Elisa Beshero-Bondar PRO
Professor of Digital Humanities and Chair of the Digital Media, Arts, and Technology Program at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
Paolo Bacigalupi's
The Windup Girl
biopunk SF
Won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2009
"Grimy post-ecocrunch near-future dystopia in which peak oil peaked ages ago, and the most cherished source of energy is measured in the tightly regulated calories… If you like worldbuilding, this novel’s vision… makes Blade Runner look like it was shot on plywood backdrops in someone’s garage"
— SF Reviews.net
For another comparison with Blade Runner, see https://www.sfsite.com/10a/wg329.htm
cyberpunk
- portmanteau word that fuses “cybernetics” and “punk”:
- A subset of science fiction of the 1980s and 90s that focuses on information systems, virtual realities, cyberspace networks.
- Not quite dystopian, bc society is not coherently organized, and is often on the brink of upheaval
- almost always pessimistic about the not-too-distant future.
- Early examples:
- William Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic” and Neuromancer (1980s)
- Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and The Diamond Age (1990s)
From cyberpunk...to biopunk
(and other punks)
-
Biopunk (hijacking the genetic source code...)
-
Retro futurism
More punk SF forms: http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/guide_to_sci_fi_punks
Even more, if you're not tired...
https://litreactor.com/columns/punkpunk-a-compendium-of-literary-punk-genres
ngaw, durian fruits of SE Asia
(lychee, rambutan)
Lonely Planet Travel Guide Vid Intro
Bangkok Flooding
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/bangkok-streets-flood-after-torrential-rain-9311380
Retro-Futurism
Sometimes, I think we're living the last days of Ayutthaya all over again"
(Jaidee, the Tiger of Bangkok, p. 66)
The Windup Girl
By Elisa Beshero-Bondar
