Most Steampunk seems to take pace in the late Victorian era, thereby in some people's eyes, probably sidestepping slavery, despite the fact that race relations actually worsened from a small high point in the years directly following the Civil War (though race relations weren't exactly good then either) to the deep lows that categorize the late Victorian age, sometimes called the nadir of American race relations. Also, a number of Steampunk stories take place in the American west, for the most part ignoring or glossing over A)the numbers of former slaves and B) the number of former Confederate soldiers who went West. Also, part of the reason that I want to smack any Southerner who talks about states rights (other than that it's really disgusting) is the simple fact that they were actually railing against state's rights. In the South Carolina succession declaration that the other Confederate states adopted, they complained about the Northern states' noncompliance with Federal fugitive slave laws, and this was he only mention of states' rights. And even if they had given a flying you know what about states' rights, it would have been a story of them putting the rights of the government above human rights. this is part of why I was never able to stomach Firefly. The browncoats were meant to be a parallel to the numbers of former Confederate soldiers walking around, but they were treated by the show as the righteous but failed revolutionaries. The writers bought into the Confederate lie.
I think the reason Steampunk doesn't trouble me so much is that that venerable fantasy subgenre I grew up on, medieval fantasy grossly distorts medieval realities to clean it up and erase the histories of the oppressed already. I don't see how Steampunk is any worse in that regard. However, it means that like medieval fantasy, I eagerly hope for better. And there are multiple examples of the genre that I just can't stomach. In other words, it's not tat Steampunk doesn't have a lot of fail, but I'm so used to fail in SpecFic that it doesn't make me lose any more faith in humanity.
"This is just fun," is a close cousin to "This is just fiction," both of which prompt me to want to give a long lecture about societal myth-buiding, culture, and identity.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-09-01 06:31 pm (UTC)I think the reason Steampunk doesn't trouble me so much is that that venerable fantasy subgenre I grew up on, medieval fantasy grossly distorts medieval realities to clean it up and erase the histories of the oppressed already. I don't see how Steampunk is any worse in that regard. However, it means that like medieval fantasy, I eagerly hope for better. And there are multiple examples of the genre that I just can't stomach. In other words, it's not tat Steampunk doesn't have a lot of fail, but I'm so used to fail in SpecFic that it doesn't make me lose any more faith in humanity.
"This is just fun," is a close cousin to "This is just fiction," both of which prompt me to want to give a long lecture about societal myth-buiding, culture, and identity.