"More Human than Human." Race, Culture, and Identity in Cyberpunk

Abstract

This essay examines the representation of race, culture and identity in cyberpunk, a science fiction subgenre that emerged in the 1980s. Blade Runner, being the first film to visualise the cyberpunk genre onto the cinematic screen, influenced a wide range of science fiction works with its unique multicultural near-future city. This essay will examine how Blade Runner’s conflation of technology, dystopia, and ethnic diversity raises a number of questions concerning the effects of globalisation, immigration, and the loss of cultural identity. Cyberpunk’s increasing fascination with Japanese culture also became a point of concern for some theorists that argued that the incorporation of Far Eastern elements was a new form of the Yellow Peril. In order to counterbalance this argument, this essay will then examine the Japanese animation film Ghost in the Shell in order to compare Eastern and Western visualisations of the future. Ultimately, this essay determines to assess whether the notion of a multicultural and multi-ethnic future contributes to a bleak dystopian backdrop, or whether these films attempt to embrace cultural and ethnic diversity.