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Post by Tiago James Squalor on Jun 16, 2010 21:28:28 GMT -5
Wikipedia defines Steampunk as such:
Personally, I see ASoUE fitting quite well in the Steampunk genre, only that it is not necessarily science fiction, the world of ASoUE is clearly a victorian-like world with advanced technologies and mindsets, mixed with a bit of the Edwardian Era and the 1940's, 50's and 60's.
What do you guys think?
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Post by Dante on Jun 17, 2010 3:41:35 GMT -5
I think that the series is incidentally somewhat steampunk. I mean, obviously, it doesn't have any particular steam-powered technology; there's no sign of that. But in the sense that it represents an alternative history which situates modern technological and social progress in a quasi-Victorian period setting, then clearly the series has steampunk aspects, although I think that's more a consequence of Handler's satire progressing from Victorian gothic through to other genres and settings.
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Post by Hermes on Jun 17, 2010 11:29:49 GMT -5
I think the concept of steampunk has expanded rather since it was first thought up; to begin with, as I understand it, it was a form of science fiction (specifically, not fantasy) that was based on the powers of Victorian technology; it now seems to mean any science fiction or fantasy in Victorian costumes, so the actual steam has ceased to be so significant.
I'd agree with Dante that ASOUE is incidentally steampunk; it doesn't really come out of that movement. It's rather hard to say what the technological level is - there are fibre-optic cables, for intance. What is clear is that technology is less pervasive than in our world - computers are rare; one sees horse-drawn carriages in the streets (along with motorbikes). Also, the old-fashioned image is partly the effect of the illustrations; we aren't generally told what the characters are wearing, but the pictures show old-fashioned dress, and that affects how we think of it.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Jun 17, 2010 12:02:33 GMT -5
Also, the old-fashioned image is partly the effect of the illustrations; we aren't generally told what the characters are wearing, but the pictures show old-fashioned dress, and that affects how we think of it. That's a good point, and I've thought about this before. None of the costumes that Esme or Carmelita wear can be considered "Victorian" - and, most certainly, not that lettuce bikini outfit. It almost certainly does take place in an alternate universe, even though one could argue that they just live in a community where old-fashioned technology is more common. Still, I think the "alternate universe" explanation is more plausible. Also, it is true that the photographs on LSTUA are all in greyscale monochrome - but is it even really practical to use coloured photos on typing paper? They would almost have to use glossy paper for that. There is definitely an old-fashioned feel to the series - which, I guess, sort of adds to the gloomy atmosphere. As I had suggested in another topic, though, I think it might almost be necessary to use the " broad strokes" approach for interpreting the ASOUE - partly in due to the narrator being himself a character in the series, and also due to the constant retconning in the series. I myself haven't yet decided how all that world differs from "our" world - but I chose to place the setting in the early-1980s, since I thought setting it in the 1990s would be pushing it a bit.
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Post by Seymour Glass on Jun 17, 2010 17:37:04 GMT -5
It's an alternate universe so the 90s wouldn't be pushing it at all.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Jun 17, 2010 17:59:25 GMT -5
It's an alternate universe so the 90s wouldn't be pushing it at all. Well, true! I guess I still prefer setting it earlier. If it wasn't for the factor that I wanted the Quagmire triplets to be the same age as Marty McFly, I'm not sure when I would've set it. I probably would have picked either the 1970s or the 1980s, being my two favourite decades.
