The Reinterpretation of Death in Cyberpunk Culture: Some Religious Tropes

Abstract

The article explores religious components in understanding death in Cyberpunk genre of the mass culture. Authors working in this genre tried to change and rethink the inherited sci-fi themes, which were deeply connected to a certain cultural code. In particular, previous works of mainstream art largely followed the Christian traditional view of death as a chance to attain resurrection and eternal life. On the contrary, the cyberpunk, influenced by both Oriental teachings and a certain crisis within the (post-) Christian western culture, offered alternative understanding of death as a «liberation», an escape from the inevitably imperfect material world.