Since the advent of thecyberpunk genre, a number ofcyberpunk derivatives have become recognized in their own right as distinctsubgenres inspeculative fiction, especially inscience fiction.[1] Rather than necessarily sharing the digitally and mechanically focused setting of cyberpunk, these derivatives can display other futuristic, or evenretrofuturistic, qualities that are drawn from or analogous to cyberpunk: aworld built on one particular technology that is extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level (this may even be a fantastical or anachronistic technology, akin to retrofuturism), a grittytransreal urban style, or a particular approach to social themes.
Steampunk, one of the most well-known of these subgenres, has been defined as a "kind of technologicalfantasy;"[1] others in this category sometimes also incorporate aspects ofscience fantasy andhistorical fantasy.[2] Scholars have written of the stylistic place of these subgenres inpostmodern literature, as well as their ambiguous interaction with the historical perspective ofpostcolonialism.[3]
American authorBruce Bethke coined the termcyberpunk in his1983 short story of that name, using it as a label for a generation of "punk" teenagers inspired by the perceptions inherent to theInformation Age.[4] The term was quickly appropriated as a label applied to the works ofWilliam Gibson,Bruce Sterling,John Shirley,Rudy Rucker,Michael Swanwick,Pat Cadigan,Lewis Shiner,Richard Kadrey, and others. Science fiction authorLawrence Person, in definingpostcyberpunk, summarized the characteristics of cyberpunk:
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 ubiquitousdatasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of thehuman body.[5]
The cyberpunk style describes thenihilistic andunderground side of the digital society that developed from the last two decades of the 20th century. The cyberpunk world isdystopian, that is, it is theantithesis of utopian visions, very frequent in science fiction produced in the mid-twentieth century, typified by the world ofStar Trek, although incorporating some of theseutopias. It is sometimes generically defined as "cyberpunk-fantasy" or "cyberfantasy" a work of afantasy genre that concerns the internet orcyberspace. Among the best known exponents are commonly indicatedWilliam Gibson, for his highly innovative and distinctive stories and novels from a stylistic and thematic point of view, andBruce Sterling, for theoretical elaboration. Sterling later defined cyberpunk as "a new type of integration. The overlapping of worlds that were formally separated: the realm ofhigh tech and modernunderground culture.[6][7]
The relevance of cyberpunk as a genre to punk subculture is debatable and further hampered by the lack of a defined 'cyberpunk' subculture. Where the small 'cyber' movement shares themes with cyberpunk fiction, as well as drawing inspiration from punk andgoth alike,cyberculture is considerably more popular though much less defined, encompassingvirtual communities andcyberspace in general and typically embracing optimistic anticipations about the future. Cyberpunk is nonetheless regarded as a successful genre, as it ensnared many new readers and provided the sort of movement that postmodern literary critics found alluring. Furthermore, authorDavid Brin argues, cyberpunk made science fiction more attractive and profitable formainstream media and thevisual arts in general.[8]
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Biopunk builds onsynthetic biology andbiotechnology (such asbionanotechnology andbiorobotics), typically focusing on the potential dangers togenetic engineering andenhancement.[9] As such, this genre generally depicts near-futureunintended consequences of thebiotechnology revolution following the discovery ofrecombinant DNA.
Emerging during the 1990s, biopunk fiction usually describes the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product ofhuman experimentation, against a backdrop oftotalitarian governments ormegacorporations that misusebiotechnologies as means ofsocial control orprofiteering.
As inpostcyberpunk, individuals are most commonlymodified andenhanced bygenetic manipulation of theirchromosomes rather than withprostheticcyberware or dry nanotechnologies (albeit, like in nanopunk, bio-, nanotechnologies, and cyberware often coexist), and sometimes with other biotechnologies, such asnanobiotechnology,wetware, special bioengineeredorgans, and neural andtissue grafts.
Film examples includeNaked Lunch (1991),Gattaca (1997), andVesper (2022).
Nanopunk focuses on worlds in which the theoretical possibilities ofnanotechnology are a reality,[9] including the use ofDrexlerian 'dry'nano-assemblers[10] andnanites.
It is an emerging subgenre that is still less common in comparison to other derivatives ofcyberpunk.[9] The genre is similar to biopunk, which focuses on the use ofbiotechnology, such asbionanotechnology andbiorobotics, rather than on nanotechnology. (Albeit, like in biopunk, bio-, nanotechnologies, andcyberware often coexist in contrast to classical cyberpunk settings tending to heavily focus on mechanical cyberware to the point of genetic engineering and nanotechnologies being outright banned in some cyberpunk settings.)
