Steampunking: Are Steampunk Westerns Non-Eurocentric? No
By Guest Contributor Jha, originally published at Rebellious Jezebel Blogging
My friend Ay-Leen the Peacemaker is putting together a project called Beyond Victoriana, which will focus on examples of steampunk beyond the typical Eurocentric sampling at the moment, which is predominantly centered around England. Ay-Leen is also taking examples of North American steampunk, and people are citing Wild West/Weird West examples, such as Wild Wild West (TV show and movie).
I myself suggested some Japanese examples which could be counted as steampunk, although I have several reservations about them myself. Mainly because when I think non-Eurocentric, I keep this in mind:
“… By Europeans, we refer not only to Europe per se, but also to the “neo-Europeans” of the Americas, Australia, and elsewhere. … The residual traces of centuries of axiomatic European domination inform the general culture, the everyday language, and the media, engendering a fictitious sense of the innate superiority of European-derived cultures and peoples.” (Ella Shohat / Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism, pg 1)
Somewhere on the next page:
“… [Eurocentric discourse] … renders history as a sequence of empires: Pax Romana, Pax Hispanica, Pax Britannica, Pax Americana.”
Which brings me to the question: are Wild West/Weird West examples really non-Eurocentric examples?
Geographically, this may well be the case since they’re not in Europe.
However, if we take into account all parties involved – the Chinese labourers, the Native Americans, the black slaves, and the descendents of Europeans (neo-Europeans), the power dynamics indicate very strongly that no matter how geographically removed America is from Europe, the power dynamics remain rested in the hands of the neo-Europeans, which renders Wild West examples that do not prominantly feature visible minorities still Eurocentric.
(Which is also why even the Japanese steampunk examples I cite may be Eurocentric after all – they tend to be Japanese interpretations of the Western steampunk aesthetic. This doesn’t make them non-Japanese steampunk examples – they were produced by Japanese people. As kaigou points out, these works are part of a body of literature by members of a specific group – in this case, Japanese (and thus, not European, nor even neo-European). So, it is Japanese steampunk. But does it mean they’re non-Eurocentric? Question for another day!)
Of course, detractors will disagree with me and accuse me of messing with details. But the fact remains – Eurocentrism doesn’t just mean geographically centered in Europe. Eurocentrism refers not just to geopolitical space, but also to narratives, culture, and discourse. Wild West / Weird West narratives which feature neo-European main characters, narratives and discourse are, thusly Eurocentric. However, it means that a Wild West narrative which features Native American / Aboriginal culture / discourse would be non-Eurocentric.
Hmmmm….. must seek such Native American appearances in steampunk media.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Persia wrote:
I’d say Wild West narratives are more specifically colonialist. Still Eurocentric, but coming from a somewhat different cultural place than European-set steampunk.
My favorite Japanese steampunk is Fullmetal Alchemist, and that’s definitely Eurocentric, to the point of being set in Alternate History Europe.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 12:25 pm ¶
Azizi wrote:
It may be nit-picking, but the problem I have with the terms “European aesthetics” and “neo-European aesthetics” is that not everyone who has lived in Europe or who is living in Europe is White. For that reason, I prefer something like “White aesthetics” or “Anglo aesthetic” (or “Anglo-centric”).
****
I didn’t know what “steampunk” meant and so looked it up on Wikipedia. I’m posting a quote from that page here in case there are other readers of this blog beside me who aren’t familar with that term:
“Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of “the path not taken” of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage’s Analytical engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 1:30 pm ¶
Leezel wrote:
@Azizi:
Interesting point on the semantics. However, I would say “Anglo aesthetics” also falls into the trap that you pointed out because not every English-speaking person is white either.
As for the article, I back it. We always need (especially in the U.S. imo but globally too) more racial perspectives and why add steampunk to the list? And let’s not just stop there, we need more LGTBIQ stories from poc, more stories from people of different class backgrounds from poc, etc.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 2:44 pm ¶
Leezel wrote:
Ugh lol, omitted word:
I MEANT TO SAY….why NOT add steampunk to the list?
