Cyberpunk as a means of expressing high-tech counterculture formation

Abstract EN

The dystopian vision of a world dominated by digital technologies embodies the fear of the uncontrolled development of science and technology and its possible consequences.

Cyberpunk writers wonder what transformations society can undergo under the influence of modern technologies and whether these changes will be beneficial.

This research presents an overview of cyberpunk as a sub-genre of science fiction in 1980 s.

It defines cyberpunk and its main parts „cyber‟ and „punk‟ according to its four founders: Bruce Bethke, Gardner Dozois, Bruce Sterling and William Gibson.

It explains the domain of cyberpunk and the characteristics that make it different from the previous movements.

The research also sheds light on post-cyberpunk the subsequent movement in 1990 s.

It studies the specific images of the depicted worlds and the problem of the heroes inhabiting them constitutes one of the possible, though not very optimistic, variants of the future.

The visions of the technologized future designed by cyberpunk authors can be interpreted both as an expression of a fascination with technical innovations and anxiety towards the socio-cultural changes to which these inventions may contribute.