Getting steamy with Dr. Amy Montz

What do you get when you begin with a large portion of Victorian era fashion, a blend of technology, cogs, and gears, add a dash of supernatural, and spice it up with a little punk attitude? You get steampunk, a sideline passion of Dr. Amy Montz, assistant professor of English. Montz describes steampunk as "a Victorian world in which science fiction exists. It's the idea that steam power has taken technology further than it actually did. Science fiction elements come into play in a more restrictive social environment. It's the idea that technology has evolved beyond social evolvement."

Montz whose scholarly research rests heavily on both Victorian and Neo-Victorian studies became intrigued with the steampunk subculture as a fascinating extension of her Neo-Victorianism interests. "Neo-Victorianism is the retelling of the Victorian era either through new Victorian tales set in the future or reimaging the past," she said.

Steampunk literature is a primary area of interest for Montz. She even taught a unit of steampunk literature in a science fiction class she taught at Texas A&M - something she'd like to repeat at USI. "We read the Steampunk Anthology by Jeff VanderMeer and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson." But she says Gail Carriger is the darling of the steampunk community as a writer. Her texts deal with werewolves and vampires in a steampunk setting.

Montz's influences are deeply rooted in the 19th-century Victorian style neighborhoods of New Orleans' Garden District where she grew up. "I've always loved history. My parents always bought me books and I would read constantly. I loved the historical stuff," she said.

A self-proclaimed former goth, Montz's interest in steampunk was a natural progression. The wardrobes of those in the gothic subculture would reflect heavily on one color - black. "The saying is that steampunk is when goths found brown," she said. Blacks fade into shades of brown with brass gadgets affixed to contemporary machines, turnkey laptops, polished wood cell phones, and even entire homes remade into a steampunk haven.

Although, the subculture is fascinating to her, she could never be a true steampunk due to the do-it-yourself attitude when it comes to fashion and creating accessories. "I can't go full-fledge steampunk. I had to take home economics in high school and almost flunked out of my sewing class. It's frowned upon in the steampunk community to buy your stuff." She did muster up enough creative juices to go steampunk for two Halloweens, once as an airship captain, and once as a steamed-up Rosie the Riveter. She made her own earrings, watch fob, and a necklace with the words "we can do it" spelled out in typewriter keys.

She chose Rosie, as a perfect icon to push the boundaries of gender, and women's rights in the Victorian setting. "Steampunk challenges ideas about the Victorian era. The era has been mystified by this propriety, a lack of sexuality, and restrictiveness of women. What you see with steampunk is a lot of redefining expectations for the era," she said.

A quick Google search would show that Montz certainly doesn't stand alone. Steampunk festivals across the globe, musicians, writers, fashionistas sporting bustles over crinolines accessorized with goggles, and even exclusive cruises provide hyperlinked opportunities to step into an old/new steamy world.

Read Montz's article "In Which Parasols Prove Useful: Neo-Victorian Rewriting of Victorian Materialiality"