(no subject)

[mirrorshard]

Further to the paperblogging in my con report, there's a really interesting essay on steampunk & colonialism here.

There are basically two steampunks - I'll call them the Morlock and Eloi trends. The first is about all the incredibly cool things the Sons of Martha can do, hacking metallurgy and thermodynamics and then decorating the results with random twiddly bits Because You Can, while the second is about poncing around in interesting costumes with shiny brass accessories, and generally being a Victorian Gentleman (or Ungentle Lady).

They can both be read as responses to a highly abstracted technological environment, either knowingly (punk versus goth - react to an ontological threat by spitting in its eye, or by dancing on the volcano) or unknowingly (two different and equally valid ways of Having Fun).

I think there's some perceived difference in the nature of that ontological threat, though. To the Morlock trend, it's out to destroy their agency - their ability to build, modify, control, or subvert the world around them. I'm less sure about the Eloi, though. Anyone care to venture an opinion?

(crossposted from DW)

Comments

[redcountess]

Having a brief scan of the post you linked to, I would like to make the point that a lot of Steampunk, at least originally, seems to have been inspired by such Victorian ideals as invention and exploration. And while there was a lot of exploitation, Imperialism and "down 't pits", there were also a lot of people who were trying to make the world a better place for everybody, Dickens, Prince Albert, Brunel, etc. Steampunk seems to also has a lot to do with the frontier spirit of the Wild West in the USA.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

The attraction, for me, is that whole "Frontier spirit" ethos (also the reason why I love Joss Whedon's Firefly). We've run out of frontiers. There are no more places that are unknown. Nowhere left to explore. Everywhere has been settled, mapped, photographed and turned into a tourist destination.

[redcountess]

That's a big attraction for me, I love the Steampunk that Doc and the train was in Back To The Future III even though I don't think the term had been coined back then.