I coined the term 'Informationist Science Fiction'. That was based upon literary theory. Now I offer you Infopunked Clarkean Magic Realism: a fusion of Clarke's dictum, the Suvinian novum, infopunk, and magic realism. This time my offering is by way of practice, not theory.
Do I have the cred to offer this? I don't really care overmuch, but: yes. I probably do.
I have PhD in philosophy and an MPhil (HD) from The University of Sydney. The Absurdity Engine is my second fiction novel. I have an advanced psychology degree. (Grad Dip Psych. Adv. Level 8.)
I don't think I will worry about credentials. Nor should you. The offering is coherent. It has some joy of discovery and some depth of scholarly coherence bound up in it.
I am not going to explain anything in depth. Here it is in plain-speaking terms for everyone to grasp.
Literary theorist Darko Suvin coined the concept of the science fiction novum. A Suvinian novum is any plot device in any science fiction which is based upon innovation and technology. Le Guinn's ansible. Gibson's godshatter. It's closely related to the concept conveyed by the dictum of Arthur C. Clarke. That dictum says that any technology sufficiently advanced will appear as if it were magic.
So that's the novum and Clarke's dictum explained.
An infopunk is what you are if you are awash with information and bathed in an ocean of bandwith and signals, but you don't really have good epistemic access (knowing access) to the information which is really important to you. You're a punk. An infopunk.
Cyberpunk was about being surrounded by technology but not understanding it and being subjected to abuse by people using said technology. Infopunk is about having the same problem with massive doses of information, disinformation, and misinformation: drowning in an ocean of information that is often being used to subvert your will, dupe you, and remove your agency as an individual or group.
Magic realism is what it has been since Rushdie perfected it with Midnight's Children and Gaiman made it into a timeless art form with American Gods. It's when the banal everyday world meets genuine magic for no particular reason. So, with Clarkean magic realism there's not no particular reason. There is a particular reason and the reason is naturalistic science and technology.
Gravity shielding, levitating bikes and skateboards, brain implants that give one superhuman powers, whole body printers, and artificial general intelligence. These are a few of our favourite things.
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