Something Is Broken in Our Science Fiction

WORKING

Konstantinou, Lee. “Something Is Broken in Our Science Fiction: Why Can’t We Move Past Cyberpunk?” ‘’SLATE’’ 15 Jan 2019.<https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/hopepunk-cyberpunk-solarpunk-science-fiction-broken.html?fbclid=IwAR2Vz11JHLV5QZi0Qp5p_O82Eu97IWaRxsDd3P32L-JQSZJzUx8xb2K7VfU>

On cyberpunk on “stories of the near future, focusing on the collision of youth subcultures, new computer technologies, and global corporate dominance”and more recent variations on the theme, including “steampunk, biopunk, nanopunk, stonepunk, clockpunk, rococopunk, raypunk, nowpunk, atompunk, mannerpunk, salvagepunk, Trumppunk, solarpunk, and sharkpunk (no joke!), among others. Most recently, my Twitter feed has been choked with discussions (and mockery) of hopepunk, after Vox published an article in December announcing its arrival. The term, coined by Alexandra Rowland, was meant to describe fiction that resists dystopian pessimism in favor of ‘DEMANDING a better, kinder world, and truly believing that we can get there if we care about each other as hard as we possibly can, with every drop of power in our little hearts.’”

RDE, Initial Compiler, 22Jan19, with thanks to John J. Pierce