The Artist's Assembly

This will be an evolving list of conventions, archetypal characters, plot points, obligatory scenes, characterization, and plotlines of the cyberpunk genre. With the intent of finding a true definition of cyberpunk..

Definition of Cyberpunk: An anti-hero protagonist uses technology to fight against a ruthless corporation in a near-future dystopian society.

Tropes

Hi-Tech, Low Life: the main trope. Focusing on the criminal element of a high tech near future society.

Hard-boiled Protagonist: an anti-hero who has become cynical because of the violent culture and corrupt legal system that surrounds them. A better description: tough, unemotional, cynical, brooding, sexually obsessive, sardonic, disillusioned and insecure loners.

Tyranny: total corporate control, invasive surveillance, police state, informants are everywhere..

Transhumanism: using technology to evolve human intellect and physiology. Humans that have cybernetic body parts or virtual reality interactions.

Cyberspace: a virtual reality internet, that people explore and interface with. Post-internet.

Post-apocalyptic: story occurs after humans have mostly destroyed the planet..

Hackers: people who use technology to cause trouble are shown sympathetically.

Corporate Governance: corporations take over after the collapse of the government.

Invasive Advertising: because of the corporate rule, restrictions on advertising are lifted

Social Realism: works that “draw attention to real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique of the power structures behind these conditions.” from wiki.

Artificial Intelligence: a.i. programs are characters in the story. A.I. characters have the ability to kill humans..

The Nature of Reality: Do androids have souls? Can we lose ourselves in a virtual reality? Can technology takeover our lives?

Morally Ambiguous: no one in a cyberpunk story is innocent. They all dwell within a grey scale between bad and good. The good guys are a lesser evil than the completely evil bad guys they face.

Drug Use: altered states of consciousness are common in cyberpunk. Illicit substances, mood altering, steroid-like power boosters, any kind.

Punk Aesthetic: leather. Mohawks. Hostile attitude. Vulgarity. Tattoos. Body Modification. Mirror shades (dunno if that is punk).

Punk Values:

Anarchist

Anti-consumerist

Anti-corporate

Anti-establishment

Cynicism

Non-conformity

Skepticism

Japanese Aesthetic: someone has brought it to my attention that the use of Tokyo-like cityscapes could have racist motives. Because of post WWII fears. In 1968, this may have been the case. But I doubt it. I will read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, to see if there is any reference to Japan whatsoever, but it is set in San Francisco. There likely won’t be. Often people who try to accuse others of having bad intentions haven’t read the literature.

I think that it was film directors that chose the Japanese aesthetic. It is because neon pops on the screen. Also, because Japan is a symbol of corporate power, our associations make it likely for directors to choose Tokyo.

INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE

Decentralization is a major cyberpunk value. That is why corporations that control information are the antagonists of cyberpunk novels. And hackers are the protagonists..

Not every story that is considered to be “cyberpunk” has every single one of these tropes. Some stories may minimize or ignore certain tropes. A story could reverse all of the tropes, and still be considered cyberpunk. Cyberpunk itself is a rebellion against science fiction.

Commonalities with Film Noir

Film noir arose because of the loss of faith in american values after World War II. Cyberpunk arose for the same reasons in the post-industrial era.

Film Noir Tropes:

Characters:

Hard-boiled Detective: this was literally the case in Blade Runner

Femme Fatale: the female lead that double-crosses the Detective. Sexually attractive and provocative. Clever and witty manipulators.

Corrupt Cops: to accentuate the idea of tyranny.

Gangsters/Thugs: there is a difference between gangsters and thugs. Gangsters have style and finesse. Both will smash your head.

Corrupt Millionaires: the only type of Millionaire really lol.

Film Noir Style: Trench coats. And cigarettes. Lots of cigarettes.

Bad Guys Get Punished: often justice is served. The bad guys lose in the end. Sometimes, the Detective loses, like in Double Indemnity.

Crime Is Solved: if it is from the point of view of a Detective that is.. Sometimes the main character is a criminal, or a writer..

Setting:

Bar or Nightclub: in Film Noir it tends to be high class. In Cyberpunk not-so-much..

Rainy Streets: Because wet streets look better on camera.

Warehouse or Industrial area: violence often takes place in secluded industrial districts.

Dark and Moody: German Expressionism is used to make the audience uneasy.

Venetian Blinds: cast shadows that look like bars on windows. Cyberpunk uses actual bars on windows. Subtle.

Neon Lights: visual appeal, and futuristic looking. A part of the Iconography of noir.

Labyrinthine: streets feel like a maze.

This will be an ongoing list. This is just the first iteration. I will update and rewrite as I learn more about the genre..

I need shit to watch to get me in the mood to write.. here’s a few lists:

Cyberpunk Films

Escape from New York (1981)

Blade Runner (1982)

Tron (1982)

Videodrome (1983)

The Terminator (1984)

Robocop (1987)

Total Recall (1990)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Judge Dredd (1995)

Hackers (1995)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Matrix (1999)

Paycheck (2003)

The Animatrix (2003)

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Elysium (2013)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Ready Player One (2018)

Upgrade (2018)

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Anime

Megazone 23 (OVA, 1985)

Bubblegum Crisis (OVA, 1987)

Akira (film, 1988)

Appleseed (OVA, 1988)

Ghost In The Shell (film, 1995)

Serial Experiments Lain (series, 1998)

Cowboy Bebop (series, 1998)

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (series, 2002-05)

Texhnolyze (series, 2003)

Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence (film, 2004)

Ergo Proxy (series, 2006)

Paprika (film, 2006)

Ghost In The Shell: S.A.C. - Solid State Society (film, 2006)

Psycho-Pass (series, 2012)

Ghost In The Shell: Arise (series, 2013-15)

Ghost In The Shell: Arise - The Movie (2016)

TV Shows

Total Recall 2070 (1999)

Dark Angel (2000-2002)

Dollhouse (2009-2010)

Person of Interest (2012-2016)

Almost Human (2013-2014)

Mr. Robot (2015)

Westworld (2016)

Altered Carbon (2018)

In my research on cyberpunk, I will be reading influential novels to immerse myself in the styles and milieu of the genre. This post will serve as a reading list for my studies..

The definitive moment in the history of cyberpunk was the publication of William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” on July 1, 1984. It was the first novel to win the Hugo award, the Nebula and the Philip K. Dick award in the same year. This novel solidified much of the conventions we have come to recognize as “cyberpunk”. But, there are several novels that preceded Neuromancer that influenced it’s creation.

J.G. Ballard’s Short Stories

J.G. Ballard’s “Atrocity Exhibition (1970)”

and “Crash (1973)”

William S. Burrough’s “Naked Lunch (1959)”

William Gibson has sited a direct influence from J.G. Ballard. Ballard’s novels Crash and Atrocity Exhibition (if you can call it a novel) may have been influential. But, it seems to me that Ballard’s stories about the near future and it’s dystopian cities had much more of an effect on Gibson. “The Concentration City,” for example, is about an endless city with no open spaces, and a man who decides to see if it has an end.

I’m also going to read Naked Lunch. The influence of Burroughs on J.G. Ballard is evident because of the depraved style and non-linear short stories of Atrocity Exhibition, which comes directly from NL.

Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968)”

“Blade Runner (1982)” directed by Ridley Scott

Blade Runner came out around the same time that William Gibson was writing Neuromancer. I think it’s safe to say that Gibson was aware of the work of Phillip K. Dick.

I haven’t read Androids, but if the brilliant film adaptation does it any justice, it is definitely the precursor to Neuromancer.

I’m going to start reading PKD with his short stories. Just to get acquainted with his style..

