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cyberpunk [2023/09/22 17:54] – demiurgecyberpunk [2023/09/25 20:33] (current) – [Cyberpunk: Evolution, Impact, and Legacy] demiurge
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 ====== Cyberpunk ====== ====== Cyberpunk ======
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 +===== Cyberpunk: Evolution, Impact, and Legacy =====
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 +Cyberpunk, emerging predominantly in the 1980s and 1990s, stands as a multifaceted genre spanning literature, films, music, and video games (See [[:cyberpunkmedia|Cyberpunk Media]]). It became a vessel for the exploration and critique of aesthetic, philosophical, technological, and socio-political conditions of its time, notably confronting the aesthetic and cultural dynamics of the corporate media prevalent in the 1990s.
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 +
 +==== Origins and Aesthetic Contrasts ====
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 +Cyberpunk originated as a literary genre before permeating various other artistic mediums, serving as a stark contrast to the prevailing aesthetics of the 1990s. The latter often portrayed a façade of global unity, characterized by a semblance of cultural diversity and a return to nature and innocence. Cyberpunk, with its raw and more authentic representation, critiqued this by portraying dystopian futures dominated by technology and corporations, reflective of a kind of aesthetic realism.
 +
 +==== Philosophical Contributions and Interdisciplinary Synthesis ====
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 +Prominent philosophers like Jean Baudrillard and Donna Haraway significantly influenced the genre, exploring themes around post-modernity and the intersections of humanity, nature, and technology. The genre played a pivotal role in blurring the boundaries between cultural theory and science fiction and interdisciplinary academic disciplines. It encouraged the exploration of the evolutionary contingency of humanity, positioning itself as a significant component of post-human and cyber feminist thought, contemplating the concept of the ‘cyborg’ and the intertwining of the organic and the mechanic.
 +
 +==== Societal Critique and Political Narratives ====
 +
 +Cyberpunk is inherently political and critical, depicting worlds where multinational corporations wield overpowering influence and individuals are commodified. The genre harbors characters who, being socially marginalized, find solidarity in their outcast status and rebel against the oppressive systems, emphasizing themes of resistance and rebellion. It presented societal ailments of its times and highlighted the revolutionary possibilities of technology, offering critical reflections on the existing systems and the potential pathways to alternate futures.
 +
 +==== Demise and Contemporary Manifestations ====
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 +Despite its transformative ethos and revolutionary narratives, Cyberpunk experienced a decline, with its themes now often appearing as nostalgic artifacts rather than revolutionary ideologies. Contemporary manifestations of the genre typically leverage its aesthetic without forwarding its revolutionary narratives and transformative visions. The decline of Cyberpunk symbolizes a broader cultural and artistic struggle to formulate and propagate transformative and revolutionary visions in the current socio-political and economic context dominated by capitalistic structures.
 +
 +==== Legacy and Hope for the Future ====
 +
 +The Cyberpunk genre, with its emphasis on revolutionary narratives and transformative visions, left a profound impact on various artistic and academic disciplines, contributing to a broader understanding of contemporary societal, technological, and political landscapes. Its decline is symbolic of the waning transformative imagination in an era overshadowed by capitalist realism. However, the enduring impact of Cyberpunk provides hope for the resurgence of transformative and resistant art forms, reflecting society's longing for revolutionary narratives and aesthetics and emphasizing the necessity for new cultural forms capable of resisting the prevailing socio-political structures.
  
 ===== Various definitions ===== ===== Various definitions =====
  
-https://arisuchan.jp/cyb/res/115.html#115+[[https://arisuchan.jp/cyb/res/115.html#115|https://arisuchan.jp/cyb/res/115.html#115]]
  
-https://www.cyberpunkforums.com/viewtopic.php?id=361+[[https://www.cyberpunkforums.com/viewtopic.php?id=361|https://www.cyberpunkforums.com/viewtopic.php?id=361]]
  
 Cyberpunk is where science and technology meets society Cyberpunk is where science and technology meets society
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-https://www.neondystopia.com/what-is-cyberpunk/+[[https://www.neondystopia.com/what-is-cyberpunk/|https://www.neondystopia.com/what-is-cyberpunk/]]
  
 Trying to define Cyberpunk is a difficult task. In short, however, Cyberpunk refers to both a culture and a genre. Trying to define Cyberpunk is a difficult task. In short, however, Cyberpunk refers to both a culture and a genre.
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-https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Cyberpunk+[[https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Cyberpunk|https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Cyberpunk]]
  
 Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction that's "high tech and low life." The genre generally focuses on the conflict between hackers and corrupt governments and megacorporations, in a dystopic near-future setting. Subtexts of the genre, like in William Gibson's prophetic novel Neuromancer, often deal with the social (and occasionally economic) impacts of new technology like cybernetics. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction that's "high tech and low life." The genre generally focuses on the conflict between hackers and corrupt governments and megacorporations, in a dystopic near-future setting. Subtexts of the genre, like in William Gibson's prophetic novel Neuromancer, often deal with the social (and occasionally economic) impacts of new technology like cybernetics.
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-http://www.cypunk.com/whatis.php+[[http://www.cypunk.com/whatis.php|http://www.cypunk.com/whatis.php]]
  
 A comment from Thomas Eicher, about defining cyberpunk: A comment from Thomas Eicher, about defining cyberpunk:
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 "Gibson said it in a short story somewhere. Cyberpunk is the stuff that has EDGE written all over it. You know, not edge, it's written EDGE. All capital letters. Now ask me how I'd define EDGE. Well, EDGE is not about definitions. To the contrary, things so well known that they provide an exact definition can't be EDGE. They probably once were but now they ain't. SO DON'T TRY TO DEFINE IT!!!" "Gibson said it in a short story somewhere. Cyberpunk is the stuff that has EDGE written all over it. You know, not edge, it's written EDGE. All capital letters. Now ask me how I'd define EDGE. Well, EDGE is not about definitions. To the contrary, things so well known that they provide an exact definition can't be EDGE. They probably once were but now they ain't. SO DON'T TRY TO DEFINE IT!!!"
  
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-http://mason.gmu.edu/~rutledge/neur_cyberpdefn.htm+[[http://mason.gmu.edu/~rutledge/neur_cyberpdefn.htm|http://mason.gmu.edu/~rutledge/neur_cyberpdefn.htm]]
  
 There are competing claims about the origins of the term "cyberpunk": according to John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (s.v. "Gibson") the term originated as the title of a short story by Bruce Bethke in the November, 1983 issue of Amazing. Gardner Dozois then used the title to describe near-future SF focused on heavily-computerized global economic culture with a strong popular-culture ambience. The most-quoted description of cyberpunk is found in Bruce Sterling's "Preface" to Mirrorshades: There are competing claims about the origins of the term "cyberpunk": according to John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (s.v. "Gibson") the term originated as the title of a short story by Bruce Bethke in the November, 1983 issue of Amazing. Gardner Dozois then used the title to describe near-future SF focused on heavily-computerized global economic culture with a strong popular-culture ambience. The most-quoted description of cyberpunk is found in Bruce Sterling's "Preface" to Mirrorshades:
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-http://www.ctraces.com/Circuit_Traces/CT2_5/cyberpunk.html+[[http://www.ctraces.com/Circuit_Traces/CT2_5/cyberpunk.html|http://www.ctraces.com/Circuit_Traces/CT2_5/cyberpunk.html]]
  
 The people who populate the dark urban sprawl cities of the future, who are caught in the cogs of an immense world machine, follow trends and fashion as if their lives depend on it because there lives often do. Cyberpunk writers are fascinated by popculture as a skill, not just popular culture as a topic of academic interest, "In pop culture, practice comes first; theory follows limping in its tracks," writes Bruce Sterling. They explore the immediacy of the latest trends; and in cyberpunk trends and fashions are indistinguishable. They pass so quickly that it is a full time job just keeping up with them. In his short story "Freezone," John Shirley explores a society in its different fads, and how these fads conflict with one another. There are two "crowds" in this story vying for popularity: the Minimonos, who are rising in popularity, and the Flares whose popularity is waning, The people who populate the dark urban sprawl cities of the future, who are caught in the cogs of an immense world machine, follow trends and fashion as if their lives depend on it because there lives often do. Cyberpunk writers are fascinated by popculture as a skill, not just popular culture as a topic of academic interest, "In pop culture, practice comes first; theory follows limping in its tracks," writes Bruce Sterling. They explore the immediacy of the latest trends; and in cyberpunk trends and fashions are indistinguishable. They pass so quickly that it is a full time job just keeping up with them. In his short story "Freezone," John Shirley explores a society in its different fads, and how these fads conflict with one another. There are two "crowds" in this story vying for popularity: the Minimonos, who are rising in popularity, and the Flares whose popularity is waning,
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-https://fritzfreiheit.com/wiki/Cyberpunk_%28genre%29+[[https://fritzfreiheit.com/wiki/Cyberpunk_%28genre%29|https://fritzfreiheit.com/wiki/Cyberpunk_%28genre%29]]
  
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk+[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk]]
  
 Lawrence Person has attempted to define the content and ethos of the cyberpunk literary movement stating: Lawrence Person has attempted to define the content and ethos of the cyberpunk literary movement stating: