I'm reposting (and slightly modifying) a comment I made on another (somewhat less dead!) group, as I think it's a useful category - and not one I accounted for when I set things up here. It mostly retreads the general ~punk argument, but I hope you find it interesting nevertheless!
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Jenny wrote: "A fast bit of googeling tells me that solarpunk is seen as eco-fiction but steampunk and cyberpunk are not."
Solarpunk is a term I've only recently come across, but this distinction doesn't surprise me. All three genres have a technological focus, but the purpose of that focus differs for each.
Cyberpunk is typically about futurism and technology for its own sake. There may be the trappings of ecological issues in the worlds of this genre, just as there are in post-apocalyptic or dystopian stories, but the stories are driven by virtual/online/data technologies, while in a generally scifi scenario. Similarly you get Nanopunk and Biopunk, both of which might mesh well with ecological concerns but where the thematic focus is mainly on the tech.
Steampunk gives us retro-futurism as its principle plaything, but it is also often used as a lens for redrawing the sociological roles of the past: there is many a pre-Suffrage heroine casting off the chains of expectation to kick a little patriarchal ass here, and similar critiques of the past's arguable cultural misbehaviour (empire building, European colonialism) often feature.
There are a slew of other punks that do the same thing for other eras (more or less; I've not read examples of them all, but I think they're treated flexibly by authors): Decopunk (flapping 20s/30s, )Dieselpunk (hot-rodding 40s/50s), Atompunk (cold war 50s/60s). Certainly for the last two eco-themes could be a nice fit, but the fun is mainly generated by mixing up the limited technology with scifi's boundless potentials. And there are more.
The label Stonepunk has also been raised - retroactively applied to things like The Clan of the Cave Bear, though I think that's taking things a bit far. Speaking for myself, I'd like to see Flowerpunk (late-sixties California music scene) and Punkpunk (late-70s UK music scene)... or how about Glampunk, for big-hair-and-Spandex-clad 80s scifi, anyone? ;-)
ANYway, to come full circle: where Solarpunk might diverge from these is that the technology itself is sharply associated with the ecological movement. There's little reason to place the focus on solar power (or geo-thermal, or A, or B, or C new technologies) if there isn't also a thematic motive inherent in the narratives: failure of non-renewable power sources, environmental collapse, etc. So, in SolarpunkI think there is a reasonable expectation of eco-fic where elsewhere in punkfiction there is not.
All that said: the ~punk suffix is meant to be as much about the style of the text as it is about the theme it's attached to. This is why Stonepunk is an ill-fit for me, at least when people want to slot any or all prehistoric fantasy into it, regardless of each book's treatment. By contrast, given the often "outsider", protest-y nature of those who embrace the ecological cause, I'd actually welcome the genre of Ecopunk as a truly appropriate member of the ~punk club.
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Okay, that was my post. If any ghosts happen to waft through here, I'd be interested to know what you think!
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Jenny wrote: "A fast bit of googeling tells me that solarpunk is seen as eco-fiction but steampunk and cyberpunk are not."
Solarpunk is a term I've only recently come across, but this distinction doesn't surprise me. All three genres have a technological focus, but the purpose of that focus differs for each.
Cyberpunk is typically about futurism and technology for its own sake. There may be the trappings of ecological issues in the worlds of this genre, just as there are in post-apocalyptic or dystopian stories, but the stories are driven by virtual/online/data technologies, while in a generally scifi scenario. Similarly you get Nanopunk and Biopunk, both of which might mesh well with ecological concerns but where the thematic focus is mainly on the tech.
Steampunk gives us retro-futurism as its principle plaything, but it is also often used as a lens for redrawing the sociological roles of the past: there is many a pre-Suffrage heroine casting off the chains of expectation to kick a little patriarchal ass here, and similar critiques of the past's arguable cultural misbehaviour (empire building, European colonialism) often feature.
There are a slew of other punks that do the same thing for other eras (more or less; I've not read examples of them all, but I think they're treated flexibly by authors): Decopunk (flapping 20s/30s, )Dieselpunk (hot-rodding 40s/50s), Atompunk (cold war 50s/60s). Certainly for the last two eco-themes could be a nice fit, but the fun is mainly generated by mixing up the limited technology with scifi's boundless potentials. And there are more.
The label Stonepunk has also been raised - retroactively applied to things like The Clan of the Cave Bear, though I think that's taking things a bit far. Speaking for myself, I'd like to see Flowerpunk (late-sixties California music scene) and Punkpunk (late-70s UK music scene)... or how about Glampunk, for big-hair-and-Spandex-clad 80s scifi, anyone? ;-)
ANYway, to come full circle: where Solarpunk might diverge from these is that the technology itself is sharply associated with the ecological movement. There's little reason to place the focus on solar power (or geo-thermal, or A, or B, or C new technologies) if there isn't also a thematic motive inherent in the narratives: failure of non-renewable power sources, environmental collapse, etc. So, in SolarpunkI think there is a reasonable expectation of eco-fic where elsewhere in punkfiction there is not.
All that said: the ~punk suffix is meant to be as much about the style of the text as it is about the theme it's attached to. This is why Stonepunk is an ill-fit for me, at least when people want to slot any or all prehistoric fantasy into it, regardless of each book's treatment. By contrast, given the often "outsider", protest-y nature of those who embrace the ecological cause, I'd actually welcome the genre of Ecopunk as a truly appropriate member of the ~punk club.
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Okay, that was my post. If any ghosts happen to waft through here, I'd be interested to know what you think!