Please keep in mind that I'm an old broad, okay? Going to be 60 shortly, and am the first to admit that I am no longer up to par on the major interests of the youth culture. Not really sure I was all that up to date on it when I was one of the youth culture! Found myself mingled in with the hippy flower child wave and must admit that parts of it were a very comfortable fit. Have the feeling though that the way my mind tends to work, in other generations the labels might have been bluestocking, bohemian, witch or even village idiot.
That's my disclaimer in case I say something really stupid about the steampunk genre. From what I've glimpsed of it, this is just a few personal old broad observations.
First off - Kudos to steampunk for being the first and only folk to revive Victorian style. Although the bits and pieces of Victoriana may be prized, the over all style of the era has never been revived. Perhaps this is because it was such a combination of overdone styles or because it was such a, for lack of a better word, fussy style. Steampunk has managed to take it, relax it a bit, allow touches of humor and allow combinations that would have probably gotten you shunned from good society in the true era. Fashion and home decor is definitely styled after the period, but allowed to be skewed into the today, and to me, the result is a wonderful, recognizable style with a touch of Dali or perhaps Ken Russell.
I like the literature that comes under the title too. Although I do think there are some great books out there written well before the word was coined that were exploring the vision. I just finished Sideshow by Sherri S. Tepper published in 1992 which to me falls in that category. And I keep thinking of Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. Epic steampunk? or am I missing the whole picture?
No comments:
Post a Comment