Verner Vinge’s “True Names (1981)”

The first story that could almost be called cyberpunk, is True Names, about computer “warlocks” who hack under assumed identities, on an early concept of cyberspace called the “other plane”.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira (1982)”

Japanese cyberpunk actually predates the creation of the genre in science fiction. It’s hard to say if Akira influenced American writers, or if Japanese manga artists were caught up in the same wave of thought that inspired cyberpunk itself. Probably inspired by Philip K. Dick..

Bruce Bethke’s “Cyberpunk (1983)”

A short story that gave birth to the term “cyberpunk.” It is the title of a group of people who use technology to cause trouble..

Rudy Rucker’s Ware Tetrology, most notably “Software (1983)” and “Wetware (1988)” which both won Phillip K. Dick awards.

Software precedes Neuromancer. Although not strictly Cyberpunk, it is definitely influential on the formation of the genre. Rucker’s ideas about artificial intelligence and robotics, and how it can evolve the same way life does, fascinating..

K.W. Jeter’s “Dr. Adder (1984)”

The importance of this novel cannot be understated. Originally written in 1972, it’s publication was delayed until 1984 because it was deemed too sexual and violent for the time.

Philip K. Dick read an early manuscript of the novel and championed it before it’s publication. Just speculation but, it’s possible that the manuscript for Dr. Adder circulated amongst fans and writers of science fiction, inspiring the early adopters of cyberpunk..

William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy: “Neuromancer (1984)”,

“Count Zero (1986)” and

“Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988)”

and the prequel short stories that inspired the trilogy “Burning Chrome (1986)”

The reason why William Gibson is so influential is because he pulled together disparate elements of literature to create an aesthetic. The first time all of the conventions were put together in one book changed science fiction. At least for a little while.

Neuromancer isn’t a stand alone work. It is part of ‘The Sprawl’ Trilogy. It was preceded by 10 short stories published in magazines, that was released later called 'Burning Chrome’. The following two books 'Count Zero’ and 'Mona Lisa Overdrive’ were also influential to the genre..

John Shirley’s Eclipse Trilogy “Eclipse (1985)”,

“Eclipse Penumbra (1988)” and

“Eclipse Corona (1990)”

Also known as A Song Called Youth Trilogy. John Shirley brings military action into the mix of dystopian counterculture science fiction.

John Shirley was prolific not only in cyberpunk, but also in fantasy, non-fiction, songwriting, film and more..

Bruce Sterling’s “Schismatrix (1985)”

Bruce Sterling “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (1986)”

Bruce Sterling is another author who is central to the cyberpunk movement. Though he only wrote one novel length story about the mechanists, Sterling later became an aggregator of cyberpunk works.

Walter Jon Williams “Hardwired (1986)”

and “Voice of The Whirlwind (1987)”

The golden age of cyberpunk is essentially a core group of authors who each wrote a series based on the idea.

Williams’ novels have a distinct cyberpunk aesthetic. Criminal. Hard-boiled. Dystopian. With a feel and style unmistakably 80’s.

Pat Cadigan’s “Mindplayers (1987)” and

Pat Cadigan’s “Synners (1992)”

Pat Cadigan took a different approach to the cyberpunk genre. Her novels use cyberspace as a way to explore the human mind. Blurring the lines between technology and reality.

Masamune Shirow “Ghost In The Shell (1991)”

Japanese cyberpunk took a different path from it’s American counterpart. Choosing a philosophical structure instead of a political one. Ghost In The Shell explores themes of existentialism, and reality vs. technology.

Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash (1992)”

When the important works of a genre begin to make fun of the genre itself, it’s time for a change. Snow Crash is a satire of cyberpunk tropes. This novel signified the end of the golden age.

Soon cyberpunk splintered into many subgenres - biopunk, nanopunk, postcyberpunk. Steampunk was inevitable. And in many ways steampunk preceded cyberpunk. But the genre itself didn’t exist until the late 80’s when K.W. Jeter coined the term..

