Steampunk. Interesting how this has become a full blown sub-genre of science-fiction/fantasy literature.
6 comments:
Gringo
said...
I have never been a sci fi or fantasy lit fan. Nonetheless, I rather liked this video- pumped up Steamboat Willie. The music reminded me of disco.Rasputin came to mind.
IIRC the Japanese started it with _Full Metal Alchemist_, then the Foglios made it cool with _Girl Genius_. And William Gibson's novel led to more writers doing "gaslamp fantasy" and Jules Verne inspired stuff. Although I still hear some people calling steampunk "Goths in brown with goggles." *shrug* I enjoy it, it's harmless, and steampunk conventions and events are some of the most polite, well-organized, and enjoyable cons I've been to.
Hm, I remembered Gibson & Sterling's 'The Difference Engine' coming out before FMA, so I checked the All-Knowing Oracle of Wikipedia. Looks like it started in the West in the 1960s or so, drawing on earlier SF works from folks as far back as H.G. Wells, and (interestingly enough) on the TV series 'The Wild Wild West.' Though the term wasn't coined until the 1980s.
I was thinking of the larger pop culture, Tom, but you are right, _Difference Engine_ came first, then FMA set some of the visual tropes before the "kids" rediscovered the original Wild Wild West. (I tend to mentally separate literary culture from popular visual culture for some reason.)
Hm, yeah, I guess if you look at impact on visual culture, FMA could have hit the culture first and then people started looking for its roots and later discovered Difference Engine, etc. That makes sense.
6 comments:
I have never been a sci fi or fantasy lit fan. Nonetheless, I rather liked this video- pumped up Steamboat Willie. The music reminded me of disco.Rasputin came to mind.
IIRC the Japanese started it with _Full Metal Alchemist_, then the Foglios made it cool with _Girl Genius_. And William Gibson's novel led to more writers doing "gaslamp fantasy" and Jules Verne inspired stuff. Although I still hear some people calling steampunk "Goths in brown with goggles." *shrug* I enjoy it, it's harmless, and steampunk conventions and events are some of the most polite, well-organized, and enjoyable cons I've been to.
LittleRed1
Hm, I remembered Gibson & Sterling's 'The Difference Engine' coming out before FMA, so I checked the All-Knowing Oracle of Wikipedia. Looks like it started in the West in the 1960s or so, drawing on earlier SF works from folks as far back as H.G. Wells, and (interestingly enough) on the TV series 'The Wild Wild West.' Though the term wasn't coined until the 1980s.
I was thinking of the larger pop culture, Tom, but you are right, _Difference Engine_ came first, then FMA set some of the visual tropes before the "kids" rediscovered the original Wild Wild West. (I tend to mentally separate literary culture from popular visual culture for some reason.)
LittleRed1
Hm, yeah, I guess if you look at impact on visual culture, FMA could have hit the culture first and then people started looking for its roots and later discovered Difference Engine, etc. That makes sense.
I say it's a longing for an era when you could create something without overbearing regulation from the zoning code, EPA, OSHA, etc...
At least, that's what I'd like to think.
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