Yeah, I was going to say, steampunk does to the Victorian era pretty much what high fantasy does to the Middle Ages; and I'm not sure one is any worse than the other. Either way, I suppose, if the story is enjoyable enough I can suspend my disbelief long enough to ignore the huddled masses in the background. And yes, that is perilously close to an "it's just fiction" argument -- I guess I'd modify it to "but it's good fiction." Good storytelling offers absolution for a multitude of sins. (E.g., I'm as much of a Union partisan as you'll find anywhere, but I'm still willing to forgive Firefly's crypto-Confederacy.)
Steampunk's unique flavor of nostalgia does bother me, though. Verne and Wells weren't writing knowing, ironic, retro-futurism; they were writing science fiction, plain and simple, with their knowledge of the science of the day. Steampunk's worldview condescends to everyone who lived in the era being depicted, of whatever social status, by treating them as quaint objects rather than as people doing the best they can with the world they have. Good fantasy and SF don't do this.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 08:04 pm (UTC)Steampunk's unique flavor of nostalgia does bother me, though. Verne and Wells weren't writing knowing, ironic, retro-futurism; they were writing science fiction, plain and simple, with their knowledge of the science of the day. Steampunk's worldview condescends to everyone who lived in the era being depicted, of whatever social status, by treating them as quaint objects rather than as people doing the best they can with the world they have. Good fantasy and SF don't do this.