Writing Blog Number 2

20241217 Punk Genres II

More Punk Genres

So, I did a column about different punk genres ("20241214 Punk Genres" ), and it turns out there are some I have not heard of, let alone read. Generally. Okay, some I’ve read, but didn’t know they were a punk. Or maybe they’ve been renamed because it is trendy.
         Of all the arts, writers are up there with film-makers and TV creators in chasing trends.

Afro-futurism (or Afropunk)
While the term Afropunk refers to music, it is now being used with the literature as well. It is basically a future based around black African culture. To be honest, what little I have read is standard science fiction (maybe verging on Solarpunk) set in the African diaspora.
example: the comic and film Black Panther.

Atlantopunk
As the name suggests, a world where Atlantis exists in one form or another. This is one of those that I think has just had “punk” added to it.
example: the TV show Stargate: Atlantis was the example given me, but I think the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire might also qualify. I have tried but not completed a single story in this.

Conspiracy Punk (also Conspiropunk)
This is one I have read, where conspiracy theories (or things believed to be conspiracy theories) are true in a world.
example: interestingly, The Da Vinci Code is considered a part of this punk. I have written some shorts in this.

Covidpunk
Stories set after a COVID or COVID-like disease devastation. This is very new, yes, but is the current “thing” in science fiction and alternate history circles. For the record, these stories do not include diseases that turn people into zombies, vampires or the like.
example: while I am inclined to include an unpublished work of my own (yes, I have written a covidpunk story which I am exceedingly happy with!), I am more inclined to go wider and look at a modern post-disease film, like Outbreak.

Infopunk
This is cyberpunk, although the look is cleaner, but with the technology of the 1980s and 90s and nothing beyond that, no extrapolation, no technological advancements – floppy disks, CD-ROMs, dot-matrix printers, cables everywhere, that sort of aesthetic.
I have no example.

Metapunk
This is apparently a form of cyberpunk, but involves the metaverse – all the action and everything is contained within the online world. It is relatively new.
example: While new, it is claimed the film Tron is its progenitor.

And so there are a few extra “punk” concepts in the art world!