“Travelling Companions”, by Augustus Leopold Egg, highlighted on the “Neo-Victorian Studies”
I noticed a few days ago on one of my favorite blogs, the “Mark of Ashen Wings”, that the editor of said endeavor had a link to a unique location, named the “Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies”, a “peer-reviewed e-journal dedicated to contemporary re-imaginings of nineteenth century in Literature, Arts, and the Humanities”. The item of note was a “Call for Papers”, specifically regarding “Steampunk, Science, and (Neo) Victorian Technologies”.
The spectrum of topics is impressive, with seventeen different categories, including…
Steampunk and the importation/transformation of Victorian aesthetics
changing narrative technologies in Victorian/neo-Victorian fiction
markets and economics of the Steampunk universe
science and environmental politics
Steampunk and the myths of the Industrial Revolution
redefining the human: intersections with cyberpunk
Steampunk and old/new/lost world empire(s)
the terrors of Steampunk in a post-9/11 world
historicising the Steampunk phenomenon
gender constructions in Steampunk art, literature, and practice
mad geniuses: scientists, inventors, doctors, engineers
Steampunk pasts and futures (e.g. The Difference Engine vs. The Diamond Age)
modding and maker practices: objects and (neo-)Victorian materialism
real and imagined difference engines
scientific (im)practicalities of Steampunk contraptions
visual Steampunk vs. narrative Steampunk (e.g. graphic novels or movies vs. novels)
cosplay and conventions
However, the criteria for the articles is demanding (between 6000 to 8000 words, and I assume that is without references and according to academic standards – MLA or APA… mm, such a joy). Still, it is very encouraging that the genre is evolving from a “trend” to a topic worthy of further analysis. I am currently working through the previous editions of “The Journal”, which cover a wide swath of Neo-Victorian topics (the latest “Call for Papers” was for Neo-Victorian Criminalites – intriguing)!
To read more about the Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies, please turn to:
http://www.neovictorianstudies.com/
and do visit Mr. Dru Pagliassotti’s blog (The Mark of Ashen Wings), at:
http://ashenwings.com/marks/
