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Crafting Women’s Narratives The Material Impact of Twenty-First Century Romance Fiction on Contemporary Steampunk Dress Shannon Marie Rollins A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Art) at The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh College of Art, School of Art September 2019 Rollins i ABSTRACT Science fiction author K.W. Jeter coined the term ‘steampunk’ in his 1987 letter to the editor of Locus magazine, using it to encompass the burgeoning literary trend of madcap ‘gonzo’-historical Victorian adventure novels. Since this watershed moment, steampunk has outgrown its original context to become a multimedia field of production including art, fashion, Do-It-Yourself projects, role-playing games, film, case-modified technology, convention culture, and cosplay alongside science fiction. And as steampunk creativity diversifies, the link between its material cultures and fiction becomes more nuanced; where the subculture began as an extension of the text in the 1990s, now it is the culture that redefines the fiction. As this shift occurs, women’s narratives have grown in prominence and the treatment of female characters has become more three- dimensional than those of Jeter’s initial cohort. This new wave of authors like Gail Carriger, Cherie Priest, Ekaterina Sedia, and Adrienne Kress write a generation of bold female leads that appeal to millennial readers; this body of fiction is balanced by the efforts of steampunk bloggers and academics like Suna Dasi, Diana M. Pho, and Jaymee Goh who challenge steampunk’s canon for representation, diversity and appropriate treatment of race, gender, and sexuality. As more authors, makers, cosplayers, and academics work towards intersectional creativity and balanced narratives, steampunk becomes more focused on personal storytelling and less anchored to a literary canon. In this thesis, I investigate in what ways – and with what tools – women craft their own narratives and cultivate representation inside the steampunk cultural space, thereby transforming it. I explore the symbiotic nature of women’s storytelling and women’s dress in steampunk culture, tracing the link between character descriptions and development in fiction with the material qualities of women’s convention looks, fashion designs, cosplay, ‘steampunk light’ (casual street-style looks), styled photoshoots, and social media content and interactions. Rollins ii In my study of women’s narratives, I place particular focus on the impact of steampunk romance and romantic fiction – and the expectation of women to write romance – as the cypher linking inspiration to creative practices. My investigation is an intertextual probe into the osmotic nature of fiction and fashion, analysing Anglo-American steampunk writing and dress practices’ interplay. This analysis hinges on two theoretical points: narratives of becoming and being gender performance (Butler 1990, 1991, 1993; Halberstam 1998; McRobbie 1980, 2004) and inverse ekphrasis (Heffernan 1991 and Domínguez et al. 2015), a condition where the literary inspires life. At the thesis’s close, it will have provided the first detailed academic analysis of steampunk women’s fashion and gender performance as they are both written and informed by the contexts – and connotations – of romance fiction. Rollins iii LAY SUMMARY This thesis explores the interlocking system of influences between steampunk romance fiction and steampunk women’s dress in the last two decades. In it, I analyse how first and second wave steampunk authors describe female and queer characters, investigating their different treatments of women, female bodies, sexuality, gender performance, and women’s fashion. The second wave works, particularly romance novels, present criticisms of the prevalent gender stereotyping employed in the 1980s and 1990s canon steampunk fiction (and its predominantly male perspective), and exchange the outdated practices with more nuanced approaches to the relationships between women’s personal perceptions of femininity and their gender performances through dress. My thesis reads clothing as a form of text and presents passages of fiction alongside object biographies as a method to unpack these relationships. I analyse the impact of Gail Carriger’s New York Times Bestseller Soulless (2009), Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker (2009), and Ekaterina Sedia’s The Alchemy of Stone (2008) near-simultaneous publications – alongside the outcomes of the online science community’s ‘RaceFail’09’ – as a turning point for representations of women in steampunk fiction, and unpack how steampunk’s dress practices have developed alongside these new, more inclusive narratives. My investigation resolves a gap in steampunk’s current field; it explores and analyses the intrinsic links between the steampunk romance fiction, the impact of gender on women’s authorship, and the material qualities of steampunk fashion. Rollins iv DECLARATION I declare that this thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Art is entirely my own work, written and researched for the purpose of this degree, and has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Shannon Marie Rollins September 29, 2019 Rollins v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my friends, family, and colleagues: First and foremost, I must acknowledge my parents Pam and Jeff – and my unflappable sister Allison – as they have rejoiced in my highs and coaxed (and coddled) me through the lows. To Dr Rebecca Duncan: thank you for reading every draft I sent you, spending endless hours in the pub talking me through every wild though, and patiently answering every ‘what am I doing’ phone call since 2013. To Dr Mike Perschon, my fellow Steampunk researcher: thank you for your kind words of encouragement and thematic suggestions, such as pointing me towards the bustlepunk debate; all have greatly improved my study’s context. To Frances Nex: my gratitude for being a wonderful proof-reader and keeping my work as typo-free as is possible. To Karen Van Godtsenhoven, Frédéric Boutie, Birgit Ansoms, Wim Mertens, Elisa De Wyngaert, Frieda Sorber, and the full MoMu staff: thank you for sharing your beautiful museum, your time, and your knowledge. You will never know the full impact that your kindness has had. And a very special thank you to my Edinburgh family – Dr Sarah Deters and Dr Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet – for being at once wonderful friends, nearer to siblings, and responsive sounding boards. I could not have finished with a measure of the grace and dignity that I have without your generosity. To the steampunk community: I’d to thank Gail Carriger, Kim Ryser, Lisa Hager, and Amy Wilder for their kind responses to my questions and queries concerning their dress practices. I extend a special thank you to the many Scottish steampunks I’ve met – including Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society, Dave Morrison, Erin Crombie, Amy Stannard-Powell, and Suna Dasi – for giving me the opportunity to interact with community, not to mention their bottomless charity of knowledge. Rollins vi To my supervisors (present and past), all due thanks: Angela McClanahan for her tenacious insistence on my best work – and unwavering faith that it would, eventually, come; Kristin Mojsiewicz for her tireless, gentle counsel during the many rounds of reframing and restructuring; Nicholas Oddy for his advice on nineteenth-century design and the merits of simplicity (you were right about excessive theory, there were certainly dragons there!); Nancy Wolsk for guiding me through the twists of undergraduate art history, and for encouraging me to attend University of Edinburgh for graduate school; and Neil Mulholland for his unique viewpoint on shaping my steampunk research, which I’ve only now begun to fully understand. Rollins vii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to Marco De Cuyper, for always being my designated hand-holder, coffee-maker, wine-bringer, and all-around fantastic partner. Rollins viii GAIL CARRIGER POSING IN HER ‘ALEXIA’ DRESS Replica of gown worn & designed by Donna Ricci on the Changeless cover (posted on Instagram, March 21, 2017) Rollins ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Lay Summary .............................................................................................................................. iii Declaration................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................