I forget where I read it, but I was reading an essay that was talking about how Gibson-esque cyberpunk was very much "Future dystopia, omnipresent technology will gradually erode humanity's bodies and soul, corporations will dominate everything."
But then you have something like Snow Crash which, while it's still a little "off," was remarkably prescient about some things. The 'Net has not destroyed us. Constant access to information hasn't turned us into drones. Technology can be kind of cool! And so on.
Snow Crash is still cyberpunk, but it's cyberpunk after we've all bought iPods and Droids, looked around, and gone "Huh. World didn't end." It's a bit more optimistic.
Older cyberpunk feels dated because it warns us about the possible horrors of future tech. Now we HAVE some of that future tech, and while it's not all daisies, it's just a different worldview than the ones that read Neuromancer all those years ago.
That said, I don't think cyberpunk is dead, by a long shot-. Its themes and ideas are definitely still relevant- Corporations are still getting bigger and more powerful, the integration of our lives with the Internet is nowhere near finished, and as cool as Snow Crash was, I would prefer NOT having the US subdivided into suburban franchise nations.
I think all the different 'punks I listed in my above TVTropes post might just be a reaction to that datedness. "Punk" is an attitude: "The heroes of these stories were marginalized, seedy, and rebellious, in other words "punks."" I wouldn't be surprised if authors who grew up loving cyberpunk were simply interested to try the 'punk aesthetic in new settings.
But then you have something like Snow Crash which, while it's still a little "off," was remarkably prescient about some things. The 'Net has not destroyed us. Constant access to information hasn't turned us into drones. Technology can be kind of cool! And so on.
Snow Crash is still cyberpunk, but it's cyberpunk after we've all bought iPods and Droids, looked around, and gone "Huh. World didn't end." It's a bit more optimistic.
Older cyberpunk feels dated because it warns us about the possible horrors of future tech. Now we HAVE some of that future tech, and while it's not all daisies, it's just a different worldview than the ones that read Neuromancer all those years ago.
That said, I don't think cyberpunk is dead, by a long shot-. Its themes and ideas are definitely still relevant- Corporations are still getting bigger and more powerful, the integration of our lives with the Internet is nowhere near finished, and as cool as Snow Crash was, I would prefer NOT having the US subdivided into suburban franchise nations.
I think all the different 'punks I listed in my above TVTropes post might just be a reaction to that datedness. "Punk" is an attitude: "The heroes of these stories were marginalized, seedy, and rebellious, in other words "punks."" I wouldn't be surprised if authors who grew up loving cyberpunk were simply interested to try the 'punk aesthetic in new settings.
I amuse myself.
The Sprawl Trilogy and Thoughts Thereof (or What Ever Happened to Cyberpunk?)
19/04/2011 10:50:26 PM
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Why I prefer cyberpunk in near future settings to (most) of the steampunk sub-genre.
19/04/2011 10:55:57 PM
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The difference is that steampunk, by and large, is very aware of its implausibility.
20/04/2011 01:32:57 AM
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You keep giving steampunk backhanded compliments like that and you'll start to confuse me.
20/04/2011 02:12:53 AM
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Being entertaining is not a backhanded compliment.
20/04/2011 02:34:15 AM
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It is when asserting something is better than a source containing more than entertainment.
20/04/2011 03:26:50 AM
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...didn't you wear a top hat to your wedding? *NM*
20/04/2011 04:04:42 AM
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IIRC I wore morning dress, the CURRENT standard here.
20/04/2011 05:08:26 AM
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Top hats in morning dress have gone the way of the ascot (you didn't wear an ascot, did you?).
20/04/2011 05:41:54 AM
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Well, my wife, mother-in-law and the woman at the haberdashery all disagree.
20/04/2011 07:05:09 AM
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the ability to wear a costume at a convention is hardly a ringing endorsement of a genre
22/04/2011 01:49:40 AM
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Your impression is close to being my comments verbatim.
22/04/2011 02:50:18 AM
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I tried to avoid that word, but I'll leave comparisons there and discuss pure cyberpunk henceforth.
22/04/2011 03:58:29 PM
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You keep coming back to this argument, and it keeps being a stupid one.
22/04/2011 10:33:14 PM
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I also can't help noting how this whole argument mirrors Count Zero.
24/04/2011 05:35:01 AM
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I think it's just a matter of two separate genres that share very similar names and perhaps origins.
20/04/2011 01:32:50 AM
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It's hard to argue that the genres are separate, but I did try to avoid suggesting a competition.
20/04/2011 03:08:49 AM
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Ok, what are you trying to argue for and/or explore in this thread? There are three options:
20/04/2011 04:22:52 AM
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It is under-appreciated critically, largely due to relative unpopularity.
20/04/2011 06:35:27 AM
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"Victorian Postmodernism" is viable because Postmodernism can appropriate other periods and styles.
21/04/2011 01:13:45 AM
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But can other periods and styles appropriate postmodernism?
21/04/2011 07:38:29 PM
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I don't think it's a two-way street in that manner. It's PoMo appropriating Victorian not vice versa
21/04/2011 11:40:29 PM
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It's only superficially postmodern though, else there'd be no wistfulness for Victorian styles.
22/04/2011 03:17:38 PM
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IMO, cyberpunk has become somewhat dated.
20/04/2011 04:46:55 AM
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Actually, I can live with that, though terms like "dated" invite trouble.
20/04/2011 07:01:50 AM
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Re: Actually, I can live with that, though terms like "dated" invite trouble.
22/04/2011 04:12:20 AM
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so...is bladerunner cyberpunk
20/04/2011 09:48:15 PM
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It's usually seen as the archetypal cyberpunk film, yeah.
21/04/2011 10:50:44 AM
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so cyber is the time and punk is the attitude?
21/04/2011 12:57:01 PM
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I don't think the portmanteau is that precisely defined.
21/04/2011 08:31:34 PM
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I am amazed that no one has referenced this TVTropes page yet...
23/04/2011 07:45:14 PM
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Playing with fire; I should've known TVTropes would exhaustively cover the derivatives.
24/04/2011 03:11:56 AM
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It's always hard to pigeonhole things, especially as they become more specific
24/04/2011 06:27:28 PM
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The "dated" idea is interesting.
23/04/2011 08:08:26 PM
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PS the Takeshi Kovacs books are great, and you should all go read them *NM*
23/04/2011 08:09:54 PM
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I think it underestimates cyberpunk, and overestimates (present) reality (yes, spoilers now).
24/04/2011 02:24:01 AM
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