Do the Punks of Science Fiction Limit Author’s Originality?

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I was reading a good article the other day at Slate.com about the punk subgenres of science fiction. Much of what the article said about these subgenres was not good. But I still found it very informing and if you’re new to punk sci fi such as steampunk, diesel punk or atompunk, I suggest you take a look at it because it’s a good introduction to this category of science fiction subgenres. I did agree in part with what the article’s writer, Lee Konstantinou, was saying and so that the punk subgenres have been misused. He basically says that these subgenres work off of the template, or formula, that comes from cyberpunk, the first punk category in sci fi that started in the 1980s. The formula consists of the protagonist rebelling against the ruling system of power and its influence on society. Konstantinou says that such a formula constrains original storytelling. However, like the science fiction genre it branches from, a punk subgenre doesn’t necessarily constrain a writer’s storytelling but simply reflects their literary interest.

Doesn’t the genre that a subgenre comes from have its own formula of a sort, a collection of conventions (not the live events with panels and cosplay!)? I mean, romance has to have certain conventions that distinguish it as its own genre, the main one being passionate love between two people. Mystery has its conventions of solving crime, and fantasy has its own which consists of events centred around magic and the supernatural. Science fiction in general, and so the genre as a whole as opposed to the subgenres within it, has its conventions that mostly pose a “what if” situation in science, for example what if aliens came to Earth or what if computers gained consciousness.

The conventions that make up a genre and the subgenres within it often form from authors sharing a certain interest in fiction. Then book retailers will use these categories of fiction to make it easier for readers to find the books they’re interested in. Authors will write regularly in a certain genre such as science fiction or horror because that’s what they inclined toward in their reading while growing up. Yet if they read a variety of genres then they will probably bring their own unique stories to the genre they specialise in. 

Now let’s see how these conventions work in the punk subgenres such as cyberbpunk, steampunk, atompunk, diesel punk, solar punk, clockpunk, punkpunk. By the way, all of these are real subgenres except that last one, which if it ever does get coined in science fiction it will probably have brought the whole idea of punk literature full circle back to where it started: the rock counterculture scene that spoke out against mainstream rock and the music industry that favoured it in the 1970s because of the profit it brought in. But back to what I was saying, each of these punk subgenres have their own conventions that are unique to it. For example, cyberpunk is often set in in a bleak, dystopian future when mega-corporations control every aspect of life through computer technology and the protagonist hacks into that technology in retaliation. Steampunk often uses an alternative Victorian period or retro future setting where steam technology is used and is far more advanced than it was in real life. For example, trains that can fly.

In stories from these science fiction subgenres the protagonist often rebels against the corruption of a ruler who controls the technology and the protagonist uses similar technology to retaliate. The use of this kind of convention in punk sci fi is often a comment on modern day society. Yet, as Konstantinou indicates, each of these punk subgenres have their own political ideas that drive their rebellious themes

Like cyberpunk, these new sci-fi punk movements combine genre conventions and political attitudes. If you’re a hopepunk, for example, you’re the sort of person who commits to remaining optimistic in the face of a bleak or dystopian world, unlike your “grimdark” opponents. Solarpunks, meanwhile, proclaim their commitment to “ingenuity, generativity, independence, and community” and oppose the nihilistic tendencies of cyberpunk and the reactionary tendencies of steampunk.

If this is the case, then how can they be using the same formula as cyberpunk has? Also, if the author brings his/her own story based on personal experiences to the punk subgenre that they’re writing within, the conventions will hardly if at all limit their creativity. In fact, the story may be so unique that it might trigger other punk subgenres which is how many of these punk styles of science fiction started, at least in part. 

Even though subgenres such as the punks of sci fi have been misused or overly depended on, they are a reflection of author and reader interests and do not have to determine narrow, formulaic writing. Therefore they do not have to limit the author’s creativity provided that the author writes according to her own vision on life. The real problem arises when publishers exploit these science fiction subgenres putting profit before good storytelling. Doing that can suppress the great work of authors that may be unclassifiable within science fiction and, for all the publishers know, may end up being best-sellers. So it would rob the author from having his unique work published, the reader who may like it and even the narrow-minded publisher who might make far more profit from it than from books of the current trends.

Do you believe the punk subgenres of science fiction are limiting new ideas in the genre?

Until next time . . .