This unique book explores how the aesthetic and cultural movement “Steampunk” persuades audiences and wins new acolytes. Steampunk is an aesthetic style grounded in the Victorian era, in clothing and accoutrements modeled on a heightened and hyper-extended age of steam. In addition to its modeling of attire and other symbolic trappings, what is most distinctive is its adherents'use of a machined aesthetic based on steam engines and early electrical machinery—gears, pistons, shafts, wheels, induction motors, clockwork and so forth. Precursors to steampunk can be found in the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. The imagery of the American West contributed to the aesthetic—revolvers, locomotives, and rifles of the late nineteenth century. Among young people, steampunk has found common aesthetic cause with Goth style. Examples from literature and popular culture include William Gibson's fiction, China Miéville's novels, the classic film Metropolis, and the BBC series Doctor Who. This volume recognizes that steampunk, a unique popular culture phenomenon, presents a prime opportunity for rhetorical criticism. Steampunk's art, style, and narratives convey complex social and political meanings. Chapters in Clockwork Rhetoric explore topics ranging from jewelry to Japanese anime to contemporary imperialism to fashion. Throughout, the book demonstrates how language influences consumers of steampunk to hold certain social and political attitudes and commitments.

motw/Clockwork Rhetoric_ The Languag - Barry Brummett.pdf

Brummett, Barry

United States, United States of America

producers:
Adobe PDF Library 9.9

Memory of the World Librarian: Slowrotation

Cover 1
Half-title 3
Title 5
Copyright 6
Contents 7
Acknowledgments 9
Editor’s Introduction The Rhetoric of Steampunk 11
Introduction: A Rhetoric of Steam 16
Historical Roots of Steampunk 18
Steampunk and Media Consumption 21
Steampunk as a Participatory, Transformative Culture 23
Steampunk as a Rhetorical System 25
Looking Forward: A Rhetoric for the Future of Steampunk 30
Conclusion: The Uses and Gratifications of Steampunk 32
Notes 33
A RHETORIC OF STEAMPUNK IDEOLOGY 35
“There Is Hope for the Future” The (Dis)Enchantment of the Technician-Hero in Steampunk 37
Steampunk as a Techno-Utopian Fantasy 38
Steampunk as a Victorian Masculine Fantasy 40
Concluding Remarks: Steampunk as Artful Deception 47
Notes 49
Victorians, Machines, and Exotic Others Steampunk and the Aesthetic of Empire 53
The Steampunk Empire 56
Steampunk’s Different Engine of Empire 59
Conquering Empire 68
Notes 68
Liberation and a Corset Examining False Feminism in Steampunk 72
The Ties That Bind Victorian Fashion and Steampunk 74
Performing Victorian Style 78
Steampunk Discussion 88
Notes 89
A RHETORIC OF STEAMPUNK SEMIOTICS 93
Antimodernism as the Rhetoric of Steampunk Anime Fullmetal Alchemist, Technological Anxieties, and Controlling the Machine 95
Japanese Modernity 96
Steampunk’s Antimodernism as Victorian Neo-medievalism 97
Anime as an Antimodern Medium 99
Steampunk Anime 100
Reading Fullmetal Alchemist as an Antimodern Text 101
Medieval Motifs as Metaphor 103
Notes 110
Works Cited 112
Jumping Scale in Steampunk One Gear Makes You Larger, One Duct Makes You Small 114
The Aesthetic of Steampunk 116
Jumping Scale Down 119
Jumping Scale Up 123
Conclusion 126
Notes 127
Steampunk and Sherlock Holmes Performing Post-Marxism 128
The Theory of Steampunk 130
The Object of Steampunk 133
The Steampunk Sherlock 139
Conclusion 143
Notes 144
Works Cited 145
A RHETORIC OF STEAMPUNK NARRATIVE 147
Kenneth Burke Meets a Time Lord Steampunk’s Grammatical Disruption 149
Steampunk Literature and Grammatical Disruption 152
Doctor Who and a Steampunk Critic Step into a TARDIS 157
Conclusion 165
Notes 166
Works Cited 167
Clockwork Counterfactuals Allohistory and the Steampunk Rhetoric of Inquiry 169
Four Allohistorical Tropes in Steampunk 173
Steampunk, Technology, Empire, and Inquiry 179
Notes 190
Works Cited 191
Steampunk’s Identity Horizon and Contested Memory 193
Performing the Experiment 196
The Aesthetic Memory of Public Subjectivity 199
Global Articulations of Steampunk Identity 200
Gothic Steam, Global Film, and Denationalized Supermen 202
Punking Identity through Play 204
Terry Gilliam Punks Empire 205
Conclusion 208
Notes 209
Works Cited 209
Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes Steampunk Superhero? 211
Notes 229
Contributors 237
Index 240

This unique book explores how the aesthetic and cultural movement "Steampunk" persuades audiences and wins new acolytes. Steampunk is an aesthetic style grounded in the Victorian era, in clothing and accoutrements modeled on a heightened and hyper-extended age of steam. In addition to its modeling of attire and other symbolic trappings, what is most distinctive is its adherents' use of a machined aesthetic based on steam engines and early electrical machinery: gears, pistons, shafts, wheels, induction motors, clockwork and so forth.
The aesthetic was first articulated in literature in the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. The American West later contributed images to the aesthetic--revolvers, locomotives, and rifles of the late nineteenth century. Among young people steampunk has found common aesthetic cause with Goth style. Examples from literature and popular culture include William Gibson's fiction, China Miéville's novels, the classic film Metropoli s, and the BBC series Doctor Who . This volume recognizes that steampunk, a unique popular culture phenomenon, presents a prime opportunity for rhetorical criticism.
Steampunk's art, style, and narratives convey complex social and political meanings. Chapters in Clockwork Rhetoric explore topics ranging from jewelry to Japanese anime to contemporary imperialism to fashion. Throughout, the book demonstrates how language influences consumers of steampunk to hold certain social and political attitudes and commitments.
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"Explores how the aesthetic and cultural movement 'steampunk, ' [an aesthetic style grounded in the Victorian era, in clothing and accoutrements modeled on a heightened and hyper-extended age of steam], persuades audiences and wins new acolytes"--Amazon.com

2025-10-27