Cyberpunk

AI, VR, NETWORKS

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What is cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for
its focus on “high tech and low life.”
The name, derived from “cybernetics” and
“punk,” was originally developed as a
marketing term and coined by Bruce Bethke
in his short story “Cyberpunk” written in
1980.
Itfeatures advanced science such as
information technology and cybernetics,
coupled with a degree of breakdown or a
radical change in the social order.
Usually of futuristic dystopia, immensely
powerful organizations ruling masses of the
ignorant
“The technological trinity…the telephone, the
television, and the personal computer” (Pat 2
Cadigan, The Ultimate Cyberpunk)
Cyberpunk = punk + popular cultures, + technology

Punk culture:
was born in England in the 70s
Movement defined by otherness or living on the outside
Expressed in music, fashion, lifestyle (eg. GBH band) GBH in 1982
Technology:

- William Gibson first wrote of cyberspace in 1981

- Wrote Neuromancer never having touched a computer
- First IBM PC released 1978
- Apple IIc released 1984
Popular Culture:

-Hard-boiled detective novels,

-film noir, anime, post-modernist philosophy, PC games (PacMan)
-synth pop bands in Japan (the New Romantic Movement)
-Authors such as: William Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Philip K. Dick, 3
Raymond Chandler
Cyberpunk: not just an idea, but a whole movement

 Virtual Reality as central idea

 Other themes
 Alteration of human bodies, genes
 Popular culture, media power
 Critical of corporate power
 Often romantic, rebellious
 First self-conscious movement since “New Wave”
 Neuromancer (1984) is defining statement
 Gibson & Bruce Sterling are key proponents
 Push to shake-up science fiction
 Sterling publishes “Cheap Truth” magazine
 Fame soon spreads beyond genre
 Largely faded as movement by late-80s
 Influence remains strong on later work 4
 Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash (1994) is popular
 William Gibson

Born in 1948

Early trauma
Became “hyper-bookish”,
though performed poorly
in school.
Hippie
Moved to Canada
Neuromancer, 1984
Count Zero, 1986
MLO, 1988

 Neuromancer: setting: dystopian underworld of a city in Japan

 Story of a computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to pull off the ultimate hack
 The world of the matrix appears (logging to VR through the hacker’s nervous system)
 Cybernetic implants, human consciousness saved in the digital space = common themes
 Metropolis: urban experience, the death of nature, always expanding cyber space
Covers for Neuromancer (2000, 2004), Posters for planned film adaptation of novel

 "Tokyo has been my handiest prop shop for as long as I've been writing: sheer eye
candy. You can see more chronological strata of futuristic design in a Tokyo streetscape
than anywhere else in the world.” -Gibson, “My Own Private Tokyo,” 2001
 "Tonight, watching the Japanese do what they do here, amid all this electric kitsch, all
this randomly overlapped media, this chaotically stable neon storm of marketing
hoopla, I've got my answer: Japan is still the future.” -Gibson, “My Own Private Tokyo,” 2001
Cybernetics
 Coined by Norbert Weiner, 1947
 Popular 1948 book, “Cybernetics”
 From Greek – “steersman”, from the verb “steering”
 Idea tied to automation
 Generalization of feedback, as control principle
 Animals, machines – both seek goals
 Idea gets tied to Artificial Intelligence
 Also “cyber” is popular prefix
Hackers

 Term originally has positive association

 geeky pranksters at MIT
 By mid-1980s means electronic vandals
 Sometimes credited with superhuman powers
 Media fascination continues into 1990s
 Problem for science fiction
 Actual hacking very boring
Bruce Sterling, Mirrorshades (1986)

 Title essay of an early and influential anthology of cyberpunk short

stories
 “The [cyberpunks’] allegiance to 1980s culture has marked them
as...a new movement”
 Early names: “Radical Hard SF, Outlaw Technologists, 80s Wave,
Neuromantics, the Mirrorshades Group”
 “The cyberpunks are perhaps the first SF generation to grow up not
only within the literary tradition of science fiction but in a truly
science-fictional world”
Some Subgenres

