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20.6.09

Kataryniarz... (Część V)

POKAŻ/UKRYJ SPIS TREŚCI | POKAŻ/UKRYJ TREŚĆ NOTKI

Polish Neo–partitional Politpunk ― a Case Study of The fucked–up fate of an Organ–grinder (pl. Pieprzony los Kataryniarza) by Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz as an Exemplar of Domestic Cyberpunk

IV. CASE STUDY ― THE FUCKED–UP FATE OF AN ORGAN–GRINDER

The fucked–up fate of an Organ–grinder by Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, a conservative journalist, television anchor, science fiction and mainstream writer, is a spiritual successor to Polish political/social (science) fiction, while also belonging to Polish cyberpunk. A. Mazurkiewicz acknowledges the existence of this peculiar sub–genre:

Politpunk is its own, marginal sub–genre, though it remains connected with "political fiction". The author of the term ― Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz ― lists the following features of politpunk: "a Polish setting, references to latest history and a punk fashion of describing reality." [...] Thus understood, politpunk would be first and foremost a description of a certain distinctly Polish sub–genre of science fiction, which I propose could be called partitional science fiction (or ― as Wojciech Orliński would have it ― neo–partitional science fiction). (15)

The neo–partitional (pl. neo–rozbiorowa) adjective refers to Poland being partitioned off to neighboring countries by force or as a result of conspiracy. Such laid–out topography rejects American frontier discourse and, in consequence, the cowboy figure. This foreign partition/Poland dichotomy resembles the nature/civilization dichotomy of American discourse to a much greater extent than that of old America/Western frontier. The protagonist ― Robert ― is not a cowboy figure by any stretch of the imagination. Not unlike Zajdel's protagonist Sneer, Robert is more of a shepherd figure; forced to negotiate between partitions/Poland as if he were negotiating between oppression/freedom. The topography of the West is substituted for a topography of the last bastion ― Robert is forced to apply his sophisticated knowledge to "hack" the political system in order to remain true to his political and moral creed. He hopes to achieve the minimum negotiable political and moral independence ― although his fate as an Organ–grinder is fucked–up and he will be inevitably forced into conformity. In a more post–cyberpunk fashion, he uses his "hacking" skills not against the system, but for the system ― though against his preferred vision of Poland.

In a somewhat Polish, cynical fashion, Ziemkiewicz attempts to demythologize cyberpunk and liberate it from distinctly American discourse. When asked if he considers himself part of the cyberpunk tradition, Ziemkiewicz replies:

No. I couldn't care less about this pathetic punk, social filth, cyber–drunkards and others of that sort. I believe that the interesting activities within the society involve the elite, and not the drop–outs. I look with interest upon the aristocracy, and not the tramps, whose lives are as mundane as those of livestock. There is an obsessive cult of the drop–out within the older generation, visible [in science fiction] in the writings of Oramus, or, in the mainstream, in the writings of Stasiuk ― a mere no–good drunkard is automatically considered to be an arbiter elegantiarum. I consider this to be an aberration, not unlike cyberpunk's fascination with underage gangs and the outcasts of the urban jungle. (16)

Ziemkiewicz's positive approach towards the elites (meritocracies) of mainstream society is a reevaluation of cyberpunk discourse from a post–cyberpunk perspective. Though Gibson's Neuromancer was published in Poland only two years earlier, Ziemkiewicz's novel, though aesthetically somewhat similar, is a clear counterpoint to Neuromancer's American discourse. The romanticized cyberpunks of American discourse are reduced in Ziemkiewicz's novel to mere anarchists and trouble–mongers:

― I've read about some affair involving hackers. ― The press often confuses them with cyberpunks. But they're an entirely different lot: snotty blokes who simply destroy data in a blind rage, distribute viruses, stomp the root sector of the Net, you know, try to deal as much damage without getting caught. A form of cyber–terrorism really. (17)