One of the earliest works of nanopunk,Tech Heaven (1995) byLinda Nagata, looked into the healing potential of nanotechnology.[9] The genre is often concerned with the artistic and physiological impact of nanotechnology, than of aspects of the technology itself.[11] For instance,Prey (2002) byMichael Crichton explores a potential doomsday scenario caused by nanotechnology.[9] One of the most prominent examples of nanopunk is theCrysis video game series; less famous examples include the television seriesGenerator Rex (2010) and filmTranscendence (2014).[11]
Postcyberpunk includes newercyberpunk works that experiment with different approaches to the genre. Often, such works will keep to central futuristic elements of cyberpunk—such ashuman augmentation, ubiquitousinfospheres, and other advanced technology—but will forgo the assumption of adystopia.[12] However, like all categories discerned within science fiction, the boundaries of postcyberpunk are likely to be fluid or ill-defined.[13]
It can be argued that the rise of cyberpunk fiction took place at a time when the 'cyber' was still considered new, foreign, and more-or-less strange to the average person. In this sense, postcyberpunk essentially emerged in acknowledgement of the idea that humanity has since adapted to the concept of cyberspace and no longer sees some elements of cyberpunk as from a distant world.[14]
As new writers and artists began to experiment with cyberpunk ideas, new varieties of fiction emerged, sometimes addressing the criticisms leveled at classic cyberpunk fiction. In 1998,Lawrence Person published an essay to the Internet forumSlashdot in which he discusses the emergence of the postcyberpunk genre:
The best of cyberpunk conveyed huge cognitive loads about the future by depicting (in best "show, don't tell" fashion) the interaction of its characters with the quotidian minutia of their environment. In the way they interacted with their clothes, their furniture, their decks and spex, cyberpunk characters told you more aboutthe society they lived in than "classic" SF stories did through their interaction with robots and rocketships.Postcyberpunk uses the same immersive world-building technique, but features different characters, settings, and, most importantly, makes fundamentally different assumptions about the future. Far from being alienated loners, postcyberpunk characters are frequently integral members of society (i.e., they have jobs). They live in futures that are not necessarily dystopic (indeed, they are often suffused with an optimism that ranges from cautious to exuberant), but their everyday lives are still impacted by rapidtechnological change and anomnipresent computerized infrastructure.[5][unreliable source?]
Person advocates using the termpostcyberpunk for the strain of science fiction that he describes above. In this view, typical postcyberpunk fiction explores themes related to a "world of acceleratingtechnological innovation and ever-increasing complexity in ways relevant to our everyday lives," while continuing the focus on social aspects within apost-third industrial-era society, such as of ubiquitous dataspheres andcybernetic augmentation of the human body. Unlike cyberpunk, its works may portray autopia or to blend elements of both extremes into a relatively more mature societal vision.
Denoting thepostmodern framework of the genre, Rafael Miranda Huereca (2006) states:
In this fictional world, the unison in the hive becomes apower mechanism which is executed in its capillary form, not from above the social body but from within. This mechanism asFoucault remarks is a form of power, which "reaches into the very grain of individuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives". In postcyberpunk unitopia 'the capillary mechanism' that Foucault describes is literalized. Power touches the body through the genes, injects viruses to the veins, takes the forms of pills and constantly penetrates the body through its surveillance systems; collects samples of body substance, reads finger prints, even reads the 'prints' that are not visible, the ones which are coded in the genes. The body responds back to power, communicates with it; supplies the information that power requires and also receives its future conduct as a part of its daily routine. More importantly, power does not only control the body, but also designs, (re)produces, (re)creates it according to its own objectives. Thus, human body is re-formed as a result of the transformations of the relations between communication and power.[15]
In addition to themes of its ancestral genre, according to Huereca (2011), postcyberpunk might also combine elements ofnanopunk andbiopunk. Some postcyberpunk settings can have diverse types of augmentations instead of focusing on one kind, while others, similar to classic cyberpunk, can revolve around a single type of technology like prosthetics, such as inGhost in the Shell (GitS).[16]
Often named examples of postcyberpunk novels areNeal Stephenson'sThe Diamond Age andBruce Sterling'sHoly Fire.[citation needed] In television, Person has calledGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex "the most interesting, sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence."[17] In 2007, San Francisco writersJames Patrick Kelly andJohn Kessel publishedRewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology.
Cyberprep is a term with a similar meaning to postcyberpunk. A cyberprep world assumes that all thetechnological advancements of cyberpunk speculation have taken place, but life isutopian rather than gritty and dangerous.[18] Since society is largely leisure-driven, advancedbody enhancements are used for sports, pleasure, and self-improvement.
The word is an amalgam of the prefixcyber-, referring tocybernetics, andpreppy, reflecting its divergence from the punk elements of cyberpunk.[18]
Stanislaw Lem'sReturn from the Stars is an example.
