Chapter 10

Pop Culture and

Online Expression

Online Communication

In this chapter, you will learn:

Definitions for popular culture and the artifacts of it;

The development of the cyberpunk literary genre;

The common themes of cyberpunk literature; and

Films that have demonstrated these themes.

Online Communication

Online Communication

popular culture:

a system of artifacts that shape our common understanding of the world

books magazines movies advertisements comics etc.

Online Communication

artifacts:

bits and pieces of human sense-making:

Literary depictions of technology

American public life may be defined as a struggle between two objectives: The machine as a metaphor for industrialization

The garden as a metaphor for work by human hands

cyberpunk:

1980s literary movement whose primary theme is the blurring distinction between humans and machines

The Rise and Fall of Cyberpunk

Mary Shelley & H.G. Wells

Bruce Bethke’s “Cyberpunk”

William Gibson’s “Gernsback Continuum”

Bruce Sterling’s Mirrorshades Anthology

Billy Idol & Johnny Mnemonic

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Themes in Cyberpunk Literature

The Weakness of Human Flesh

The Power of the Wired Corporation

The Pace of Human Life

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Online Communication

futureshock:

feelings of distress or disorientation resulting from excessive innovation and social change

Internet Era Movies

2001: A Space Odyssey

Tron

WarGames

Blade Runner

AI: Artificial Intelligence

The Matrix Trilogy

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Online Communication

meta-communication:

communication about communication

A Brief Review

1. What is popular culture?

2. What are some examples of artifacts?

3. Who influenced the development of cyberpunk?

4. What three themes emerge in cyberpunk literature?

5. What six films illustrate these themes in the

Internet era?

Online Communication