Not only does Ziemkiewicz reevaluate the image of the cyberpunk, he also renders useless the image of the hacker itself. In the novel, true hackerdom is no longer possible. Robert is not a hacker, but an Organ–grinder (pl. Kataryniarz) ― his profession thus named because navigating the VR interface resembles operating the street organ. Such a comparison does not hold positive connotations:

Period literature often represents the grinder as a gentleman of ill repute or as an unfortunate representative of the lower classes. Newspaper reporters would sometimes describe them cynically or jocularly as minor extortionists who were paid to keep silent, given the repetitious nature of the music. (18)

Confined to their VR consoles for hours without end, the Organ–grinders are a profession of passive information brokers. Because their consoles are state– or business–owned, Organ–grinders are dependent on influential, sociopolitical third parties. This capitalist dependency is also a feature of American cyberpunk, although Neuromancer leaves the possibility of operating as an independent contractor. In Ziemkiewicz's novel, the fucked–up fate of Organ–grinders is their inevitable dependency on omnipresent, mafia–structured third parties. The Organ–grinders are not left with much freedom, and therefore there is nothing romantic/Western in navigating the Net:

The same convention obliged all users of the Net to use fixed and instantly retrievable ID codes. Anonymity in cyberspace was gone. And with it was gone the hackerdom of old movies, when one could hack the Pentagon network and nick some top–secret documents. Not any more. (19)

(15) Translated from: Mazurkiewicz... p. 99:
Jako zjawisko osobne i marginalne, choć pozostające w związku z "political fiction", należy traktować nurt określany mianem "polit–punkowego". Autor tego określenia ― Rafał. A Ziemkiewicz ― jako wyznaczniki "politpunku" wyróżnia: "polskie realia, nawiązania do historii najnowszej i punkowy sposób przedstawiania rzeczywistości." [...] Tak rozumiany "politpunk" byłby ― przede wszystkim ― określeniem pewnego specyficznie polskiego nurtu "science fiction", który można byłoby (roboczo) nazwać "fantastyką rozbiorową" (bądź ― za Wojciechem Orlińskim ― "neorozbiorową").
(16) Translated from an interview with R. A. Ziemkiewicz:
Nie. W ogóle mnie nie obchodzi ten nieszczęsny punk, margines społeczny, cyber–żule i inne takie. Uważam, że to co się dzieje interesującego w społeczeństwie, dzieje się wśród elity, a nie mętów. To arystokraci są ciekawi, w życiu meneli nie ma nic więcej, niż w życiu bydła w oborze. W starszym pokoleniu zaznacza się jakiś taki obsesyjny kult lumpa, u nas widać to u Oramusa, w głównym nurcie na przykład u Stasiuka ― byle zapity obszczymurek to dla nich z punktu arbiter elegantiarum. Jest to dla mnie jakaś aberracja, chyba podobna do zafascynowania cyberpunku młodzieżowymi gangami i wyrzutkami wielkomiejskiej dżungli.
(17) Translated from Pieprzony los Kataryniarza, p. 124:
― [...] czytałem o jakiejś aferze z hakerami.
― Prasa czasem ich myli z cyberpunkami. Ale to zupełnie inna sprawa: gówniarze, którzy po prostu niszczą zbiory, na ślepo, rozprowadzają wirusy, zadeptują obszary systemowe sieci, no wiesz, starają się zrobić jak najwięcej zamętu i nie dać się złapać. Taka odmiana cyberterroryzmu.
(18) Wikipedia, Organ grinder, retrieved on 19.06.2009.
(19) Translated from Pieprzony los Kataryniarza, p. 123:
Ta sama konwencja narzuciła wszystkim użytkownikom sieci obowiązek posługiwania się stałym i dostepnym na każde życzenie kodem identyfikacyjnym, ID. Skończyła się anonimowość w cyberprzestrzeni. A z nią skończyło się takie hakerstwo jak w starych filmach, że tam ktoś się włamuje do komputera Pentagonu i podbiera tajne dokumenty. Nie te czasy.

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