Cyber noir is anoir genre story placed in acyberpunk setting.
As a wider variety of writers began to work with cyberpunk concepts, new subgenres of science fiction emerged, playing off the cyberpunk label, and focusing on technology and its social effects in different ways. Many derivatives of cyberpunk areretro-futuristic: they reimagine the past either through futuristic visions of historical eras (especially from thefirst andsecond industrial revolution technological-eras), or through depictions of more recent extrapolations or exaggerations of the actual technology from those eras.
Steampunk is a retro-futuristic genre that is influenced by theSteam Age, ranging from the lateRegency era (1795–1837; when theIndustrial Revolution began) through theVictorian era (1837–1901) and theBelle Époque (1871–1914).[19]
The wordsteampunk was invented in 1987 as a jocular reference to some of the novels ofTim Powers,James P. Blaylock, andK. W. Jeter. When Gibson and Sterling entered the subgenre with their 1990collaborative novelThe Difference Engine, the term was being used earnestly as well.[20]Alan Moore andKevin O'Neill's 1999The League of Extraordinary Gentlemenhistorical fantasycomic book series (and the subsequent2003 film adaptation) popularized the steampunk genre and helped propel it into mainstream fiction.[21] Around 2007, the term became more common, and also began to refer to a clothing style and subculture.[22]
The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (perhaps more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies. This characteristic is particularly evident insteampunk fashion which tends to synthesize punk,goth andrivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. As an object style, steampunk adopts more distinct characteristics with various craftspersonsmodding modern-day devices into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style.[23] The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials (such as polished brass, iron, and wood) with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era.[24]
Other examples includeWild Wild West (1999),Hugo (2011),[22]Treasure Planet (2002),Last Exile (2003),Bioshock Infinite (2013), andArcane (2021).[citation needed]
Clockpunk, similar to steampunk, reimagines theEarly Modern Period (16th–18th century) to include retro-futuristic technology, often portrayingRenaissance-era science andtechnology based onclockwork,gears, andDa Vincian machinery designs.[25] Such designs are in the vein ofMainspring byJay Lake,[26] andWhitechapel Gods by S. M. Peters.[27]
The term was coined by theGURPS role-playing system in the sourcebookGURPS Steampunk[28] Examples of clockpunk includeThe Blazing World byMargaret Cavendish;[29] Astro-Knights Island in the nonlinear gamePoptropica; the Clockwork Mansion level ofDishonored 2; the2011 film version ofThe Three Musketeers; the TV seriesDa Vinci's Demons; as well as the video gamesThief: The Dark Project,Syberia, andAssassin's Creed 2.Ian Tregillis' bookThe Mechanical is self-proclaimed clockpunk literature.[30] The Games WorkshopWarhammer Fantasy Battles settings, especially the Empire and the Dwarves, represent clockpunk.
For some[who?], clockpunk is steampunk without steam.[25]
Alita: Battle Angel (2019), based on the mangaBattle Angel Alita, is mostly cyberpunk but sometimes its machines contain elements of clockpunk.[citation needed]
Dieselpunk is a genre and art style based on the aesthetics popular in theinterwar period through the end ofWorld War II into the 1950s, whendiesel displaced thesteam engine. The style combines the artistic and genre influences of the period (includingpulp magazines,serial films,film noir,art deco, and wartimepin-ups) withretro-futuristic technology[31][32] andpostmodern sensibilities.[33]
First coined in 2001 as a marketing term by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing gameChildren of the Sun,[32][34] dieselpunk has since grown to describe a distinct style of visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering.
Examples include the moviesIron Sky (2012),Captain America: The First Avenger (2011),The Rocketeer (1991),K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008),Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), andDark City (1998); video games such as theCrimson Skies series,the Fallout series,Greed Corp,Gatling Gears,Skullgirls,[35] theWolfenstein series,Iron Harvest, andFinal Fantasy VII;[36] and television shows likeThe Legend of Korra.[37][38]
Decopunk is a recent subset of dieselpunk, centered around theart deco andStreamline Moderne art styles. Other influences include the 1927 filmMetropolis as well as the environment of American cities likeNew York,Chicago, andBoston around the period between the 1920s and 1950s.
Steampunk authorSara M. Harvey made the distinction that decopunk is "shinier than dieselpunk;" more specifically, dieselpunk is "a gritty version of steampunk set in the 1920s–1950s" (i.e., the war eras), whereas decopunk "is the sleek, shiny very art deco version; same time period, but everything ischrome!"[39]
Possibly the most notable examples of this genre are games like the first two titles in theBioShock series andSkullgirls; films likeDick Tracy (1990),The Rocketeer (1991),The Shadow (1994), andDark City (1998); comic books likeThe Goon; and the cartoonBatman: The Animated Series, which includedneo-noir elements along with modern elements such as the use ofVHS cassettes.
