Was "cyberpunk" a real subgenre?

[phantom power]

I claim that so-called "cyberpunk" authors have relatively little in common.

Or: "Cyberpunk" is neither "cyber" nor "punk"... discuss amongst yourselves...

[Kellanved]

1. it is a subgenre

Although I have to admit, a small one. I'd say lawless elements (punks?) living in a dark future heavily influenced by VR computer networks are more or less the basic idea.
On Edit:
The name comes from a story named "Cyberpunk"; forgot the author's name, but the story is on the net.

[phantom power]

2. That's not a bad definition.

By that definition, I would say that Neal Stephenson wrote only one cyberpunk book (Snow Crash).

Based on the authors that often get lumped into "cyberpunk", I would say that the only common theme would be an interest in computation, the relation between mind and machine, etc.

For instance, Greg Bear often gets tagged as "cyberpunk", although I've never agreed. Likewise for Neal Stephenson. I'd be interested to hear other people's definitions.

[Streetdoc270]

3. yes and still is

It has a vast following through the woulds of Movies (Johnney Neomonic, Matrix Trilogy) RPG's (Cyberpunk, Shadowrun) and table top gaming. You can see elements of cyberpunk in various sci-fi works as well

[NewHampshireDem]

4. Yes, it is ...

I would refer you to the anthology "Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Science Fiction"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0822311585/002-2854538-8920824?v=glance

The "cyber" part of the term is fairly easy to understand. I think most people are confused about the "punk" part. I would argue that the 'punk'-ness comes from the attitude toward authority and popular culture most genuinely cyberpunk works take.

Another link common to the cyberpunk genre is its reliance on and reinvention (or reimagining?) of the themes/archetypes/tropes of film noir.

Is cyberpunk alive or is cyberpunk dead? That, to me, is a more interesting question in our post-Matrix world. For me, The Matrix is to cyberpunk what Green Day is to punk music.

<on edit>
I would agree, however, that the term 'cyberpunk' is often mis-applied to just about any book or film that has technology as its central concern.

However, some critics argue that Frankenstein was the first cyperpunk novel. :shrug:

I once read an interesting literary journal article about the connection between cyperpunk and gothic literature--more specifically, Neuromancer as the classic "haunted castle" tale.

[goodhue]

5. yes

Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson -- they have a similar aesthetic accurately described as cyberpunk.

I also associate Philip Dick and Greg Bear with the genre, although neither admittedly fits squarely.

[phantom power]

6. I question the "common aesthetic" thesis.

Stephenson, Sterling, Gibson, etc, are all very different authors, who have each written a variety of different books. In the 80s, they all happened to be exploring some similar themes. SF themes come into and out of fashion, and virtual reality happened to be one of the fashionable themes during that time.

Maybe what I really disagree with is the idea that any "author" is cyberpunk. There are various authors who have written cyberpunk stories, but I cannot think of any author who I'd consider a cyberpunk author. Certainly, the authors featured in Mirrrorshades are all much more versatile than that. Any talented author would be too creative to be limited by such a narrow subgenre.

I think the posters in this thread have made a good case for cyberpunk as a subgenre. Any book having to do with virtual reality, and also having a noir atmosphere to it, would be reasonable to call cyberpunk.

One thing I think is interesting, is that compared to other SF subgenre's this one is quite specific. Subgenres like "Hard SF", or "space opera", etc, all embody a far wider variety of subjects and styles.