Blog Entry #6: Reflection on Victoria

A strange tale to say the least, Paul Di Filippo’s Victoria charters a unique path through the steampunk genre; unique not only for its creative biological concoction, but also the incorporation of sexual themes juxtaposed with an almost humanitarian perspective of the urban squalor of London. While a stunning example of the steampunk genre, I also feel that the story is rebelling against more than just the Edisonades which preceded it. This story is also displays a “punk” attitude with respect to the role of women as well as child labor.

From the very beginning, Di Filippo makes it clear that Cosmo has had sexual relations with his eugenic, growth-hormone-induced creation, the newt Victoria. This is also mirrored at the end of the story where William Lamb is found laying with newt Victoria in the Palace: the intentional conclusion of a circuitous farce intended to divert Cosmo’s attention away from the newt Victoria while Lamb could have his way with her. The actions of both Cosmo and Lamb are in clear rebellion to the ideas of the Edisonades. No longer are the scientists and officers of high political standing and influence masters over their creations. Control is not made manifest in their personality; replaced, rather, with a heap of dependence ultimately bringing the master and creation down to the same level if not implying a slight power in the latter.

Throughout the story, Cosmo repeatedly returns to thoughts of newt Victoria and whether or not she is okay or needs attention. Similarly, when newt Victoria is taken away from Lamb he proclaims that he “cannot do without her now” and in an almost comical display of his dependence on her pulls on her arm so hard that it falls off (Di Filippo 292). An otherwise morbid scene, in this case it is comical because of the newt’s ability to regenerate limbs. Nonetheless it is an accurate display of both men’s dependency on the creation, lest one forget that it took the pulling of both men on opposite sides of her, in a sort of dependence tug-of-war, to separate her arm from her body.

During his journey to find the real Victoria, Cosmo explores many of the dilapidated, waste-strewn boroughs of London. During such instances, the air is devoid of all humor, replaced by a sharp forthrightness. I feel that the author adopts said tone during these instances to comment on the reality of the life for the poor in London; many of whom trudge through the filth and feces, quite literally clearing a path, as well as cripple themselves to earn a few pennies. This is in rebellion to the ignorance that the Edisonades and society in general had with respect to the realities of the urban poor. Whilst heroes were off on their adventures in the savage lands of Africa or elsewhere, the urban poor were forgotten and left voiceless. The highly symbolic interaction between Cosmo and Tiptoft is reflective of Di Filippo’s desire to not forget the plight of the urban poor, and possibly have scientists and inventors actually help them out.

For all his character flaws, I feel that Cosmo is more a hero than any of those described in the Edisonades. Moral in action and reflective of consequences, Cosmo and Nails are realistic heralds of the perspective that Di Filippo hopes to interject into the mind of contemporary society.

Blog Entry #5- Response to Lord Kelvin's Machine/Seventy-Two Letters

My interests in Steampunk literature rise ever-higher as we progress through the unit. After reading the short stories Lord Kelvin’s Machine, and Seventy-Two Letters, arguably cornerstone texts of this literary style, my understanding of steampunk literature has also matured. In order to fully understand these texts, it is necessary to identify the many notable differences; as well as determine some common threads which motivate their co-inclusion in an anthology. Of the myriad literary styles, steampunk is certainly the engineer’s bedtime reader.

The first text, Lord Kelvin’s Machine, documents the trials of St. Ives to prevent both a mad doctor from careening the planet into a comet as well as prevent Lord Kelvin from initiating his “solution” to this threat. Set in traditional Victorian England, the text clearly incorporates the gentlemen-like sensibilities of the men as well as includes some famous, real scientists (Rutherford, Maxwell) from the era to give it some perspective and justify parts of the plot. What I can best describe as a futuristic past, this text takes real theories of the day, many of which are incorrect, and expands upon them both in terms of complexity and scale. No longer is there just a damsel tied to the train tracks, but rather global chaos and mayhem. Rather than some localized region, the earth itself is endangered. It is for this reason that this text can be classified as steampunk: the scaling-up and extension of scientific and pseudo-scientific principles (medium) and formulating a story within the confines of a different scientific framework.

The second text, Seventy-Two Letters, describes the trials of a nomenclator, Stratton, in finding a way to preserve the existence of the human species through automata and genetic manipulation. Unlike the first text, this one adopts a future-is-now structure; emphasizing the power of genetic engineering within the context of another pseudo-science, nomenclature. Throughout, there is proactive, scientific research with one revelation after another, rather than retroactive scientific response. This is especially the case because of the highly-developed and detailed pseudo-science of the second text. I believe that this text can be classified as steampunk because it also possesses an extended scientific/pseudo-scientific dogma within which the universe of the story operates. In this case the scientists are merely looking inward with microscopes rather than heaven-bound with telescopes.

Though the two texts trace different paths, there are many repeating factors between each story. Firstly, there is a threat to the human species. In this case, the threats are physical and biological respectively. Another major commonality, also supported by Tichi, is the heroism of the scientist/engineer in the novels. There is no question that it is the scientists and engineers that solve the problems in each of the texts. Granted many of the villains in steampunk novels, like Lord Kelvin’s Machine, are also educated. The implication there is that scientists/engineers are endowed with power (good or bad) for being masters of the pseudo-science(s) that a steampunk novel adopts.

Blog Entry #4-Significance of Motion Picture to Late 19th Century Culture

The late nineteenth century is certainly an amazing period of accelerated technological innovation rivaling that of the industrial revolution. Through our class, research, and reflection I have come to appreciate the myriad conveniences of my daily life; many of which came into existence during this period. Of particular interest in the class of late are the invention of the motion camera and, consequently, the motion picture. In order to understand the significance of these innovations, we have been looking at how they worked culturally, that is, there significance and influence within the cultural context of late nineteenth century America.

McLuhan’s “Medium is the Message” concept is immediately brought to bear on the situation. In a time where one’s senses were, quite literally, private affairs, the motion camera served as a public organ, a visual timestamp now allowing personal experiences to be viewed by all with eyes of their own. As in the past, new views of life have always fascinated people of the day. In the eighteenth century, the dissemination of the mirror proved awe-inspiring in the minds of people who had never seen their reflection before. Like the mirror, the motion camera worked culturally in the sense that it allowed people a new and different perspective of life by enabling people to physically capture moments in time, process them, and share them on a level of intimacy never before imagined. What one saw was no longer one’s own. No longer was it necessary for you to go to an event and see it, rather the event could be brought to you. For the first time, time itself could be rewound, replayed, stopped, and modified.

This motion camera, this ocular extension, essentially created a schism in society; permanently separating time and place, past and present, public and private by extending the visual faculty to quite literally an omnipresent level. Certainly many consequences, positive and negative, have followed from the physical device that is the motion camera. However, it is the medium itself, its non-neutral significance to civilization that is in fact the message. For in extending the visual faculties of humans to such a limit, the motion camera brought humans closer to the nature and power rivaling that of their perception of god.