Thankfully, most people who enjoy the genre probably know better than to fall for that, but does this adoration of the past help their cause?
I'm not so sure of this. I think steampunk is like the Tolkien-esq fantasy world in stereotypical fantasy, it's become repeatedly xeroxed to the point that the historical root doesn't matter any more. It might as well be copying the aesthetics of Star Trek. Things as disparate as colonialism and the Pullman Strike don't enter into the equation. If there's any grounding in history, it's of the Hollywood or 'ironic' type.
There's a quote by Elizabeth Kostova that's really stuck with me since I first read it, and it sums up why I personally find it hard to separate steampunk from the era that spun it off: "The thing that most haunted me that day, however...was the fact that these things had - apparently - actually occurred...For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you've seen that truth - really seen it - you can't look away."
(BTW, Your essay reminded me of a lot of the points Charles Stross made in this post (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/10/the-hard-edge-of-empire.html) about steampunk.)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-09-01 02:28 pm (UTC)I'm not so sure of this. I think steampunk is like the Tolkien-esq fantasy world in stereotypical fantasy, it's become repeatedly xeroxed to the point that the historical root doesn't matter any more. It might as well be copying the aesthetics of Star Trek. Things as disparate as colonialism and the Pullman Strike don't enter into the equation. If there's any grounding in history, it's of the Hollywood or 'ironic' type.
There's a quote by Elizabeth Kostova that's really stuck with me since I first read it, and it sums up why I personally find it hard to separate steampunk from the era that spun it off: "The thing that most haunted me that day, however...was the fact that these things had - apparently - actually occurred...For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you've seen that truth - really seen it - you can't look away."
(BTW, Your essay reminded me of a lot of the points Charles Stross made in this post (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/10/the-hard-edge-of-empire.html) about steampunk.)