That is my reading list of material to study before I begin writing my novel. I will also read Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep (1939)” to familiarize myself with Hard-boiled detective fiction. That is where cyberpunk authors derive the attitudes of their protagonists.

A hard-boiled protagonist is an antihero, who is emotionless and cynical to the violence that surrounds them. Or at least he tries to be..

I’m writing a cyberpunk novel, or possibly a screenplay. So the best way to start is by becoming an expert on the genre.

Hard Boiled Detective Novels (and Film Noir, derived from the Hardboiled Detective genre) are the basis for many protagonists of the Cyberpunk genre:

Dashiell Hammett’s “Red Harvest (1929)”

Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep (1939)”

Low Life: Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer (1934)” influenced the low life mentality in cyberpunk novels. TOC features the author’s nomadic lifestyle in early 30’s Paris.

Dystopian Novels:

Yevgeny Zamyatin’s “We (1924)”

Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World (1932)”

George Orwell’s “1984 (1949)”

Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451 (1953)”

Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange (1962)”

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five (1969)”

The Beat Generation:

Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl (1956)”

Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road (1957)”

William S. Burrough’s “Junkie (1953)” and “Naked Lunch (1959)”

The works of Burroughs are the most important to Cyberpunk.

He was considered a post-modernist writer, and post-modern literature has a strong influence on cyberpunk.

Golden Age Science Fiction

The golden age of science fiction is in the 50’s and continued on into the 60’s as a new wave emerged. The golden age is mainly hard science fiction (concerned with being scientifically accurate) and space opera stories. Golden age SF is concerned with the big issues of the time, religion, space travel and the dangers of nuclear war. Used almost solely by Cyberpunk as a base set of ideas to rebel against (cyberpunk is concerned with speculating on possible futures and social commentary)

Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation (1951)”

Arthur C. Clarke “Childhood’s End (1953)”

Alfred Bester’s “The Stars My Destination (1957)”

Walter M. Miller Jr. “A Canticle For Leibowitz (1959)”

Robert A. Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers (1959)”

Stanisław Lem’s “Solaris (1961)”

Phillip K. Dick’s “The Man In The High Castle (1962)”

Frank Herbert’s “Dune (1965)”

Roger Zelazny’s “Lord of Light (1967)”

Just a few famous examples. The hard science and space opera subgenres continue to this day.

In the 60’s science fiction was changing from focusing on exceptional scientists to everyday people. As a rebellion against the golden age tropes, a new era emerged which had a direct influence on Cyberpunk.

New Wave Science Fiction

Robert A. Heinlein’s “Stranger In A Strange Land (1961)”

Fritz Leiber’s “The Wanderer (1964)”

Roger Zelazny’s “This Immortal (1965)”

Harlan Ellison’s “Dangerous Visions (1967)” is a collection of 33 short stories from the best new wave science fiction authors.

John Brunner’s “Stand On Zanzibar (1968)”

Phillip K. Dick’s novels are very important to the Cyberpunk genre. Especially “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)”. I will post about Phillip K. Dick more in the future..

Ursula K. Le Guin “The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)”

Phillip José Farmer “To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971)”

William Gibson: “You could say that Cyberpunk is postmodern science fiction. It’s a lot more postmodern than the old science fiction was. But science fiction is a very - I’m speaking of the American science fiction industry - it’s been traditionally a reactionary literary form. A form in which you weren’t encouraged to develop as a stylist. Or to investigate any of the things that were happening in the world of literature. And one of the things, so-called cyberpunk writers have done, either consciously or unconsciously, is to look around at the world outside. Look at the fine arts as well and import whatever they could use into the literary ghetto of science fiction.”

-Cyberpunk (Documentary, 1990)

Although Gibson says that you are encouraged not to develop a style by reading other texts, it is clear when you read Cyberpunk novels, that the authors are aware of science fiction and postmodern literature. Awareness breeds influence. Even if they rebel against the ideas, it still affects their style.

