Guest Lecture by Lydia Balian

Neuromancer is a science fiction novel In the year it was published, Neuromancer

won the Nebula, the Hugo, and the Philip K. Dick awards in science fiction

Has been translated into numerous languages, including Magyar, Japanese, and Danish

Spawned an entire subgenre of science fiction: Cyberpunk

But who is William Gibson and what exactly is science fiction?

Brief Biography Born 1948 Moved to Vancouver, British Columbia at 19 to

avoid the draft for the Vietnam War Became interested in Sci-Fi literature while

working on a degree in English at the University of British Columbia

Published two short stories, “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Burning Chrome” before publishing his first novel, Neuromancer, in 1984 to popular and critical acclaim

Books by William Gibson: Official Website (1, 2)

Science fiction is notoriously difficult to define Numerous sub-genres, such as fantasy or horror General characteristics include:

Speculation based on current science or technology Setting in the future or alternate reality Setting in outer space Discovery or application of new or futuristic scientific

principles, i.e. time travel, nanotechnology, cyborgs, robots, etc. Molly’s retractable nails (24-25) and other cyborg

enhancements

Pulp Publishing Named for the cheap wood pulp paper it was

printed on Published from the 1920s-1950s Characteristic of most genre fiction including

detective/mystery, western, horror, fantasy/sword and sorcery, and science fiction

Pulp magazines often featured a variety of genres in the same publication (example)

How might Neuromancer qualify as a mixing of these genres?

The Paperback Revolution The paperback novel actually dates back to the early

19th century Paperback publishing techniques combined with pulp

materials creates new publishing revolution Book binding technique whereby pages are bound with

glue rather than stitches or staples Inexpensive to produce Audience for pulp magazines diminishes as buyers

purchase cheap books Allowed publication of full length novels in genre

fiction 1940s-today

Pre-Science Fiction Classic Golden Age New Wave and Feminist Cyberpunk

Precursors to sci-fi Mythology The development of science in the Age of Reason and

on through the nineteenth century Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Unparalleled Adventures of one

Hans Pfaal" The rise of new technologies such as electricity, the

telegraph, and new forms of powered transportation, began to influence writers such as: Jules Verne (Journey to the Centre of the Earth, From the

Earth to the Moon , and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea )

H. G. Wells (The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds) The phrase “scientific romance” is used in Britain

during the late 19th century to describe this kind of fiction

Examples of classic science fiction: Hugo Gernsback created Amazing Stories in

1926 Previously edited radio and electronics

magazines Began magazine of fiction specifically for popular

science enthusiasts He polls readers for title of genre, with the

phrase “science fiction” chosen (other possible titles: “scientific romance” or “scientification”)

Characteristics: “Space Opera” Artificial Intelligence and Mind/Body Split

Examples of “Golden Age” science fiction include: John W. Campbell and Astounding Science Fiction

Campbell discovers writers who will define the field of science fiction, such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Theodore Sturgeon

Isaac Asimov Foundation series and space opera

Ray Bradbury Martian Chronicles

Characteristics New Wave focus on “inner space” Experimentation in form and content 70s sci-fi preoccupied with social themes such

as race, gender, and sexuality 70s sci-fi also concerned with investigating

notions of “utopia” versus “dystopia” Examples of New Wave science fiction

include: New Worlds, edited by Michael Moorcock J.G. Ballard and inner space

Characteristics: Term cyberpunk coined by Bruce Bethke in short story of

the same name in 1980 Focus on cyberspace, a term coined by Gibson in 1982 Information technology as central preoccupation Focus on the marginalized and dispossessed (“outlaw

zones,” 11 and depiction of Zion, 103-104) Punk as worldview and writing style: disenchantment with

corporations, government corruption, surveillance technology

Examples of cyberpunk include: Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic,” “Gernsback Continuum,”

“Burning Chrome,” and Neuromancer Cyberspace in Neuromancer

“A year here and he still dreamed of cyberspace...”(4-5)

Manovich’s new media principle of transcoding and the effects of science fiction on society and vice versa

Innovation and technology Various media forms: literature, art, film

(Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic), television (Star Trek 1, 2 and Firefly 1), computer games (Neuromancer video game)

Science fiction community Conventions Clubs Organizations Fan fiction

If artistic creations are a response to our life and times, how do you think artists will respond in the future? Environment Biotechnology Nanotechnology

How will science fiction continue to influence society?

“Science Fiction.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 May 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

“Neuromancer.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 May 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer

Brouillette, Sarah. “Corporate Publishing and Canonization: Neuromancer and Science-Fiction Publishing in the 1970s and Early 1980s.” Book History 5 (2002): 187-208.