Solarpunk Cyborgs against Cyberpunk’s Pessimism

The Evolution of the Feminist Cyborg Archetype from Moxyland, to “Solar Child” and “For the Snake of Power”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/reden.2023.4.2062

Keywords:

feminist cyberpunk, solarpunk, feminist cyborg, STEM female cyborgs

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which some female-authored solarpunk stories employ cyborg models developed by feminist cyberpunk fiction in order to continue with its traditional role of liberating/liberated ontological subject. The text explores contemporary critical readings of cyberpunk fiction and analyzes Lauren Beukes’ Moxyland (2008), Camille Meyers’ “Solar Child” (2017), and Brenda Cooper’s “For the Snake of Power” (2018) and analyzes the way in which embodied and disembodied female cyborg subjectivities are represented. The article argues that although solarpunk has abandoned the classic cyberpunk idea of subversion in cyberspace, some of the techno-human alliances instigated by it have remained, either developing physical cyborgs liberated from the biological limitations of materiality, as in Meyers’ story, or representing STEM-experienced women who cooperate with AIs in order to fight against capitalism’s material structures of power.

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Published

2023-05-15

How to Cite

Rivero-Vadillo, A. (2023). Solarpunk Cyborgs against Cyberpunk’s Pessimism: The Evolution of the Feminist Cyborg Archetype from Moxyland, to “Solar Child” and “For the Snake of Power”. REDEN. Revista Española De Estudios Norteamericanos, 4(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.37536/reden.2023.4.2062

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Special Dossier