We will introduce you to science fiction universes neighboring the Steampunk Style in just a few minutes, such as Cyberpunk, which made the news with the recently released CD Projekt Red game, Cyberpunk 2077. Do the two genres have anything in common? Follow the arrows to join genres that are apparently distant but very close in their community, culture and ideas. Discover little-known styles and subgenres, some of which are more extraordinary than cyberpunk and its night city .
Cyberpunk Style with Dark Pessimism
Origins of the cyberpunk movement
This subgenre of science fiction became very popular in the 80s, thanks to authors such as William Gibson, Bruce Sterling or Roger Zelazny. Their cyberpunk novels present dystopian universes where populations as described by Harlan Ellison or Philip Jose Farmer, try to survive in a dehumanized world with ambient pessimism. These subcultures have even managed to influence popular culture, with films such as Blade Runner, inspired by the novel by Philip K. Dick.
The cyberpunk movement and cyberpunk literature is therefore much more than a passing fad in the United States, where it has managed to establish itself as a cultural phenomenon in its own right. Mozart in Mirrored Glass , one of the first cyberpunk novels published, has even been compared to an Isaac Asimov symphony, for its complexity and depth.
However, cyberpunk is also criticized for its cynicism and pessimistic vision of the future. Some voices are raised to denounce the lack of hope and concrete solutions proposed by these authors, who are content to describe a world in decline without seeking to propose viable alternatives.
Cyberpunk is the science fiction genre that created the trend of adding "punk" to various words to describe a new genre. Cyberpunk is characterized by a dark , dystopian vision of the future . Technology reaches a point where it has merged with humanity.
It has allowed to increase it but also serves to enslave it with the help of ideologies and cyberspace. In some ways it seems that this dystopian world is getting dangerously close to ours. With video games like cyberpunk 2077 , we have the feeling of not being so far from a GTA for example, the effect is not disturbing?
Cyberpunk Aesthetics and Design
The cyberpunk world is a high-tech city plagued by violence and pollution, overpopulation and the oppression of companies called corporations that have surpassed nation states that are nothing more than empty shells. Mega corporations reign supreme and only a few anti-heroes try to survive in their own ways. In the street is the matrix (an ultra-connected internet) and implants, robots with their artificial intelligence, ghettos, gangs, black leather and latex clothing, neon lights, fluorescent lamps and digital combat.
This vision has become so ubiquitous in books and movies that it's the default way we think about cyberpunk, even though we already experience it in many ways. And for good reason: we're almost at the period described in the '80s in Neuromancer , William Gibson 's quintessential example of the cyberpunk genre .
Although it came out two years after Blade Runner and is not recognized as the first cyberpunk novel, it is arguably the best example of retro- style cyberpunk , halfway between the noir novel and film noir and futuristic dystopia.
Only The Matrix can be even darker, where the machine has decided to use us as batteries and has created a device that creates an illusion of a virtual society. The most ironic thing is that the machines do not wish us harm but keep us in the matrix for the sake of peace and function, the human being not being able to survive in reality.
The cyberpunk style has evolved, it is a breeding ground with:
- Other cyberpunk films : Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, Johnny Mnemonic , Brazil or Total Recall, Ready Player One (cyberspace and pop culture).
- In TV series: Black Mirror, Altered Carbon on Netflix.
- Masamune Shirow's anime like Ghost in the Shell , Avalon, Akira. The revival is done by manga and an avant-garde Japanese movement.
- In comics with the Transmetropolitan license by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson.
- Video games with cyberpunk 2077, shin megami tensei ii again
- Music with Billy Idol's cyberpunk album.
It should be noted that Keanu Reeves tends to be very present in films and video games in cyberpunk works...
Is there a cyberpunk fashion and clothing in this style?
Clearly not . It's true that it's a cyberpunk clothing style that can seem original and offbeat but cyberpunk fashion is a mix of punk and gothic , with a futuristic touch that gives a modern look . Ghost in the shell offers a more harajuku version close to the Japanese style but still remains close to the goth style.
If you want cyberpunk clothing , you can expect black clothing, combat boots, metal accessories, and radical haircuts. Cyborg looks, with futuristic sunglasses, patterns, and colors reminiscent of computer electronic prosthetics, are also popular.
