All Sorts of Punk

Cyberpunk

In Cyberpunk, the author presents a gritty near-future, often dystopian, setting to examine present issues through the malevolence of technology and the influence of corporations on society. High technology, ruined societies, and a tarnished global environment are often used settings in these stories. The term “Cyberpunk,” coined by author Bruce Bethke in his 1980 short story by the same name, is a portmanteau of “cybernetics” and “punk.” Authors William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, John Shirley and Lewis Shiner helped to launch the movement, heavily influenced by Gibson’s Neromancer. Cyberpunk has also been called “Cybernoir” when using noir fiction tools, and “Cybergoth” when using Gothic fiction tools to accomplish the same goals.

Other styles have developed out of the cyberpunk movement:

Biopunk. Uses elements of noir fiction to examine the social effects of genetic engineering. Biopunk has also been called "ribofunk" by Paul Di Filippo, a lead author in the genre, after ribonucleic acid.

Nanopunk. Uses elements of noir fiction to examine the social effects of nanotechnology.

Post-Cyberpunk. Examines the social effects of a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, genetic engineering and body modification, and the continued impact of technological change.

Cyberprep. Attempts to reflect the themes of Cyberpunk by examining technology in a beneficial near-future, often utopian in nature. Cyberprep has also been called “Cybertopia.”

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