Authors

Discussion

The Same Old Future: New Russian Cyberpunk  

Aleksei Semenenko (Umeå University)

In my paper, I analyze a distinct group of the Russian TV series from 2023 that make use of the theme of alternate and/or retrofuturistic history. I focus on such series as Kiberderevnia (Cybervillage), Oliv’e i roboty (Olivier and Robots), Zakrytyi uroven’ (The Locked Level), Uzhasnoe daleko (The Terrible Future), Inye (The Others), etc. I examine them in the context of other Russian sci-fi films from 2023, and I also pay special attention to the videogame Atomic Heart (released in Cyprus in 2023). These productions represent a new “Russian cyberpunk trend” and are united in the way they exploit dystopian narratives, aesthetics of ruin and progressive technology, at the same time in different ways recycling Soviet cultural legacy.

One reason for popularity of this particular subgenre is the censorial control, restrictive laws and other oppressive mechanisms that significantly intensified during the last decade in Russia. Indeed, Russian culture of the recent decades has been oversaturated with remakes, nostalgic recollections, and revisionist narratives because they substitute natural development with the continuous recycling of the past. The cyberpunk genre can thus be viewed as a specific escapist trend that offers a metamodern take on reality in the situation when free creation is radically restricted.