Atompunk (also known as atomicpunk) relates to the pre-digital period of 1945–1969, includingmid-century modernism; theAtomic,Jet, andSpace Ages;communism,Neo-Soviet styling, and earlyCold War espionage, along withanti-communist andRed Scare paranoia in the United States;underground cinema;Googie architecture;Sputnik and theSpace Race;silver agecomic books andsuperhero fiction; and the rise of the Americanmilitary–industrial complex.[40][41]
Its aesthetic tends towardPopuluxe andRaygun Gothic, which describe a retro-futuristic vision of the world.[40] Most science fiction of the period carried an aesthetic that influenced or inspired later atompunk works. Some of these precursors to atompunk include1950s science fiction films (including, but not limited to,B movies), theSean Connery-era of theJames Bond franchise,[42]Dr. Strangelove,Star Trek,The Twilight Zone,The Outer Limits,The Avengers, earlyDoctor Who episodes,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Batman,The Green Hornet,The Jetsons,Jonny Quest,[43]Thunderbirds,Speed Racer, and someSilver Age comic books.
Notable examples of atompunk in popular media that have been released since the period include television series likeDexter's Laboratory,The Powerpuff Girls,Venture Bros,Archer, and the web seriesThe Mercury Men;[44] comic books likeIgnition City[45][46] andAtomic Age; films likeLogan's Run (1976),[47]The Incredibles (2004),The Iron Giant (1999),[48]Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008),[49][50]TheMan from U.N.C.L.E. (2015),[51]X-Men: First Class (2011),[51][52] andMen in Black 3 (2012);[51][52][53] video games likeDestroy All Humans! (2005),[54] theFallout series,[54][55][56][57]Atomic Heart (2023),[54][58] andThe Invincible (2023);[59][60][61] and books likeAdam Christopher's novelThe Age Atomic.[62][63]
There have been a handful of divergent terms based on the general concepts ofsteampunk. These are typically considered unofficial and are often invented by readers, or by authors referring to their own works, often humorously.
For instance,Bruce Sterling described his 2004 novelThe Zenith Angle, which follows the story of a hacker whose life is changed by theSeptember 11 attacks,[64] as "nowpunk".[65] The developers of the computer gameNeo Cab used the same term to describe themselves.[66] Another example is Rococopunk, a combination ofRococo and punk clothing in cosplay or theatrical costuming.[67][68] Also, the term Stonepunk has been used to refer to settings based in which characters useNeolithic technology,[69] such as the 2017 videogameHorizon Zero Dawn.[70]
A large number of terms have been used by theGURPS roleplaying gameSteampunk to describe anachronistic technologies and settings, including clockpunk (Renaissance tech), and transistorpunk (Atomic-Age tech)—the latter is analogous to atompunk. These terms have seen very little use outsideGURPS.[28]
Raypunk (derived from "Raygun Gothic") is a distinctive (sub)genre that deals with scenarios, technologies, beings or environments, very different from everything that is known or what is possible here on Earth or by science. It covers spacesurrealism, parallel worlds, alien art, technologicalpsychedelia, non-standard 'science',alternative or distorted/twisted reality, and so on.[71]
It is a predecessor toatompunk with similar "cosmic" themes, but mostly without explicitnuclear power or definitive technology. It is also distinct in that it has more archaic/schematic/artistic style, and that its atmosphere is more dark, obscure, cheesy, weird, mysterious, dreamy, hazy, or etheric (origins before 1880–1950), parallel tosteampunk anddieselpunk.[72][73]
While not originally designed as such, the originalStar Trek series has an aesthetic very reminiscent of raypunk. The comic book seriesThe Manhattan Projects, the animated filmFantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage) and the pre-WWIIBuck Rogers andFlash Gordon comics and serials would be examples of raypunk.[citation needed]
Solarpunk is a movement, a subgenre, and an alternative to cyberpunk fiction that encourages optimistic envisioning of the future in light of present environmental concerns, such asclimate change andpollution,[74] as well as concerns ofsocial inequality.[75] Solarpunk fiction imagines futures that address environmental concerns with varying degrees of optimism.
Lunarpunk is a subgenre of solarpunk with a darker aesthetic. It portrays thenightlife,spirituality, and more introspective side of solarpunkutopias.[76]
The term captures something crucial to the work of these writers, something crucial to the decade as a whole: a new kind of integration. The overlapping of worlds that were formerly separated: the realm of high tech and the modern pop underground...
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