NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Postcyberpunk

Postcyberpunk describes a genre of science fiction which is believed to have emerged from the cyberpunk movement. Like its predecessor, postcyberpunk focuses on technological developments in near-future societies, typically examining the social effects of widespread telecommunication, genetic engineering and/or nanotechnology. Unlike "classic" cyberpunk, however, the works in this category feature characters who act to improve social conditions or at least protect the status quo from further decay. During the 90's some performance artists such as Stelarc, Eduardo Kac, Orlan, Zhu Yu or Benjamin Muon brought these paradigms into the performance art world. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-01-11, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... An autoluminograph from 1986 of a glowing transgenic tobacco plant bearing the luciferase gene of the firefly, illustrating the possibilities of genetic engineering. ... Nanotechnology comprises technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Stelarc (born Stelios Arcadiou on June 19, 1946) is an Australian performance artist whose works focus heavily on futurism and extending the capabilities of the human body. ... Eduardo Kac was the first person to have a microchip implanted in his body. ... Orlan is the French multimedia/performance artist, the creator of Carnal Art, and a first person who used plastic surgery as a medium of artistic expression. ... Zhu Yu is a performance artist. ... Performance art is art where the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time, constitute the work. ...

History

The term "postcyberpunk" was first used circa 1991 to describe Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Lawrence Person argued that the term should be applied to an emergent subgenre of science fiction, which he proceeded to identify. In 1998, he published an article called "Notes Towards a Postcyberpunk Manifesto" in the small-press magazine Nova Express; the next year, he posted the article to the popular technology website Slashdot. The article identified the emergence of a postcyberpunk as the evolution of the cyberpunk genre of science-fiction popular in the late 1970s and 1980s characterized by movies like Blade Runner and books like William Gibson's Neuromancer: Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (b. ... Snow Crash, U.S. version cover shot, illustrated by Bruce Jensen. ... Lawrence Person is a science fiction writer and editor of SF critical magazine Nova Express. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Nova Express is a 1964 novel by William Burroughs, whose plot cannot easily be described. ... Slashdot (often abbreviated to /.) is a popular technology-related website/Forum updated many times daily, with articles that are often short summaries of stories on other websites, links to those stories, and provisions for readers to comment on each story. ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ... A collection of well-known science-fiction novels and magazines Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which at least part of the narrative depends on the impact of science, either real or imagined, to generate settings or events which have not yet occurred in reality (and may never... Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, which depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... William Ford Gibson (March 17, 1948, Conway, South Carolina) is an American science fiction author. ... The cover of the first publication of Neuromancer. ...

Like its predecessor, postcyberpunk depicts realistic near-futures rather than space opera–style deep futures. The focus is on the social effects of Earth-bound technology rather than space travel. Person argues that postcyberpunk is distinct from cyberpunk in the following ways: The Diamond Age, or A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer is a 1995 cyberpunk or postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson taking place in a world where nanotechnology is ubiquitous. ... Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic adventure, exotic settings, and larger than life characters. ... Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-01-11, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Other possible characteristics: Alienated is the name of a Canadian science fiction TV series. ... A dystopia (alternatively, cacotopia[1], kakotopia or anti-utopia) is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. ... Technocracy can refer to: A bureaucratic technocracy, or a government run by the highly educated. ... In literary and critical theory, posthumanism, meaning beyond humanism, is a European emergent philosophy and is the dominant secular, rational humanist philosophy. ...

Postcyberpunk possibly emerged because SF authors and the general population began using computers, the Internet, and PDAs to their benefit, without the massive social fragmentation of this Digital Revolution predicted in the 1970s and 1980s. The structure of insulin Biotechnology is a technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings), BDSM edgeplay or aesthetic. ... palmOne Tungsten T5 Dell Axim X51v Pocket PC Personal digital assistants (also called PDAs) are handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. ... The Digital Revolution describes the effects of rapid drop in cost and ongoing improvement of digital devices such as computers replacing or emulating analog devices, enabling former unthinkable innovations like the World Wide Web (WWW). ...

