Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => VSF Adventures => Topic started by: abdul666lw on April 15, 2012, 02:45:18 PM
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A provocative title?
Well, Robida:
- worked during Victorian times http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Robida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Robida)
- set his works explicitly in the future, while most of Verne's novel, the War of the Worlds... were set in contemporary times: thus he was writing Anticipation Scientifique, the archetypal Science-Fiction.
Most interestingly, Robida was an illustrator as well as a writer, thus we know exactly how he 'visualized' the future; just browse at leisure:
http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-vie-electrique.html (http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-vie-electrique.html)
http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-guerre-au-20e-siecle.html (http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-guerre-au-20e-siecle.html)
http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-guerre-au-20e-siecle-2.html (http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-guerre-au-20e-siecle-2.html)
http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_vingti%C3%A8me_si%C3%A8cle/Partie_I/Chapitre_1 (http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_vingti%C3%A8me_si%C3%A8cle/Partie_I/Chapitre_1)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QfNLjPi3yc/Tq0BN2UdOyI/AAAAAAAAAnw/6yxgfKV11Yo/s1600/robida+le+vingtieme+siecle.JPG)
A minor but interesting point is how he used the bicycle rider dress [baggy breeches and socks sometimes covered with leather leggings for men, under a very short -for the time- open skirt for the women] -by then the 'top' of 'modern' costume, almost futuristic indeed. For men, it appears mainly in the uniform of 'high tech' soldiery, flying torpedo boats crews for instance;
(http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-la-guerre-01.jpg)
but it is worn by most women, not specially those of 'active' occupations
For Robida, the future was to bring more ugly, cruel warfare
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/194905253_91ea54eb76.jpg)
(http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-24.jpg)
but on the other end women's liberation and total equality with men
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dilwnimo0MI/Stt90EIntmI/AAAAAAAABoM/22Mr4EUgUxU/s1600/20_sup_femme.jpg)
-with full access to jobs traditionally reserved to men.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Robida_vingtieme_siecle_p413_1.jpg)
Was Robida 'Steampunk'? 'Steam', *so* dirty, noisy, smelly is to be restricted to domains where it cannot be replaced as yet; in his vision almost all is powered by electricity -one of his works is entitled 'The electric life'; thus very few rivets in his images, no 'brutish' contraptions
(except for heavy war engines
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy18/AdamfromLancashire/The-20th-Century-War-From-La-Carica.jpg)
(http://www.fantasticalandrewfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/floating_fortresses.jpg)
'brutish' by nature) so typical of Steampunk,
but light constructions sometimes visually akin to Art Nouveau.
(http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/images/2008/04/16/robida1.gif)
(http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-27.jpg)
On the other hand, if one tries to distinguish Steampunk from VSF on the basis of the universality (affecting the whole society, omnipresent in everybody's life) or rarity (unique contraptions built by an individual, Nemo's Nautilus, Robur's Albatros) of 'advanced' contraptions and more generally technologies, then Robida is the epitome of Steampunk. On the cover of the 'Vingtième siècle', in the the lower left corner insert, a man is chatting through a webcam. There is much more to discover in his books, now public domain and for the most part accessible on-line.
(http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/robida-19.jpg)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/The_End_of_Books_-_page_231a.jpg)
(http://www.telephonoscope.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/robida-7007-crop.jpg)
And his future is sometimes dystopian http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/images/robida-31.jpg (http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/images/robida-31.jpg)
(http://www.gloubik.info/livres/robida/images/robida-31.jpg)
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Wow, what a treasure trove of images! Thank you. Fascinating to see the bits that were prescient, and those that (so far!) haven't seen the light of day in actuality.
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Le Vingtième Siècle has been referenced here before, but I don't recall Monsieur or Madame Robida pointed out by name. However, I know I've seen several of the images before.
Alas, I shall have to remember the name by association with a Verne character, Robur. :D
Doug