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Definition of cyberpunk? Matrix-y will do. Everyone's mad for gnosticism these days so that may well be the zeitgeist flavour of sci-fi. I'm sure someone can come up with a better overview of cyberpunk, but basically it's a sci-fi genre that tends to have the following common elements: set on earth, in a near-future, with a cynical view of society at the time (distopia rather than utopia), an antihero/rebel figure, friction between technology and human interest, friction between mainstream and underworld. Stylistically, the stories are often delivered in a 'punchy' style with impactful sentences and memorable imagery.
If this genre is going to be updated, what the magazine is looking for is a fictional focus on what kind of subculture/underworld we've got kicking around now. So far, contributions have bounced off current club culture and contemporary drugs available. We don't mind if the stories are dystopian or utopian in nature. What we're looking for is stories that break genre boundaries while still bouncing off from some common elements.
There is a theory that, in sci-fi films, the 'futuristic' look - especially in utopian settings - often echoes what rich people would most like to have in their houses during the period in which the film was made. For example, Woody Allen's 'Sleeper' is very sleek seventies interior design (ditto 2001), while, ahem, 'Spy Kids' has a bubbly ergonomic look like the buttons on mobile phones. This is just an example, but we do tend to bounce off our present when envisioning a future 
So what have we got now? Kaleidoscape travellers, mainstreamers and undergrounders dressed alike in urban streetwear like a skate army, pastoral idealism of benders and outdoor parties sometimes against and sometimes in conjunction with mass technical saturation with peer2peer downloading, internet and mobile phones. Terrorism, shaky finance, cloning... these are interesting times.
Cyberpunk often featured nanotechnology, synaesthesia, cyborgs - are these still future possibilites that interest us? If so, how do they feature in our contemporary visions of the future?
It's a sketchy answer but I hope this is of some help to youse... |
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