Today's lecture gave an in-depth description and analysis of cyberpunk and its originations. I found it fascinating and thought I would explore further. According to Sterling (1998), before cyberpunk acquired its now handy label and sinister reputation, it was an "open-handed effort, very street-level and anarchic, with a very do-it-yourself attitude, an ethos...shared with garage band 70s punk music." The movement's one-page propaganda was freely given out, and encouraged people to make copies, and encouraged piracy in general. A combination of cybernetics (the science of communication and control theory) and punk (anti-social rebel) (Dewitt & Jackson 1993, p.1), cyberpunk is described as "the fusion of humans and machines" (Rucker cited in Dewitt & Jackson 1993, p.1). Whilst this description is true, it is too simple. The genre has now become a much more complex combination of various elements, picked up throughout history - as seen in the lecture.
Surprisingly it is hard to find a lot on cyberpunk as a genre, in Griffith library anyway. It is often associated with hackers, as they are subversive individuals who utilise technology as a means of anti-authoritarian protest. And yes, they are usually main/prominent characters in cyberpunk genre (e.g. Gibson's 'Burning Chrome'). As a genre it has managed to survive throughout the decades and is becoming more and more relevant as technology consumes Western society.
Reference List
Dewitt, P & Jackon, D 1993, 'Cyberpunk!', Time Magazine U.S, viewed 20th October 2011 < http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977654-1,00.html>
Sterling, B 1998, Cyberpunk in the Nineties, viewed 20th October 2011, < https://learning.secure.griffith.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_101249_1&frame=top>
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