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Post by Tiago James Squalor on Jun 17, 2010 18:02:53 GMT -5
I think that the series is incidentally somewhat steampunk. I mean, obviously, it doesn't have any particular steam-powered technology; there's no sign of that. But in the sense that it represents an alternative history which situates modern technological and social progress in a quasi-Victorian period setting, then clearly the series has steampunk aspects, although I think that's more a consequence of Handler's satire progressing from Victorian gothic through to other genres and settings. Yes, I think so too. While the steam aspect of the technology isn't emphasized, the whole atmosphere of ASoUE being what it is, it fits quite well in one of Steampunk's many sub-genres. I think the concept of steampunk has expanded rather since it was first thought up; to begin with, as I understand it, it was a form of science fiction (specifically, not fantasy) that was based on the powers of Victorian technology; it now seems to mean any science fiction or fantasy in Victorian costumes, so the actual steam has ceased to be so significant. I'd agree with Dante that ASOUE is incidentally steampunk; it doesn't really come out of that movement. It's rather hard to say what the technological level is - there are fibre-optic cables, for intance. What is clear is that technology is less pervasive than in our world - computers are rare; one sees horse-drawn carriages in the streets (along with motorbikes). Also, the old-fashioned image is partly the effect of the illustrations; we aren't generally told what the characters are wearing, but the pictures show old-fashioned dress, and that affects how we think of it. I agree. There is clearly a mish-mash of technology in ASoUE, and one cannot tell exactly where in 'our' timeline the series does take place - and doing so, in my opinion is a waste of time, unless for fanfiction purposes - In my fanfiction series, Yet Another Series of Unfortunate Events I'm really trying to emphasize of the steampunk aspect of ASoUE, or at least that's my intention. Also, the old-fashioned image is partly the effect of the illustrations; we aren't generally told what the characters are wearing, but the pictures show old-fashioned dress, and that affects how we think of it. That's a good point, and I've thought about this before. None of the costumes that Esme or Carmelita wear can be considered "Victorian" - and, most certainly, not that lettuce bikini outfit. It almost certainly does take place in an alternate universe, even though one could argue that they just live in a community where old-fashioned technology is more common. Still, I think the "alternate universe" explanation is more plausible. Also, it is true that the photographs on LSTUA are all in greyscale monochrome - but is it even really practical to use coloured photos on typing paper? They would almost have to use glossy paper for that. There is definitely an old-fashioned feel to the series - which, I guess, sort of adds to the gloomy atmosphere. As I had suggested in another topic, though, I think it might almost be necessary to use the " broad strokes" approach for interpreting the ASOUE - partly in due to the narrator being himself a character in the series, and also due to the constant retconning in the series. I myself haven't yet decided how all that world differs from "our" world - but I chose to place the setting in the early-1980s, since I thought setting it in the 1990s would be pushing it a bit. That's interesting because everyone has a different approach to where in time and in technological advance the series fit better, I myself think an alternate 19th century with some of the Edwardian Era, and some of the 20th century thrown in. I too, think the 'alternate universe' explanation fits better. Because as reallistic as ASoUE is at times, some pretty impossible things happen, such as Sunny's odontological feats, and Hector's building of the self-sustaining hot air mobile home - which, if it's not Steampunk I don't know what it is. -
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Jun 17, 2010 20:47:32 GMT -5
If not for the "Quigley Quagmire as Marty McFly" factor - I probably would have, ultimately, set the series somewhere in the 1970s. I like the 1970s a little better than the 1980s, so...
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Post by ollkorrect on Jul 5, 2010 3:26:49 GMT -5
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Fiona Fanboy
Catastrophic Captain
Klaus' rival for the affections of Fiona Widdershins
Posts: 91
Likes: 2
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Post by Fiona Fanboy on Jan 2, 2011 5:11:10 GMT -5
& than we have gaslamp fantasy (steampunk with sci-fi biology thrown in).
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Post by Lady Whatever on Jan 8, 2011 20:18:18 GMT -5
I wonder how much Helquist's lovely illustrations contribute to this characterization of steampunk? His drawings of their clothing, especially male characters like Klaus' and Mr. Poe's, and the old-fashioned automobiles probably make a difference in the mind's eye of many readers. Violet's inventiveness and ability to modify machinery in a perilous time crunch would earn her some major street cred among Steampunk heroines though.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Feb 26, 2011 23:03:24 GMT -5
A quick question on steampunk in general: do think steampunk would work better as a highly technologically advanced 19th century, or a less technologically advanced 20th century?
I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the Girl Genius web-comic - but the series seems to be ambiguous of whether the setting is the late 19th Century or the late 20th Century.
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Post by Dante on Feb 27, 2011 3:52:20 GMT -5
I think the whole point of steampunk was that it was to evoke 19th-century speculative fiction and its alternative technological developments, right? If that's the case, the atmosphere would be 19th-century, but because it's specifically futuristc, moving it up to the 20th century may well be appropriate. I'm not sure if it could be called less technologically advanced because it's more like alternatively technologically advanced, and being fictional then I'm sure there are plenty of examples of cool steampunk versions of technologies which don't exist yet.
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Post by Very Funky Disco on Feb 27, 2011 9:17:27 GMT -5
I'm not sure if it could be called less technologically advanced because it's more like alternatively technologically advanced, and being fictional then I'm sure there are plenty of examples of cool steampunk versions of technologies which don't exist yet. That's pretty much what I meant, but I wasn't sure of how else to put it. I suppose there could be steampunk equivalents of everything that we have, including computers.
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