Postmodern Novels

Postmodern literature plays games with structure and narrative. Using language to disorient. They are also generally pessimistic about the future, which is it’s biggest influence on Cyberpunk.

Here is a list of influential postmodern fiction and the techniques they use to entertain and make political statements..

Inconsistent Narrator:

William Gaddis’ “The Recognitions (1955)” It isn’t always apparent who is speaking. Who have to guess is speaking by conversation style and content. Eventually the characters shift, and change names.

Non-Linear Structure:

William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch (1959)” is a series of scenes meant to be read in any order. It also features heavy drug use and an alter ego for the author.

Fragmented Narrative:

Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22 (1961)” breaks the storyline up between the points of view of several soldiers during the second world war. It differs from non-linear narrative in that it tells the story in chronological order.

Black Humor:

Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange (1962)” makes light of serious subjects often too serious to talk about. In this case, it is the subject of brainwashing, institutionalization and propaganda.

Metafiction:

Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire (1962)” is a 999 line poem. Told from the point of view of a fictional author and his editor. Notes from the editor calls attention to the fact that you are reading a book.

Alternative History:

Phillip K. Dick’s “The Man In The High Castle (1962)” dramatitizes what would have happened if the Nazis and the Japanese would have won World War II.

Intertextuality:

Jean Rhys’ “Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)” reinterprets Jane Eyre, from the point of view of Mr. Rochester’s mad wife, Antoinette Cosway. WSS is a feminist and anti-colonial criticism and satire of old literature.

Paranoia:

Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49 (1966)” is about a woman who discover’s an underground mail delivery service that may or may not be a hoax. It is the shortest of Pynchon’s novels, and is the logical place to start if anyone wishes to delve into his work.

Magical Realism:

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)” is about the history of the Buendia family in the fictional town, Macondo. The story is based in reality, but adds in magical elements from mystical dreams to ghosts.

Historiographic Metafiction:

John Fowles’ “The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969)” is a novel about 19th century period pieces. It follows the typical tropes and conventions of the classical novel. Until the author and narrator becomes a character in the novel..

Roman á Clef, or a novel about real life, told fictitiously:

Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (1971)” a story about Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, who are really HST and his lawyer, as they set out to report on a motorcycle race, but end up telling a story about the downfall of 60’s counterculture and the American dream.

Sexual Revolution Consequences:

J.G. Ballard’s “Crash (1973)” is about characters that are turned on by car crashes. The subject of the story wants to die in a car crash with Elizabeth Taylor..

Pastiche:

Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)” is a mix of Genres and subjects. From rocket science, pop culture, literature, and movie references, physics, free will vs. determinism, sexual exploits and paranoia…

Fictionalized History:

Robert Coover’s “The Public Burning (1977)” a satirical telling of the execution of soviet spies Joe and Ethel Rosenberg, from the point of view of the sympathetic protagonist Richard Nixon. It is a satire of 1950’s McCarthy politics.

Frame Story (a form of metafiction):

Italo Calvino’s “if on a winter’s night a traveller (1979)” splits 10 chapters into 2 parts. The first of two parts is about the reader, from the second person pov. The second part is the story, that you are reading. Prevailing themes are the subjectivity of meaning, the act of reading and writing and it’s necessity and absurdity..

Coincidence Driven Plot:

Kathy Acker’s “Blood and Guts In High School (1984) a collage of styles and random events. Combining metafiction, letters, dream webs, sexual drawings, short poems, and more. The story seems to be about sexual oppression.. I guess.

Unconventional Narrator:

Joan Didion’s "Democracy (1984)” is about Inez Victor, wife of U.S. Senator Harry Victor. But it’s narrated by the author herself, who struggles with the material and the writing itself..

Postmodern novels also use irony, circular logic, wordplay and witticisms, symbolism and figurative language at a micro level.

The objective of postmodern lit is to make political statements. It is also commenting on the emptiness of modern culture. Many say the problem with postmodernism is that it doesn’t offer any solutions..