Examples of postcyberpunk

Some authors to which the label has been applied have endorsed and adopted it. However, classification is always difficult; there are many works which explore postcyberpunk themes in a dystopian way—e.g. Paul McAuley's Fairyland. Some authors are hard to classify. For example, Greg Egan's work is arguably so inventive as to defy classification into a "movement" or "sub-genre". Feed (2002) is a dystopian novel by M. T. (Matthew Tobin) Anderson The novel depicts a future world in which the Internet has evolved into the feed; a computer network to which everyones brain is directly connected by way of an implanted computer chip. ... Bridget Fonda and Luc Besson at Cannes, 2001. ... The Fifth Element (1997) is a science fiction action movie, directed by Luc Besson, starring Milla Jovovich, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, Tricky, Indra OvÃ© and Al Matthews. ... Cory Doctorow at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Cory Doctorow (born July 17, 1971) is a blogger, journalist and science fiction author in favor of liberalizing copyright laws, and a proponent of Creative Commons. ... Down And Out in the Magic Kingdom is a 2003 science fiction book, the first novel by Canadian author and digital-rights activist Cory Doctorow. ... Greg Egan (August 20, 1961, Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian computer programmer and science fiction author. ... Permutation City is a science fiction novel (ISBN 1-85798-218-5) by Greg Egan which explores quantum ontology via the various philosophical aspects of artificial life and simulations of intelligence. ... Diaspora is a 1997 science fiction novel by Australian writer Greg Egan. ... Teranesia is a 1999 science fiction novel by Greg Egan. ... Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of comic books and graphic novels, well known for his acerbic personality and sociocultural commentaries, both through his online presence and his writing. ... Darick Robertson Cover to the first Transmetropolitan collection Darick W. Robertson is an artist from the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. ... Transmetropolitan is a postcyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (originally by Helix). ... The Dallas Chase Tower Ion Storm Inc. ... Deus Ex (commonly abbreviated DX) is a first-person shooter/role-playing computer game developed by Ion Storm Inc. ... Deux Ex: Invisible War is a computer game. ... Well-known people named Gwyneth Jones include: Gwyneth Jones (novelist) Gwyneth Jones (opera singer) Gwyneth Jones (North Walian) This is a disambiguation page â€” a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Emma Frost decked out in her Hellfire garb Emma Grace Frost, also known as the White Queen, is a comic book superheroine (and former supervillainess) in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Nancy Kress (born Nancy Anne Koningisor in Buffalo, New York on January 20, 1948) is a science fiction writer. ... A science-fiction novel by noted author Nancy Kress which won the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. ... At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Ken MacLeod (born August 2, 1954), a Scottish science fiction writer, lives near Edinburgh. ... The Star Fraction is Ken MacLeods first novel. ... Paul McAuley (born April 23, 1955), a British botanist, award-winning author, and self-described science junkie. ... Fairyland can have several meanings in English Faerie, a locus of strong and impressive magical powers, but has tended in modern times to become trivialised as a sort of Never-Never Land, an uncomplicated, child-like world. ... Richard Morgan (b. ... Broken Angels Broken Angels (2003) is a military science fiction novel by Richard Morgan. ... Market Forces is a science-fiction novel by Richard Morgan, first published in 2004. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a comic book writer and artist. ... Cover to The Invisibles (v2) #1. ... Masamune Shirow (å£«éƒŽ æ£å®— ShirÅ Masamune) is a manga artist of international renown. ... For other uses, see Ghost in the Shell (disambiguation). ... Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (b. ... The Diamond Age, or A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer is a 1995 cyberpunk or postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson taking place in a world where nanotechnology is ubiquitous. ... Snow Crash, U.S. version cover shot, illustrated by Bruce Jensen. ... Cryptonomicon is a sprawling novel by Neal Stephenson that is more a combination of historical fiction and contemporary techno-thriller than the science fiction of Stephensons earlier works. ... Bruce Sterling at the Ars Electronica Festival Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. ... Islands in the Net, a 1988 science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling, offers a view of an early 21st century world apparently peaceful with delocalised, networking corporations. ... The Holy Fire (Greek Î‘Î³Î¹Î¿ Î¦Ï‰Ï‚, Holy Light) is believed by Orthodox Christians to be a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Charles Stross at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow Charles David George Stross (born Leeds, October 18, 1964) is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Singularity Sky (ISBN 0441010725) is a hard science fiction novel by author Charles Stross. ... Accelerando (ISBN 0441012841) is a 2005 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. ... Robert Paul Tad Williams (born March 14, 1957) is the author of several fantasy and science fiction novels, including Tailchasers Song; the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series; the Otherland series and The War of the Flowers. ... Otherland is a four-book science fiction epic by Tad Williams. ... Eden is a manga by Hiroki Endo (遠藤浩輝）、published monthly in the magazine Afternoon. ... The Fantasy Productions Medienvertriebsgesellschaft mbH (aka FanPro) is a German game company based in Erkrath producing the German-language versions of Shadowrun, and BattleTech, and previously German-only Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) fantasy Role-Playing Games. ... Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-urban fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set in the years 2050, 2053, 2060 or 2070 (depending on the game edition) following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels (and dangers) of... This article is about the role-playing game company. ... Paul McAuley at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow Paul McAuley (born April 23, 1955), a British botanist, award-winning author, and self-described science junkie. ... Fairyland can have several meanings in English Faerie, a locus of strong and impressive magical powers, but has tended in modern times to become trivialised as a sort of Never-Never Land, an uncomplicated, child-like world. ... Greg Egan (August 20, 1961, Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian computer programmer and science fiction author. ...

