TECHNOROMANTISM AND CYBERGOTICS IN THE CYBERPUNK LITERATURE

E. S. Shchekotova / Е. С. Щекотова

Abstract


In this paper, we study the post-humanist tendencies of the english-american popular culture, which are expressed in the images of cyborgs and postulate the characteristics of the sci-fi genre of cyberpunk. The image of cyborg here acts as the central mythologeme of cyberculture. We will try to reveal the dramatic and antagonistic nature of the prophetic visions of the evolution of mankind that lie at the heart of the literature of cyberpunk. We turn to the diverse contradictory meanings attributed to the fantastic hybrid creatures, using as the ideological basis the concepts of «technomantism» and «cybernetics», as well as the corresponding dominant and countercultural tendencies within the framework of cyberculture. Discourses of «technomantism» and «cybernetics» exist in parallel in many novels of cyberpunk, which provokes the formation of a schizoid and paranoid tunnel vision both among characters and readers. Dreams of the heroes of cyberpunk are concentrated around the figure of a cyborg, suffering from a narcissistic complex. In their quest for immortality, cyberpunks that have merged too closely with the machine have transformed their minds and bodies with digital technology, seem to have fallen prey to their own solipsism. They formed a movement that avoids any form of ideology, but which captures them instead in networks of their own conflicting beliefs.


Keywords


cyborg; posthumanism; cyberpunk; cyber culture; technoromantism; cybergothic

References


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TRANSLIT

Gibson U. Dzhonni Mnemonik. URL: http://lib.ru/GIBSON/johnmnem.txt. (data obrash-cheniya 23.03.17)

Sterling B. Skhizmatrica. Per. A. Etoeva, M. Pchelinceva, D. Starkova. URL: http://lib.ru/STERLINGB/shizmatrica.txt. (data obrashcheniya 20.03.17)

Alexander B. Cybergothic, The Uncanny Accultura-tion of the Internet. URL: http://mindjack.com/feature/cybergothic.html. (data obrashcheniya 07.04.17)

Cavallaro D. Critical and Cultural Theory. – London: A&C Black. – 2001. – 252 p.

Coyne R. Technoromanticism: Digital Narrative, Hol-ism, and the Romance of the Real. –Cambridge: MIT Press. – 2001. – 398 p.

Dinello D. Technophobia! Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology. – Austin: University of Texas Press. – 2013. – 341 p.

Graham E. L. Representations of the Post/human: Monsters, Aliens and Others in Popular Culture // Manchester Studies in Religion, Culture, and Gender. – Manchester: Manchester University Press. – 2002. – 259 p.

Miller K. Space Medicine. URL: http://science.nasa.gov/ headlines/y2002/30sept_ spacemedicine.htm. (data obrashcheniya 23.03.17)

More M. Beyond the Machine: Technology and Post-human Freedom. – Wien, New York: Ars Electronica Center, Springer. – 1997. URL: http://www.maxmore.com/machine.htm. (data obrashcheniya 25.03.17)


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