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 2:46 pm ¶
Belial wrote:
The roleplaying game “Deadlands” is a weird west horror/fantasy/steampunk setting, and features Native American characters pretty strongly (the return of magic to the world is largely their doing, and has allowed them to turn the tide of manifest destiny to a great degree, staking out and defending huge chunks of the continent as sovereign native land)
However, the steampunk/tech elements and the native american elements are more often used to contrast each other than they appear combined. That is, the native american cultures in Deadlands tend to be very technologically primitive by choice and religion, while the white interlopers make much more use of wild west tech.
So I’m not sure it really counts.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 3:33 pm ¶
'didi wrote:
Oh, the irony. I’ve been working on a steampunk project myself.
The Eurocentrism is definitely a problem I have to deal with. My protagonist is a Black Briton, one generation away from an African man who blows his European counterparts out of the water in engineering. But England is not the center of this steampunk world. There are West African “hubs”, which I’m more familiar with due to background – like Ile-Ife and Warri.
Alternate history is problematic as well. I can’t rid my alternate history of colonialism, but I don’t want it to be an overarching factor. Most of my characters are people of color, from people who are very traditional to those who fully assimilated.
My characters’ world is way more diverse than most steampunk. In fact, a friend of mine read part of what I’ve written and called it “afro steampunk”.
About aesthetics, I have one character who balks at the sight of European clothing. She dresses herself in traditional Yoruba clothing, donning the gele, buba and wrapper in place of Victorian era clothing.
Now, I won’t say I’ll be able to finish this project.
It’ll take years, plus I have an education to finish.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 3:39 pm ¶
Produce wrote:
Seems to be a problem with the whole science fiction sub genre.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 5:05 pm ¶
mieko wrote:
Samurai Champloo= non-Eurocentric Steampunk?
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 5:20 pm ¶
Azizi wrote:
@Leezel, I believe that the term “Anglo” came from Spanish speaking people in California, New Mexico, and other nearby states. But I thought it meant “White people” and not “English speaking people”. ??
**
@ ‘didi, your steampunk project sound great! I hope you finish with it. I’d love to read it.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 5:58 pm ¶
atlasien wrote:
I think the most common usage of “Anglo” = “white, English-speaking, non-Latino people in the U.S.”. That’s how people used it in Miami all the time. A white Cuban-American wouldn’t be an Anglo, even if they didn’t speak Spanish, but I wouldn’t be an Anglo either, although English is my first language, and neither would a black person who spoke English as a first language, and neither would, say, a white French person.
In that sense “Anglo” works in either Spanish or English as a race+language indicator. For a pure language indicator you’d have to say “English speaker” or “angloparlante/anglohablante”.
There are some other definitions of Anglo floating around. For example, Anglo as in English-descended U.S. (as opposed to Scots-Irish descended, Scandinavian-descended and so on). In that sense I’m actually “Anglo” because that’s the root of my mother’s side of the family.
And then there’s the more ethnic, tribal, specific “Anglo” as in “Anglo-Saxons” who were originally Germanic immigrants/invaders into England.
Sorry for getting so technical and possibly off-topic, but I’m really interested by the word and its meanings.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 6:25 pm ¶
Azizi wrote:
Thanks, atlasien.
Like you, I’m interested in learning about the social use of populations referents. I also am interested in the etymology of those same referents. The social meaning/s and the etymological meaning/s aren’t always the same.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 7:42 pm ¶
timarasa wrote:
piggy backing off of mieko:
What about Sukyaki Western Django (an amalgm of Yojimbo and Fistful of Dollars but not as good as either)??
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 8:21 pm ¶
sr wrote:
Jaymee Goh writing for Tor.com has some great posts about an alternate direction of steampunk and POC in sci-fi.