Postcyberpunk could become an umbrella for all sorts of interesting near-future action in movies and books such as Max Barry's satirical Jennifer Government. Postcyberpunk novels and movies have as of 2004 yet to gain as widespread popularity as their precursors (the Matrix trilogy is usually considered cyberpunk). Somewhat ironically, the technological optimism seen in postcyberpunk work can be traced back to Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics, or even to the sympathetic robots Helen O. Loy and Adam Link, all of which predate cyberpunk by a half-century. Max Barry Max Barry (born March 18, 1973) is the Australian author of Syrup (his pen name for that novel was Maxx Barry for satirical, not pretentious, purposes) and Jennifer Government. ... Jennifer Government is a black comedy written by Max Barry. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Matrix series spans major motion pictures, Japanese-style animation, and video games in an attempt to tell a story thats part science fiction, part modern myth, with elements of cyberpunk, computer science, philosophy of mind, Hinduism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Buddhism, classical mythology, and other influences. ... Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ... In science fiction, the Three Laws of Robotics are a set of three laws written by Isaac Asimov, which most robots appearing in his fiction have to obey. ... Adam Link is a fictional robot made in the likeness of a man, and the protagonist of several science fiction short stories published under the pseudonym Eando Binder. ...

The earliest example of a role-playing game with a postcyberpunk setting was Shadowrun, originally published in 1989 (its predecessor, Cyberpunk 2020, was more of a truly cyberpunk RPG, and not postcyberpunk). It was originally published by FASA, but was purchased by FanPro in 2001 when FASA closed its doors permanently, also purchasing the rights to the Battletech line of products. Another example of a postcyberpunk role-playing game is Transhuman Space written by David L. Pulver, illustrated by Christopher Shy, published by Steve Jackson Games and is part of the "Powered by GURPS" line. [1] The second is Ex Machina, published by Guardians of Order and part of both the tri-stat and d20 gaming lines. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-urban fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set in the years 2050, 2053, 2060 or 2070 (depending on the game edition) following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels (and dangers) of... Cyberpunk 2020 is a cyberpunk role-playing game written by Mike Pondsmith and published by R. Talsorian Games. ... Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-01-11, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... This article is about the role-playing game company. ... The Fantasy Productions Medienvertriebsgesellschaft mbH (aka FanPro) is a German game company based in Erkrath producing the German-language versions of Shadowrun, and BattleTech, and previously German-only Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) fantasy Role-Playing Games. ... -1... Transhuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the Powered by GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System) line. ... Steve Jackson Games (SJG) is a game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. ... The Generic Universal Role-Playing System, commonly known as GURPS is a form of a role-playing game (RPG) designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. ... Ex Machina is also the title of a comic book by Brian K. Vaughan. ... Guardians of Order is a Canadian company founded by Mark C. Mackinnon based out of Guelph, Ontario in the business of creating roleplaying games. ... Tri-Stat dX is a generic role-playing game system developed and published by Guardians of Order in 2003. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

Encyclopedia > Postcyberpunk

Contents

History

Examples of postcyberpunk

See also

External links