UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Shades of Sepia: Examining Eurocentrism and Whiteness in Relation to Multiculturalism in Steampunk Iconography, Fandom, and Culture Industry A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature by Sook Yi Goh December 2017 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Mariam Lam, Chairperson Dr. Heidi Brevik-Zender Dr. Sherryl Vint Copyright by Sook Yi Goh 2017 The Dissertation of Sook Yi Goh is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements Firstly, I owe so much thanks to Dr. Mariam Lam, who herded this dissertation from its wayward beginnings to its final form with incisive questions. Thank you also to Dr. Heidi Brevik-Zender for the constant cheerful encouragement every time I have passed her office, and to Dr. Sherryl Vint for the opportunities to participate in the science fiction events on campus. Thanks also go to the many faculty and peers of the UC Riverside Comparative Literature department for their patience in listening to me about this dissertation, in particular Dr. Hendrik Maier and Dr. Anthonia Kalu. Several people beyond UC Riverside have also been a stalwart support to me over the process. Without Diana Pho, this journey would never have begun. Maria Velazquez, Kathryn Allan, and Susannah Copi have provided me with no-nonsense advice and hand- holding during times of stress. Finally, thanks to friends from steampunk who I know have been anticipating this dissertation for years: Kevin Steil, Nisi Shawl, Jake von Slatt, Jess Nevins, and many, many more. iv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Shades of Sepia: Examining Eurocentrism and Whiteness in Relation to Multiculturalism in Steampunk Iconography, Fandom, and Culture Industry by Sook Yi Goh Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Comparative Literature University of California, Riverside, December 2017 Dr. Mariam Lam, Chairperson Steampunk is an aesthetic that combines accelerated technology, retrofuturism, and alternate history. “Multicultural steampunk” is used to describe steampunk separate from the common understanding of steampunk that hinges on neo-Victorianism and imaginings of the British Empire. It often refers to cultural production in which the steampunk aesthetic is applied to or combined with some region, space, or item that is designated non-white in current perceptions of race. Since steampunk’s rise as a trend in 2008, communities and industries have coalesced about the aesthetic, often reproduced through a Eurocentric lens, raising anxieties about whiteness. In this dissertation, Eurocentrism is defined as a mode of thought which enshrines Europe as a site and source of linear progress for the rest of the world to follow, while whiteness is defined as a location of structural advantage and racial privilege as well as a standpoint from which white people look at themselves and the world. These are mutually-reinforcing v mechanisms, expressed in popular discourse and media. I argue that whiteness informs the Eurocentric narratives associated with the popular iconography of steampunk. Moreover, discourse in steampunk fandom spaces contributed to an approach to multicultural steampunk that centers whiteness, rendering multiculturalism as a commercial aesthetic mode separate from historical context. Thus, despite attempts to diversify the aesthetic through multicultural steampunk, steampunk cultural productions, particularly literature and costuming, maintain a perspective to multiculturalism and steampunk that nonetheless centers mainstream Eurocentric sensibilities, instead of offering more challenging radical alternate histories. Steampunk informed by a more radical multiculturalist purpose, in which the perspectives and production of the historically marginalized are prioritized, have the potential to create alternate histories that center the experiences of the historically-colonized in ways that resist the mainstream narratives of history. vi Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Steampunk....................................................................................................................... 2 The Race Question ........................................................................................................ 17 Alienation and Appeal .................................................................................................. 25 Multiculturalism, Eurocentrism, and Whiteness ........................................................... 28 Pulling Stuff Together................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 1: Spectacular Vernacular ................................................................................... 39 Adventure ...................................................................................................................... 45 Mad Science .................................................................................................................. 60 Promenade..................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 2: Talking the Talk—Or Not—of Steampunk Multiculturalism ......................... 84 Multiculturalism as Additive ........................................................................................ 93 Multiculturalism as Site of Conquest .......................................................................... 109 Multiculturalism as Commodity ................................................................................. 122 Chapter 3: Steampunking Industries and Multiculturalism ............................................ 134 White Bodies Reconquering Europe from the Comforts of Africa ............................ 141 Non-White Masks: Literary Colorface Atop White Supremacy ................................. 152 White Bodies, White Spaces ....................................................................................... 164 Chapter 4: Radical Multiculturalism and Steampunk ..................................................... 180 Geographic Materialism.............................................................................................. 189 Steampunk as Minor Literature .................................................................................. 201 Resistant Allohistories ................................................................................................ 216 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 231 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 246 vii List of Figures Figure 1 Stubby the Rocket, Tor.com Logo ..................................................................... 57 Figure 2 HMS Stubbington, Steampunk Tor.com Logo ................................................... 57 Figure 3 Doctor Grordbort's 4th Law by Greg Broadmore from WETA Workshop........ 69 Figure 4 Gay Victorians, by Yinka Shonibare ................................................................ 119 Figure 5. Imperial Airship by James Ng ......................................................................... 194 Figure 6 Raccoon Express by James Ng ......................................................................... 195 Figure 7 Chimaera by James Ng ..................................................................................... 195 Figure 8 Harvester by James Ng ..................................................................................... 195 Figure 9 Still from "The Path Without End" by Elizabeth LaPensée ............................. 199 Figure 10 Native American Air Marshall ....................................................................... 207 Figure 11 Native American Mad Scientist prototype 2011 ............................................ 208 Figure 12 Native American Mad Scientist variation 2013 ............................................. 208 Figure 13 Native American Mad Scientist variation 2013 ............................................. 208 viii Introduction In early 2009, in the wilds of the social network MySpace, I came across an essay by a performer who styled herself “Ay-Leen the Peacemaker” titled “Thoughts about Orientalism, Imperialism & Steampunking Asia.”1 Part memoir, part argument, part plea, she wrote about the possibilities of doing Asian steampunk. Hitherto, my encounters with steampunk had been few: it was some sort of dress-up thing, like goth, except brown, with a lot more whirlygigs attached to look like robots. It was a pretty aesthetic, like Lolita’s Victorian-esque lacey dresses with poufy skirts, except men also did it, with old- fashioned 19th century garb with funny moustasches, top hats, and ostentatious pocket watches. Steampunk was nice to look at, but an expensive hobby, like fishing, or theatre. Ay-Leen’s essay was about looking for a steampunk that did not revolve around the Victorian aesthetic, a steampunk that was about alternate-history Asia without Orientalizing it. It was also about the doubts of being Asian and participating in a subculture that was “rooted in fantasy-escapism and based on a cross between Victorian pulp fiction and a wave of New Romanticism.” The lack of historical accuracy in steampunk was a double-edged sword because