilst writing this short piece I found and read a number of resources which I have tagged on delicious (cyberpunk and week1) and can be viewed here. Update: I’ve also annotated these links with some comments, so they are slightly more useful .

Tags: Coursework, Week1