Hyperreality and Cultural Crisis in Nikesh Shukla’s Meatspace: A Post Cyberpunk Study

Abstract

This paper explores the moral and ethnic values of post-cyberpunk society. Globalization and technological advancement have transformed the concept of being human. Cyber technologies have created a new media culture landscape in which sounds and images shape political beliefs and social behavior, and serve as the foundation of individuals' identities. This paper compares several discourses associated with cultural crises in the post-cyberpunk milieu, as presented in Shukla's Meatspace, to argue against the romanticization of techno-culture. Within the framework of Baudrillard's hyperreality and Postman's technopoly, this paper investigates the representation of identity in techno-culture and finds how post-cyberpunk narratives in Shukla's Meatspace employ discursive strategies e.g. satire, allegory, and dystopian realism, to explore the complex and contradictory relationship between network communication and cultural values. Findings highlight the impact of network communication on society and culture, and how post-cyberpunk narratives challenge the dominant narratives of techno-utopianism, offering alternative visions of the future.