 Steampunk: influenced by 19th-century SF

(Verne, Wells, etc.) but with modern/postmodern
sensibilities; imagines Victorian technology in the
(post)modern world
 Biopunk: focuses on biotechnology, such as
genetic manipulation
 Nanopunk: focuses on nanotechnology
 Cyberdelic/cybergoth: movements in art, music,
and fashion, influenced by cyberpunk
 Cyberprep: has elements of cyberpunk but a
more positive worldview
The Information Society

 1960s: idea of “Knowledge Worker” popular in 1960s

 Increasing importance of science, technology, education
 1970s: post-industrial society
 Popular phrase
 Associated with micro revolution, new faith in automation (idea from 50s resurfaces)
 1980: Toffler publishes “Third Wave”
 Utopian, libertarian, decentralized future
 Very influential
 Artificial Intelligence (major concerns)
 Networking in real life (first networks used for military purposes
 “Computer Utility” idea popular in late-60s
 Hyper-reality
 “we have become a society of the image, of the simulacrum” (F. Jameson)
 This is an age of electronic reproduction and replication – is it the status of the human subject
as being unique smthg that is constantly challenged by technological transformations?
Characters and Plot Schemes

 "Classiccyberpunk 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.”
– Lawrence Person
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 Cyberpunk plots often center on a
conflict among hackers,
artificial intelligences, and
mega corporations.
 They tend to be set in a near-
future Earth.
 The settings are usually post-
industrial dystopias, but tend to
be marked by extraordinary
cultural ferment and the use of
technology in ways never
anticipated by its creators.
 Much of the genre's atmosphere
echoes film noir, and written
works in the genre often use
techniques from detective fiction. Blade Runner 2049, 2017. 13
"Anything that can be done
to a rat can be done to a
human being. And we can
do most anything to rats.
This is a hard thing to think
about, but it's the truth. It
won't go away because we
cover our eyes. That is
cyberpunk.“
– Bruce Sterling, author

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Settings
 Cyberpunk writers tend to use elements from the hard-
boiled detective novel and film noir to describe the often
nihilistic underground side of an electronic society.
 In
some cyberpunk writing, much of the action takes place
The Matrix, 1999
online, in cyberspace, blurring the border between the actual
and the virtual reality.
 Another
idea in the genre is a direct connection between the
human brain and computer systems.
 Cyberpunkdepicts the world as a dark, sinister place with
networked computers which dominate every aspect of life.
 The alienated outsider's battle against a totalitarian society
is a common theme in cyberpunk.
 Advanced technology is the privilege of the elite, low- Tron Legacy, 2010
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culture has no access to high-tech = social segregation
 Cyberpunk is often used as a metaphor for the present
day-worries about the failings of corporations, corruption
in governments, alienation and surveillance technology.
 Thepower is nearly always clutched in the secretive
hands of a wealthy or corporate elite.
 Cyberpunk stories have also been seen as forecasts of the
evolution of the Internet.
 Thevirtual world of what is now known as the Internet
often appears under various names, including
"cyberspace", "the Wired", "the Metaverse" or "the
Matrix".
 Interesting
questions about possible A.I. rights have been
introduced using cyberpunk stories as a springboard.
 Uploads of human minds consider themselves to have
intelligence and self-awareness.
 Thisraises the question as to whether intelligence
comparable to humans should give them comparable
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legal and moral standing.
The Hero
Protagonists in cyberpunk writing usually include computer
hackers, who are often patterned on the idea of the lone hero
fighting injustice: Robin Hood, Zorro, etc.
They are often disenfranchised people placed in extraordinary
situations, rather than brilliant scientists or starship captains
intentionally seeking advance or adventure, and are not always
true "heroes.”
Many cyberpunk protagonists are manipulated, placed in
situations where they have little or no choice, and although they
might see things through, they do not necessarily come out any
further ahead than they previously were.
These are anti-heroes —criminals, outcasts, visionaries,
dissenters and misfits.
Existingin the underworld of this society, the amoral protagonist
works the system, eventually coming to challenge its powers
Protagonistcan be “technologically enhanced” = cyborgs,
blending with the digital world
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Outsmarts governmental power
Common cyberpunk themes (mostly present in
Gibson’s Neuromancer)
The family has broken down completely – an extension of the present day
Politicalorganisation has become fragmented (metaphors for distrust of government
and/or corporations)
Technology serves the rich and is denied the poor
All kinds of strange religious cults have developed
The environment has collapsed so that people live in danger of being affected by
pollution.
Corporate greed
Security booming as the rich have to be protected from the poor 18
Is this what we’re becoming?
Posthuman. Media. Society.
Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message (1967), Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man (1964)
Key concepts: the global village, hot and cool media, the medium is the message
“Each medium "adds itself on to what we already are", realizing "amputations and
extensions" to our senses and bodies, shaping them in a new technical form. As appealing as
this remaking of ourselves may seem, it really puts us in a "narcissistic hypnosis" that
prevents us from seeing the real nature of the media” (McLuhan)
Henry Jenkins: Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006) –
approaching media not from a technological, but from a cultural perspective
addresses how groups and communities in online & digital media era participatory culture
exercise their own agency.
media users are more empowered than ever before to participate and collaborate - across
various channels and platforms - in content creation and dissemination through their access
to online networks and digital interactivity. = COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE process is
generated
“Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get
dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a
unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own 20
unique contribution to the unfolding of the story” (Jenkins, 2003)
Cyberpunk and Cultural
Icons: “Classics”

Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet (2007), illustrated by Emma Vieceli

Combines the original literary text with cyberpunk-influenced illustrations
Takes place in a future world in which “global climate change has devastated the earth [and] this is
now a cyberworld in constant dread of war”
Cyberpunk
and Cultural
Icons: Pop
Culture

Batman: Digital Justice (1990) illustrated by Pepe Moreno

Re-creates the familiar characters and storylines in a cyberpunk setting
One of the first graphic novels to use CGI
Cyberpunk and Architecture

Tokyo, Japan Berlin, Germany

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Steampunk
 Steampunk is a sub-genre of
sci-fi which came into
prominence during the 1980s
and 1990s.
 It incorporates elements of
science fiction, fantasy,
alternate history, horror, and
speculative fiction.
Steampunk
 It is an alternate reality where
steam power is widely used to run
advanced technology, usually…
 Victorian era Britain or
 "Wild West“ era United States.
 Works of Steampunk
feature anachronistic
technology,
or futuristic
innovations set in a
Victorian time period
and aesthetic.

Think of it as a world where

today’s technology existed
100 years ago, but steam
powered.

Christliche Universität Partium ■ Lehrstuhl für Germanistik ■ www.partium.ro ■ str. Primăriei nr. 27 RO-410209 Oradea, Romania, Tel. Telefon: +40-259-418252/120
Christliche Universität Partium ■ Lehrstuhl für Germanistik ■ www.partium.ro ■ str. Primăriei nr. 27 RO-410209 Oradea, Romania, Tel. Telefon: +40-259-418252/120
DARPA is actually creating mechanical insects for use
by the military…
Christliche Universität Partium ■ Lehrstuhl für Germanistik ■ www.partium.ro ■ str. Primăriei nr. 27 RO-410209 Oradea, Romania, Tel. Telefon: +40-259-418252/120
 H.R. Giger

 Contemporary Swiss artist, creates quasi-religious and

heavily sexual work in the tradition of Dali.
 Created the science fiction style called…
 “bio-mechanics” and is best known for the movie Alien.
 His Biomechanics concept can be compared to Steampunk.
 Why is it comparable?
This painting was the inspiration for the monster in the movie “Alien”.

Christliche Universität Partium ■ Lehrstuhl für Germanistik ■ www.partium.ro ■ str. Primăriei nr. 27 RO-410209 Oradea, Romania, Tel. Telefon: +40-259-418252/120
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Christliche Universität Partium ■ Lehrstuhl für Germanistik ■ www.partium.ro ■ str. Primăriei nr. 27 RO-410209 Oradea, Romania, Tel. Telefon: +40-259-418252/120