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58017
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 8:29 pm ¶
Jha wrote:
Persia @ 1: Yes, most Wild West narratives tend to be. I’m still wondering what would happen with Native-American-centric narratives, though.
Azizi @ 2: I know, but if you look at the term “white”, it generally refers to peoples of European-Caucasian descent. The term “neo-European” within the context of the book I was citing from refers to what we would commonly refer to as “white”. Also, as Leezel points out, Anglo also refers to other things. Not only that, but “Anglo” in certain contexts is also, specifically, English (eg, anglophone vs. francophone in the Canadian context).
Belial @ 5: I’ve heard of Deadlands, although I don’t have enough familiarity with it to comment specifically. I was thinking more generally of Westerns used in a steampunk context – the overall narratives within them would still be Eurocentric, unless the focus is specifically on PoC.
‘didi @ 6: You an’ me both. ^^ Don’t give up!
Produce @ 7: It is, but I like the steampunk subgenre best, so I focus on it.
mieko @ 8: Never seen it. Interesting suggestion, though! I’ll check it out.
atlasien @ 10: Exactly. That’s why I used the quotes I did: to give some context for the way I was using the term.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 10:07 pm ¶
Claire wrote:
The fact that glorification of history is far easier for white people that it is for POC’s is something I’ve always tried to bring to the table when it comes to Steampunk. It’s so easy to gloss over the problems and conflicts of the past, the ones we can’t glamourize like the eradication of native americans or the displacement of Queen Liliu’okalani, and just try to focus on bustles and courtesies and the light bulb.
I went to Steamcon this past month in Seattle, and it turns out that next year’s theme is going to be Weird West- I’m pretty excited to breach the topic of white privilege when it comes to the idealization of cowboys and the American West. The thing is, alternate histories where native tribes, Aztecs, and other encountered cultures are respected as world powers are actually a fantastically cool idea- to expand upon the cultures and where they would have evolved to if uninterrupted by European colonization- but people have trouble reading something as “Steampunk”- as Victorian scifi- if it isn’t covered in brass and cogs. What would Aztec technology be like? How can you design tech that doesn’t immediately rely on European standards of construction that otherwise “define” the genre to so many people?
-C
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 11:15 pm ¶
Jha wrote:
timarasa: Never heard of it! Now must look it up!
sr: Thank you! Steampunk Month was a tough month for me. I don’t think I’m recovered from it yet.
Claire: James Ng did some great art depicting Chinese steampunk. Kerry, of Steam Century which does its best to envision a Native-empowered setting, was interviewed by my colleague, Ay-Leen on this subject as well. One of my challenges with a PoC-centered steampunk setting is how to communicate it with text. I’m still baffled by it. For this year’s NaNoWriMo, I tried to write a steampunk story set mostly in the Malayan archipelago (where I’m from), and I found it so very difficult.
Steamcon is going to be Weird West themed next year? Exciting! I would definitely love to see a panel talking about white privilege within that context. I’ll have to get down there next year.
Posted 11 Nov 2009 at 11:49 pm ¶
Jha wrote:
ALSO! Before I forget, Ay-Leen’s series Beyond Victoriana has already started, so people who would like to see examples of non-Victorian steampunk should definitely head on over!
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 12:01 am ¶
JC wrote:
Why even bother with “non-Euro Steampunk”? The very term Steampunk is already Eurocentric. I guess any series or story starring non-whites or created by non-whites in a Steampunk-like alternate reality would qualify, no? Anime and games has a lot of example of this genre, like FF7 and Last Exile. But for the ultimate in Asian Steampunk/Weird West action, nothing beats this bad-ass Korean movie from 2008: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha7eFUm2dJs
Your friend should definitely write about this movie.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 12:29 am ¶
Ay-leen wrote:
Thanks for the unlinked shout-out, Jha. ^-~ For those wondering, my Beyond Victoriana blog series can be found here.