Cyberpunk fashion should not be confused with the real cultural movement. It is above all a subgenre of science fiction with a literary and cinematographic current that criticizes technological excesses and the misdeeds of corporations. Cyberpunk fashion is a way of being inspired by this universe to create original looks, but it should not be confused with the values and ideas of the movement.
No Future for Cyberpunk?
And while the analogy of the cyberpunk genre with our times is shocking, we are still far from the extremely dark universe of Ridley Scott 's film, which is the reference in the cinema of the cyberpunk universe. Oddly enough, Blade Runner is much more cyberpunk than the book on which it is based, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick .
Little by little cyberpunk dried up and almost disappeared today. This subculture needs to reinvent itself and move away from our present which has joined science fiction on technological advances and social regressions. Our present is even becoming darker in many aspects. Unlike the retrofuturistic style ...
Reverse the cyberpunk trend and you have Steampunk.
So what do cyberpunk and steampunk have in common besides the ending? Well not much in terms of era, aesthetics or even the themes addressed. Of course technology is at the center of the genres, cyberpunk is about the future that could be, steampunk is about the past that could have been. But other than that the term was poorly chosen by KW Jeter . You probably know the story, he just wanted to make an impression and separate the genres.
The strength of Steampunk compared to cyberpunk is a timeless uchronia , although it is marked as taking place in the Victorian era. Thus it is easy to play with the codes of the industrial revolution, steam and gears and move all this into another universe. Another strength is the magic , the fantastic , included in steampunk . Everyone is aware that operating this machinery would have been impossible in the real Victorian era (automatons, computers etc ...). Fantastic and supernatural elements are often integrated into retrofuturistic science fiction without any problem. But what are the differences and similarities?
Uchronia and ideology, the common points of punk universes.
Uchronia def
The definition of uchronia : it is a narrative method that offers an alternative point of view of history, by imagining what would have happened if certain key events had been different. In uchronia, authors rewrite history by changing historical facts, famous people or historical events, to propose an alternative reality to our own history. This form of fiction allows us to explore the consequences of different choices on our present and our future, while offering an interesting perspective on our own history. Uchronia is therefore a tool for reflecting on history and the impact of our choices on our reality.
Core ideologies of alternative movements
These cultural movements have in common the fact that they propose alternative universes that invite us to reflect on our own reality. By proposing dystopias or retro-futurisms, they question our relationship with technology and history. They show how our current choices can have an impact on our future and propose visions of the world that can be worrying or inspiring.
Another common point is the community and the ideological breeding ground that gave birth to these dystopian universes. It is the refusal of conformity , of the consumerist world and of a dark vision of the future . Where cyberpunk warns that the future could be dehumanized and gives up, steampunk wants to be a little more optimistic and committed. It is possible to make things yourself, to recycle, to reuse and to be each responsible for your future, without waiting for someone to do the work for you.
Now let's look at neighboring universes which are most of the time sub-genres of cyberpunk or steampunk.
Dieselpunk
This type of science fiction is a product of the 21st century, starting around 2001, although various films and books have played with the idea for decades. The easiest way to describe Dieselpunk is steampunk where the technology of the Industrial Revolution is replaced by the combustion engine . The technology is newer and the appreciation for styles and worldviews are those of the late 1930s through the 1950s. Instead of giant airships made of wood and brass, think giant steel zeppelins .
The reference period is World War II , with all the clichés of the period sprinkled with fantasy. It's all about big, improbable machines and diesel engines giving off black smoke. Dieselpunk is much more present in cinema and television than in books, as in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow or The Rocketeer. There is, however, a growing contingent of novels, the best known of which is probably Scott Westerfeld 's Leviathans series.
Dieselpunk ends where peace and cold war takes place...
Atompunk
Yes, there is a genre for almost every decade of the 20th century. Atompunk takes mid-century modern, the nuclear revolution, and the space age of Sputnik and blends them all together to create something quite slick and shiny. The offbeat humor is more than welcome given this perilous, sometimes post-apocalyptic time where everything has been devastated.
The Fallout game series, animated series like Futurama, The Jetsons, and The Incredibles movies epitomize the genre. Orbit City from the animated series The Jetsons, is a great example of the genre. Atompunk has its own punk elements, taking place against the backdrop of McCarthyism , the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War. Technology was advancing rapidly and society was struggling to keep up, a sort of Cyberpunk without the transhumanism aspect in a way. The genre has fertile ground for reimagining these social struggles.
