{"product_id":"steampunk-london-helena-esser-9781350433946","title":"Steampunk London: Neo-Victorian Urban Space and Popular Transmedia Memory","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTracing the genre through fiction, visual art, film and videogames from the 1980s to the present, this book offers a comprehensive exploration of the intersection between neo-Victorianism, urban spaces and Steampunk. \u003c\/b\u003eCharacterised by its interplay between past and present and its anachronistic retro-speculation, Neo-Victorian-infused Steampunk remixes modern collective memory to produce a re-imagined vision of Victorian London. Investigating how Steampunk's re-calibrated Londons both source from and subvert Victorian discourse about the city, \u003ci\u003eSteampunk \u003c\/i\u003eLondon offers a deeper understanding of how a popular cultural memory of the Victorian past is shaped and transmitted in light of present-day identity politics. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCovering key themes including retrofuturism, gender and sexuality, colonialism and postcolonialism, it considers such ideas as how early Steampunk synthesizes Victorian urban ethnography; how Victorian urban Gothic shapes shared transmedia memory to challenge reactionary, nostalgic meta-narratives; how Steampunk video games mobilize urban space as an immersive storytelling device with cities open to play; and how Steampunk interprets the modern metropolis as an opportunity for feminist and queer agency. Through examination of Victorian-era writers from Charles Dickens to Arthur Conan Doyle, the book digs into works of fiction and media alike, looking at \u003ci\u003eThe Difference Engine, Soulless\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFrom Hell\u003c\/i\u003e, Guy Ritchie's \u003ci\u003eSherlock Holmes\u003c\/i\u003e, cyberpunk classic \u003ci\u003eBlade Runner\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAssassin's Creed: Syndicate and The Order 1886.\u003c\/i\u003e An important intervention in the study of steampunk, Helena Esser demonstrates how the works explored invite participatory consumption and considers the genre's potential- and failures- to interrogate and challenge our relationship with the Victorian past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Helena Esser\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1350433942\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350433946\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/19\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.51d","brand":"Helena Esser","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48484970332415,"sku":"9781350433946","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c43f9736-4cb3-4610-be24-48b7d0f51255.jpg?v=1778047046","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/steampunk-london-helena-esser-9781350433946","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}