Speaking about the possibilities of non-Eurocentric Wild West , I was wondering if anyone has seen Takashi Miike’s Japanese westerns? (I’m specifically thinking about Sukiyaki Western Django). I thought it was an awesome example of transcultural blending between the spaghetti western flick, with a definite Japanese element.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 12:51 am ¶
m. wrote:
I’m glad to see another post about steampunk here on Racialicious! I know so little about it, but have always found it fascinating as a “punk expat”. Honestly, I wish there was something I could contribute to this post being Native and all. Oh well.
Have you heard of or seen the film ‘The Good, The Bad, The Weird’? I haven’t (been wanting to see it for FOREVER, though), so I cannot say with any certainty that it’s any good, but feel it’s definitely worth checking out if you can access it. It has been described as a “Wild East”; directed by Kim Ji-woon, inspired by the film ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ and set in North East Asia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad,_the_Weird
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 5:58 am ¶
m. wrote:
Okay, wow; I suck – someone already mentioned the same film! Sorry for the repeat.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 6:54 am ¶
Victoria Janssen wrote:
Many excellent thoughts in this post. Thanks!
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 3:10 pm ¶
Jha wrote:
I remember seeing the trailer for The Good, The Bad, The Weird and I remember thinking I so badly wanted to see it. And now I realize I STILL want to see it, really badly.
JC @ 18: Why bother with non-Euro anything? PoC like steampunk, but not necessarily the Eurocentrism which appears part and parcel. Exercises like this enable us to tease out stories and seemings that are PoC-centric.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 3:56 pm ¶
eccentricyoruba wrote:
i’ve recently become interested in steampunk even though i had encountered the genre several times before knowing it was called ’steampunk’ (e.g. i never knew Full Metal Alchemist was steampunk). i was lead to believe that steampunk is essentially either Victorian or ‘Wild Western’ which are both Eurocentric as this post suggests.
but is it really possible to have steampunk projects similar to didi’s? i mean will it be classified as steampunk or placed in an entirely different genre? it’s pretty well known that there are people of colour who enjoy steampunk however i’m yet to come across a steampunk movie or book that includes characters of colour. i’ll definitely have to check out K-20…
@didi, good luck with your project! it sounds really interesting.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 4:31 pm ¶
Jha wrote:
eccentricyoruba: Why wouldn’t it be possible? Who calls the shots here? Part of the effort of creating these projects is to claim the term for ourselves as PoC.
Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker apparently has some PoC in it. I’ve yet to read it though.
Posted 12 Nov 2009 at 11:43 pm ¶
Bagelsan wrote:
Samurai Champloo= non-Eurocentric Steampunk?
I didn’t think it was sort of technology-centered enough, in a way, to be steam-punk? Like, they play with anachronisms and stuff but there isn’t much in the way of gadgetry or alternate history.
Totally agree about Full Metal Alchemist, however, even though they sooort of subvert it with certain revelations in the original anime, I might argue? (Does it count as spoilers if stuff has been out for years already?
)
Miyazaki seems to do a fair amount of steampunk: Castle in the Sky springs to mind, for me. Classic dirigible action!
Posted 14 Nov 2009 at 6:56 am ¶
thebiblophile wrote:
Produce @ 7 Science fiction writer Nahlo Hopkinson wrote a great post about the role of race and gender in the science fiction genre and its struggle with race and gender:
http://nalohopkinson.com/2009/18/05/looking_for_clues.html
sr@13 thanks for the link!
Claire @ 15: ” The fact that glorification of history is far easier for white people that it is for POC’s is something I’ve always tried to bring to the table when it comes to Steampunk. ” co-sign.
Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 11:55 am ¶
Ay-leen wrote:
For the curious, my most recent Beyond Victoriana post is made in response to Jha’s post here. Link: http://dmp.dreamwidth.org/5970.html
Posted 24 Nov 2009 at 9:10 pm ¶