Space and the Re-Purposing of Materials and Technology in William Gibson’s Neuromancer and Virtual Light Submitted by Grigorios Iliopoulos A thesis submitted to the Department of American Literature and Culture, School of English, Faculty of Philosophy of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English and American Studies. Supervisor: Dr. Tatiani Rapatzikou June 2020 Iliopoulos 2 Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between space and technology as well as the re-purposing of tangible and intangible materials in William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) and Virtual Light (1993). With attention paid to the importance of the cyberpunk setting. Gibson approaches marginal spaces and the re-purposing that takes place in them. The current thesis particularly focuses on spotting the different kinds of re-purposing the two works bring forward ranging from body alterations to artificial spatial structures, so that the link between space and the malleability of materials can be proven more clearly. This sheds light not only on the fusion and intersection of these two elements but also on the visual intensity of Gibson’s writing style that enables readers to view the multiple re-purposings manifested in thε pages of his two novels much more vividly and effectively. Iliopoulos 3 Keywords: William Gibson, cyberspace, utilization of space, marginal spaces, re-purposing, body alteration, technology Iliopoulos 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Tatiani Rapatzikou, for all her guidance and valuable suggestions throughout the writing of this thesis. I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents for their unconditional support and understanding. Iliopoulos 5 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements …..................................................................................................4 Introduction ….............................................................................................................6 Chapter One …...........................................................................................................14 Neuromancer: Aberrant Spaces and Malleable Materials 1.1. Space 1.1.1. The Visual Element as a Main Indicator of Space ….................14 1.1.2. Simulated & Artificial Spaces …................................................16 1.1.3. Flesh as a Confining Space ….................................................... 19 1.1.4. Fear of Empty Space ...................................................................22 1. 2. Re-purposing 1.2.1. Peripheral Spaces …....................................................................23 1.2.2. Upper Class Re-Purposing …......................................................25 Chapter Two …............................................................................................................27 Virtual Light: A Bridge Between Spaces and Purposes 2. 1. Space 2.1.1. The Visual Element as a Main Indicator of Space …..................27 2.1.2. Space as Valuable and Regulated Commodity ….......................29 2.1.3. Natural Anarchism and Organic Growth …................................32 2.1.4. Fractal Geometries …..................................................................36 2. 2. Re-purposing 2.2.1. Peripheral Spaces …....................................................................37 2.2.2. Brand Names as the Feeble Anchors Against Re-Purposing …..43 2.2.3. Religious Assimilation and Mysticism …...................................46 Conclusion….................................................................................................................49 Works Cited ….............................................................................................................52 Short Bio …..................................................................................................................56 Iliopoulos 6 Introduction This thesis focuses on the relationship between spaces and the re-purposing of materials and technology in William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) and Virtual Light (1993). More specifically, it explores the marginal spaces that can be found in the technologically advanced societies of the two novels and the material transformations these societies undergo. With cyberpunk constituting the theoretical framework the two novels under exploration emerge from, one can claim that the analysis provided in the current project serves as a lens through which marginal spatiality and re-purposing can be examined. Dani Cavallaro highlights this when she writes that “the cyber and the punk components of cyberpunk constantly interact to produce varying constellations of the relationship between the glossy world of high technology and the murky world of addiction and crime” (24). This “murky world” that Cavallaro mentions is the aberrant space that lacks limitations because it expands beyond central authority while it allows for continuous experimentations with the way technology and materials are combined. As regards the “glossy world of high technology,” one can claim that this world can mirror the recently digitalized world of the 1980s, the period during which both Neuromancer and Virtual Light were written in an attempt to shed light on the technological and socio-cultural changes already taking place. William Gibson’s Neuromancer was published in 1984 and won the Hugo, Phillip K. Dick, and Nebula awards. Apart from its critical acclaim, the work also sold millions of copies and consolidated the use of the term “cyberspace” which Gibson coined a few years earlier in his short story “Burning Chrome” included in his synonymous collection published in 1982. Neuromancer is considered by most the work that defined the still-hatching digital world of the 1980s and gave birth to cyberpunk along with its accompanying aesthetics. Iliopoulos 7 To truly understand the special touch with the 80s reality that the novel explores one needs to note Ken McLeod’s perception. The science-fiction writer and computer programmer at the time of the novel’s publication, advocated that the novel “projected from, and reflected back on, the world [he] lived and worked in” (“Neuromancer by William Gibson, book of a lifetime: An intricate and forgettable plot”). However, the novel did not only manage to gain its popularity due to its connection with the field suggests, because it responded was also tuned of informatics because of its subject matter and plot, but also, as McLeod suggests, because it responded to the need of programmers to visually represent their work. Gibson provided readers with a separate realm where digits and the electronic realm can be visually depicted, while also providing a footing to reality through the geography of the novel that corresponds to the readers’ world. Gibson’s cyberspace was unique in its approach because it managed to merge the field of informatics with everyday-reality while it gave to the conceptualization of cybernetics a brand new complexity and synthesizing ability in its attempt to respond to and capture everyday crises and concerns on a socio-cultural and political level. The novel was the first of the Sprawl trilogy and it was followed by Count Zero in 1986 and Mona Lisa Overdrive in 1988. The trilogy explored the futuristic and cyberpunk world that Gibson created in short stories like “Burning Chrome,” “Johnny Mnemonic,” and “New Rose Hotel” that were written before the publication of Neuromancer and were later assembled, along with other stories, in a collection also called Burning Chrome in 1986. Virtual Light was published almost a decade later in 1993 and was nominated for a Hugo award. The novel initiated the Bridge trilogy that was released during the 1990s with Idoru and All Tomorrow’s Parties following in 1996 and 1999 respectively. Virtual Light explores another cyberpunk world: yet, this time this is a near-future setting that feels much more familiar to the reader than the one appearing in Neuromancer while maintaining its cyberpunk aesthetics. Iliopoulos 8 Much like with Neuromancer, Virtual Light was also seen by critics as a work of science fiction deeply connected to the present reality rather than escaping from it. Tuten writes in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times that the work is full of “assumptions about the future extrapolated from conditions of present-day life” (“Where Things Have Gone Kaput: VIRTUAL LIGHT”). In Virtual Light, readers come across much more familiar settings of sprawling cities and inner city subcultures without the added complexities of cyberspace or outer space. This fits into Gibson’s writing that has attempted to bring his works closer to the present day reality, while still dealing with science fiction themes. Brian McHale has highlighted this relationship when he wrote that “[j]ust as postmodernism has borrowed ontological motifs from science fiction, so science fiction has in recent years begun to borrow from postmodernism” (Postmodernist Fiction 66), with Gibson’s works standing as a perfect example of the dialogue and intersection between these two areas of literary production. Nevertheless, the critical response1 to the novel was not as unanimous as was the case with Neuromancer and according to Ross Farnell there was a certain “silence” when it came to critics up until the publication of its sequel titled Idoru (459). This can possibly