Writing Blog Number 2

20241214 Punk Genres

Punk Genres

A question was posed on a Discord server – what Solarpunk writing was, and this brought up a whole heap of other “Punk” writing styles. What a great idea for a blog post!

What is a “Punk” genre?
In its simplest terms, a punk genre takes the technology of a time and extends it across society, and yet treats it as if technology stopped at that point in time. The first was cyberpunk, and steampunk followed (though some argue this order should be reversed), and now we have way too many.
         This, therefore, is just a list of the punk types I’ve found! (In alphabetical order because I am nothing if not organised…) I will also indicate my experiences with each.
         The best punk writing, though, does not just look at the tech, but also at how a society would have been impacted by that tech, how the people would think differently to us. It is what makes a good punk story sing… and a bad one sink.

Anthropunk (also Furpunk)
A form of Biopunk where the biotech has combined humans and animals to create real-life furries. This is new. This is apparently huge in ao3 furry writing communities.
example: Have not seen anything in this vein.

Apunkalypse
According to TV Tropes, any story set in a post-apocalypse world.
example: Any Mad Max film after the first one. I have written a couple of these.

Atompunk (or Atomipunk)
The future as imagined by the people of the 1950s, based around nuclear powered everything.
example: The cartoon The Jetsons.
         Teslapunk is a modern iteration based around battery-powered electricity in everything, but is very new to the scene.

Biopunk
A world where biological hacking, deliberate mutations, organic enhancements, et al. are the norm. This is almost an antithesis to cyberpunk.
example: the book and film Jurassic Park at its base level. I have tried this once, and failed dismally, as in the story was awful.

Bronzepunk (also Sandal Punk)
Bronze Age technologies built into a retrofuturistic civilisation. Egypt and Greece are the most commonly used bases. Also often includes magic, and the reality of their deities.
example: the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films. I have written a little bit of this.

Capepunk
This is the aesthetic that examines a world where superheroes are real, and it is treated seriously. Becoming more popular.
example: the graphic novel Marvels, showing the early years of the Marvel superheroes from the PoV of a photographer who doesn’t know them. Really good.

Castlepunk (also Middlepunk)
The technology of the Middle Ages is where the world stopped advancing.
example: the 1999 Christopher Lambert version of Beowulf.
         Plaguepunk narrows the time down to between Black Death and Renaissance eras.

Clockpunk
This one is easy – Steampunk in a clockwork only world.
example: the film Hugo.

Cyberpunk
Set in a not-too distant future, this is not just about the computer technology and computer-organic hybridisation, but also the dystopian government systems, the depression of the populace, and the rise in crime. Nearly always dark and dirty.
example: one of my favourite films – Blade Runner; the books of William Gibson are the bibles of the genre. I tried but never completed even a short in this.

Dieselpunk
The technology from the end of World War One to the middle of World War Two taken to an extreme. Tends toward war-based stories and pessimism.
example: the film Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow.
         Decopunk is at the same time, but things look more Art Deco, not as dirty, and there is less war emphasis.

Dreadpunk
Pre-20th century horror settings. The technology is as it is, but the supernatural elements that came to the fore in literature are emphasised.
example: book and film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I have written a couple of shorts in this, and some novellas.

Ecopunk (also Greenpunk)
A form of Solarpunk, but really looking only at the sensitive use of and the co-living with the natural world. Very vegan.
example: I have not even seen anything in this genre. Sorry.

Magic-Punk (also Arcanepunk or Aetherpunk)
When magic is used in technology, in a setting very reminiscent of Dungeons And Dragons but with advanced weapons.
example: the depiction of Asgard in the Thor movies.
         Dungeonpunk is this with a more swords and sorcery vibe, so more basic weapons, but weird magical technologies.

Modernism Punk (also Formicapunk or Cassette Futurism)
The future as seen through the lens of the 1970s or 1980s. Blocky and big in all aspects, but smooth and curved. Computers everywhere, all of them very basic and simple, yet also rather complex.
example: the look of the décor in the film Soylent Green, everything about Logan’s Run.

Nanopunk
Nanotechnology taken to the extreme level. Unlike cyberpunk, very clean and shiny, yet still has the technology-human hybridisation. Very new genre, and it is still in a state of flux, finding its feet, as it were.
example: Michael Crichton’s book Prey seems to be the main one.

Oceanpunk {also Piratepunk)
A flooded world and the technology required to live and exist in that situation.
example: Kevin Costner’s film Waterworld.

Solarpunk
Environmentally friendly technologies dominate this. There is more a sense of hope in Solarpunk, and the designs are usually more in tune with nature. Often depicted after a climate catastrophe.
example: I could look this up, but that would be disingenuous as I have not read any solarpunk. Sorry.
         Lunarpunk is a Gothic form of Solarpunk, darker and with Wiccan/ pagan imagery throughout. Tidalpunk is Solarpunk at sea, Oceanpunk with hope.

Spacepunk
This is space opera science fiction, but which takes its aesthetic deliberately from Star Wars and its ilk. Probably ironic.
example: the film Battle Beyond The Stars (The Magnificent Seven in space).

Steampunk
This is Victorian Era technology of steam engines, clockwork, cogs & gears, hot-air balloons, et al. taken to an extreme level. I love me a good Steampunk story. They tend towards the British or, at least, European settings.
example: the not very good film Wild Wild West with Will Smith and Kevin Kline has amazing steampunk creations all through it. Not only have I written this, but had a short story accepted. Fun to write.
          Silkpunk is steampunk in a Far East setting, around Japan and China, and there is a lot more gunpowder and terracotta creations. Cattlepunk is steampunk in the American Wild West.

Stonepunk
Stone age technology is where stonepunk stops. Often dinosaurs did not become extinct in these worlds, either.
example: simple – The Flintstones. Written some of this, but did not take it seriously.

And finally there is one that it seems is being forced down our throats:
Hopepunk
This was created, essentially, in 2017 by Alexandra Rowland who says it focuses on “resistance and activism through hope, optimism and positivity.” She says also, “that in this world of brutal cynicism and nihilism, being kind is a political act“. It is yet to be taken up by others seriously, as far as I can tell.

And that is a list of punk genres!