Post-apocalyptic

General info: Post-apocalyptic is the subgenre of Sci-Fi that usually takes place in the future where a past civilization has experienced some devastating event, but civilization continues amidst the ashes of the old. What is left of surviving humanity attempts to continue its existence, settle down and again become the master of the earth. There are usually a number of obstacles to this, whether its zombies, mutated creatures, lack of water, food, resources, criminal gangs, climate change, and so on. The term “Post-apocalyptic” was first used in fiction in 1978 by the American critic Alan Frank in the magazine SciFiNow. The term, however, came into heavy use at the turn of the 1990-2000s.
Post-Apocalyptic fiction has a number of established characteristics. Society is usually regressed, and there is very little in the way of a central government. Rural communities or feudal farms produce food. People organize themselves into small, often stratified communities.
Urban settlements remain as centers of trade and commerce, but could also be taken over by criminal syndicates or petty overlords. Teams of scavengers root around in the crumbling centers of old to look for lost relics and resources.
Wild tribes, sometimes consisting of feral or mutated people and usually living in deserts, mountains, or other inaccessible areas of the country, hunt any trespassers on their territory.
Isolated high-tech compact communities formed on the basis of large military bases, old universities, orbital stations, or shelters created specifically to survive the world-destroying catastrophe, usually remain relatively civilized, but often have their own internal struggles.

Cultural overview: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Susan Orain Olan, Peter George, George-R-Stewart, Walter Miller, Russell Hoban, John Wyndham, Ursula K. Le Guin, Roger Joseph Zelazny. Works about the global catastrophe gained wide popularity after World War II due to fears about the use of nuclear weapons, but such themes could be seen in works of the 19th century. Their logical continuation was the idea that, after all, not everything will die out after the apocalypse and it became interesting how the world and humanity will seem after a global catastrophe.

Meaning: The stories of the global catastrophe gained widespread popularity in the mid to late 20th century due to concerns about the use of nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, writers began to raise the topic of what could be after Armageddon and how people could survive in such conditions.

Most used keywords: #Mutated people #Mutated animals #Mutated plants #destroyed cities #gangs #wild tribes #newmiddleage #Supercomputer reign #Alien domination #Underground civilization #Biker #Artifacts of a lost civilization #Vast deserts #Building ruins

Distinctive traits of symbols: In Post-apocalypse, there is an atmosphere of desolation, a style that carries a mood of desperation, loneliness and horror alongside images of aged and abandoned technology or civilization. An important part of environmental design in post-apocalyptic environments are these elements. Vast deserts in the place of previously inhabited civilization. Abandoned, partially destroyed cities, enterprises, military facilities. Territories that were previously on land, but as a result of a disaster flooded by the sea. Buildings and man-made objects on the seabed. Mutated people, animals, plants, whole mutant forests. Numerous artifacts of a lost civilization, some dangerous, some useful, but usually just serving as a background for the narrative.