赛博朋克小说中的都市空间想象

The Visions of Urban Space in the Cyberpunk Fictions

诞生于20世纪后期的赛博朋克小说是当代英语科幻小说中最重要的亚文类之一,为当代科幻小说添加了特色鲜明的城市写作维度:它所聚焦的后现代大都会有着阴郁的旧色调,同时闪烁着信息通讯新科技的崇高之光。都市空间受到资本宰制,但仍为个人反叛留出缝隙,隐藏着突破和流变。城市既有物质形态的稳定性和固定边界,又叠加了虚拟空间的维度,指向加速与无限性。赛博朋克小说复杂的都市空间表征呼唤着我们对其进行综合性的解读,辨析它对城市文学传统的继承,对当代城市化进程新现象的关注,以及对未来都市发展的想象,而这种辨析可以更加深入地呈现赛博朋克小说从科幻文学角度对文化、现代性、资本、技术、身体性等人类栖息于城市空间中的重要议题的表征以及思考。

The cyberpunk fictions, as one of the most important subgenres in the contemporary science fictions, are marked by their idiosyncratic urban visions: the metropolitan space is both in nostalgic tune with the setting of noir fiction and silvered by the sublimity of advanced technology. Heavily molded by the forces of late capitalism, it still leaves lanes and backdoors open for personal rebellion. Cities, with their buildings and streets, are solid entities with fixed boundaries;however, the virtual dimension adds to it the potentiality of mobility and infinity. The complexity of cyberpunk urban representation thus demands a more comprehensive study. An investigation into the cyberpunk fictions’ ties with the tradition of urban writing, their concerns about the issues of contemporary urbanization and their representation of future metropolis, will manifest how the cyberpunk fictions, as the new trend of science fiction in the age of information and communications technology, envision the dynamic interaction of culture, modernity, capital, technology and body, which are the key factors defining urban spatial practices.