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Steampunk babble
Sep. 2nd, 2013 09:17 pmI was reading a little about the "origins of steampunk". Far as I can tell, the original idea of steampunk is a re-imagining of a future (or the present day) if steam technology never became obsolete and was never replaced by diesel or whatever it is that came after steam. And so that means that... steampunk tech in the rennaissance or Sengoku Era Japan technically isn't steampunk. It's... sci-fi/fantasy.
Which means that by shoving steampunk into Sengoku Japan I've already thrown it into a bizarro universe. This means I shouldn't think too much about historical accuracy because steampunk in that era is already major anachronism from the get-go. Rather, I need to focus on reimagining the world to accommodate the steampunk. I mean, steam technology is probably not even around yet in the time of Sengoku Japan. It's like having computers and credit cards in the Victorian era. It's anachronism and it makes no sense so who cares about the real history? The events WOULD have changed anyway.
So if I ever want to be era-appropriate, it HAS to be clockpunk and not steampunk. Clockwork mechanism has been around for a very long time, after all. The Portuguese actually brought mechanical clocks to Japan and the locals quickly adopted the mechanism to make their own clocks in the Japanese way of telling time (i.e the "hours of the zodiac" instead of regular numbers).
To write steampunk would means I have to rewrite the universe dating from way way back before time. In my history class my professor said that in the ancient world there was "primitive steam technology" existing. This is the only way I could make sense of steampunk existing in the 1500s because otherwise... it's just stupid. This complex steam tech appeared out of the blue... how? From where? Not even Leonardo da Vinci's invention hit that level yet and HE'S considered one of the most advanced guys ever at the time.
I can't say "they just do" because I'm writing about HISTORICAL EVENTS AND PEOPLE. I have to explain anything that is different from real history. Maybe I really should just go do a fictional retelling of history. Inspired by the true events, but set it in a fictional universe. That would save me from a lot of hassle.
In another news, why the flaming heck is there so little stuff to find about Ieyasu? He's the freaking SHOGUN. He was credited by many Western writers as THE guy who unified Japan (he really isn't, but hey). Shouldn't there be MORE info on him? Am I just looking in the wrong places? I mean, come on. I understand there being little about Hideyoshi. The guy is a commoner who came right the frick out of nowhere so nobody knows much about him until he made himself known. What little is known about his past is a hodgepodge of unreliable narrative and pseudo-legends, so the guy's pretty mysterious. I get it. But really. Ieyasu. He's not a nobody. Why am I not finding much about him?
Which means that by shoving steampunk into Sengoku Japan I've already thrown it into a bizarro universe. This means I shouldn't think too much about historical accuracy because steampunk in that era is already major anachronism from the get-go. Rather, I need to focus on reimagining the world to accommodate the steampunk. I mean, steam technology is probably not even around yet in the time of Sengoku Japan. It's like having computers and credit cards in the Victorian era. It's anachronism and it makes no sense so who cares about the real history? The events WOULD have changed anyway.
So if I ever want to be era-appropriate, it HAS to be clockpunk and not steampunk. Clockwork mechanism has been around for a very long time, after all. The Portuguese actually brought mechanical clocks to Japan and the locals quickly adopted the mechanism to make their own clocks in the Japanese way of telling time (i.e the "hours of the zodiac" instead of regular numbers).
To write steampunk would means I have to rewrite the universe dating from way way back before time. In my history class my professor said that in the ancient world there was "primitive steam technology" existing. This is the only way I could make sense of steampunk existing in the 1500s because otherwise... it's just stupid. This complex steam tech appeared out of the blue... how? From where? Not even Leonardo da Vinci's invention hit that level yet and HE'S considered one of the most advanced guys ever at the time.
I can't say "they just do" because I'm writing about HISTORICAL EVENTS AND PEOPLE. I have to explain anything that is different from real history. Maybe I really should just go do a fictional retelling of history. Inspired by the true events, but set it in a fictional universe. That would save me from a lot of hassle.
In another news, why the flaming heck is there so little stuff to find about Ieyasu? He's the freaking SHOGUN. He was credited by many Western writers as THE guy who unified Japan (he really isn't, but hey). Shouldn't there be MORE info on him? Am I just looking in the wrong places? I mean, come on. I understand there being little about Hideyoshi. The guy is a commoner who came right the frick out of nowhere so nobody knows much about him until he made himself known. What little is known about his past is a hodgepodge of unreliable narrative and pseudo-legends, so the guy's pretty mysterious. I get it. But really. Ieyasu. He's not a nobody. Why am I not finding much about him?