There is some question as to whether Atompunk is a synonym for Raypunk and Teslapunk . The main difference is that they don't usually involve nuclear power, but they have the same aesthetic. It's no surprise that they've been popular in recent years. There's also a real renaissance of mid-century modern architecture and design, so perhaps we'll see Atompunk grow in popularity?
Speaking of a tangy and colorful universe, here is another one...
The Dreampunk
An unclassifiable style quite different that takes root in the imagination and the world of dreams . The reference is like everything derived from steampunk from the Victorian era in the very famous Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. Another classic comes to mind, the Wizard of Oz by LF Baum.Dreampunk is therefore confusing or even crazy, we dress up as a mad hatter or Tinkerbell. The accessories come from magical universes and ultimately the only limit is our imagination.
These are colorful and surreal universes populated by mystical creatures, unicorns and dragons are quite well represented. Little by little they moved away from magic and got closer to technology, often mechanical. A kind of steampunk associated with the fairy world . A more recent example of these alternative worlds is Arthur and the Minimoys or the adaptations of Philip K. Dick 's novels (Total Recall, Minority Report or Blade Runner, well well). These works have in common the imagination, the conflict between dream and reality ... do the replicants have an imagination? Am I really "me" or the memories of another?
Biopunk
Biopunk is the biological cousin of Cyberpunk . They often take place in a very similar time period, or Biopunk is the successor to Cyberpunk. Metal and technology are replaced by biological hacking, genetic modification, and organic enhancement . Biopunk takes existential questions further than Cyberpunk. Technologies like genetic tracking, designer babies, and mass cloning are recurring themes. Welcome to Gattaca .
Cyberpunk is often about man versus machine, but biopunk addresses themes of man versus post-human . The big question biopunk asks is: where does the human end? When neither genre is taken to extremes, you can find biopunk and cyberpunk elements in the same setting.
But many writers imagine cyberpunk's cybernetic technology as the more primitive cousin of biopunk's bioengineering. Jurassic Park or Activision's game Prototype both embrace the implications of biopunk's bioengineering, but not its aesthetics. The Netflix short film Love Death & Robots is a recent example that embraces both technology and aesthetics.
Western punk or Cattlepunk
Different names for the same thing, the little-known category of science fiction dedicated to a retrofuturistic western , a Wild West that never existed. Many examples in this genre are underground, some gems and others a bit bizarre. If you would like the Lone Ranger to be equipped with improbable gadgets, the Cattlepunk genre may be for you.
The most famous example is Wild Wild West , which is technically the first steampunk TV series. Just imagine an alternative Wild West that has advanced technology, based on steam engines. Other examples of films in this genre are Cowboys & Aliens and of course the huge Back to the Future 3 .
That's it for this entire collection of often teeming universes, which compete in ingenious ideas and concepts. We have ignored the lesser-known, sometimes anecdotal ones that we will only mention briefly.
Subgenres in "Punk"
- Clockpunk : a steampunk with mechanical origins, like the Renaissance, which likes anachronistic mechanisms. Leonardo da Vinci is often found there as in the TV series Da Vinci's Demons or the game Assassin's Creed 2 .
- Decopunk : a sleek, shiny, and very art deco version of steampunk. Fantastic films or those with this aesthetic from the 30s are representative, such as Shadow (1994).
- Nanopunk : a version of cyberpunk close to biopunk where the central theme is nanobiology .
- Raypunk : very close or even similar to atompunk. This genre focuses on space and has little interest in atomic energy. Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon are very representative.
- Rococopunk : close to clockpunk and therefore steampunk, the aesthetic is that of the 18th century French rococo period. Widely used especially in fashion by Vivienne Westwood .
- Solarpunk : a subgenre of cyberpunk that goes against its model. The future is optimistic . The themes are ecology and social inequalities thanks to technology.
- Steelpunk : a modified dieselpunk where the technology would be closer to the 80s. The universe is often post-apocalyptic like in Snowpiercer or Terminator.
- Stonepunk : an anachronistic prehistory like in the Flintstones family which serves as a pretext for a satire of the current era associated with offbeat humor .
- Teslapunk : named after the famous inventor. A science fiction where magnetism and electrical energy are at the center of the story and visuals.
I hope you have discovered new universes beyond the cyberpunk style and the cyberpunk 2077 game, you just have to explore them. Thank you for reading ...
And see you soon, steampunkers, for a new article on the intoxicating world of Steampunk!
