Why aren't megacorps as big a part of Steampunk as they are of Cyberpunk?

[Tonguez]

If I were to do a steampunk megacorp I would base it on Standard Oil.

Standard Oil - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The United Fruit Company is up there too - its the reason Banana Republics exist

 

[Reynard]

Eberron's dragonmarked houses aren't a bad example if you want to get megacorp-ish in your Steampunk setting. They do still have at least some government / nobility ties in most cases and mostly aren't as overtly amoral as your standard corp, but they're nevertheless up for some shady stuff under the right circumstances.

I agree that the Dragonmarked Houses are akin to cyberpunk mega corps (I have used them that way myself). I vehemently disagree with categorizing Eberron as Steampunk. It is magitech and aetherpunk.

 

[MarkB]

I agree that the Dragonmarked Houses are akin to cyberpunk mega corps (I have used them that way myself). I vehemently disagree with categorizing Eberron as Steampunk. It is magitech and aetherpunk.

No argument from me there.

 

[Umbran]

The true defining feature of cyberpunk (of which steampunk is basically a subgenre according to Jeter) is that it is about technoshock.

In a word, no. At least, I disagree with that sentiment.

Once a thing is big enough to call a "genre", there are enough varying examples that you won't find a single "defining feature". Genres are based on collections of tropes and themes, not single definitional themes. IMHO, at least.

One can do, for example, a cyberpunk dystopia in which the technology, or most intents and purposes, has plateaued - the society has reached a sort of steady state, and it is no longer about the change in tech, but the impact of corporate oligarchical control of tech, and the wealth disparities that comes from it.

 

[Tonguez]

I haven’t seen much Chinese cyberpunk fiction, maybe living 996 in Chongqing is basically too cyberpunk already; you don’t have to read about it.

The Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan - set on Silicon Island off the coast of China where oppressed workers work in massive E-waste recycling plants, owned by the islands native clans processing mostly American junk. Environmentalism, Labour rights and Colonialism in Chinese Cyberpunk.

 

[Reynard]

In a word, no. At least, I disagree with that sentiment.

Once a thing is big enough to call a "genre", there are enough varying examples that you won't find a single "defining feature". Genres are based on collections of tropes and themes, not single definitional themes. IMHO, at least.

One can do, for example, a cyberpunk dystopia in which the technology, or most intents and purposes, has plateaued - the society has reached a sort of steady state, and it is no longer about the change in tech, but the impact of corporate oligarchical control of tech, and the wealth disparities that comes from it.

I would argue that is just future dystopia. That's a different genre (or maybe an umbrella genre that encompasses cyberpunk). 1984 is not cyberpunk, which is essentially what you are arguing.

 

[Umbran]

I would argue that is just future dystopia. That's a different genre (or maybe an umbrella genre that encompasses cyberpunk). 1984 is not cyberpunk, which is essentially what you are arguing.

No, 1984 isn't cyberpunk, because it is talking about governmental control, not corporate power.

 

[Reynard]

No, 1984 isn't cyberpunk, because it is talking about governmental control, not corporate power.

Wait, I thought the argument was that cyberpunk was bigger than just one trope.

 

[dragoner]

The United Fruit Company is up there too - its the reason Banana Republics exist

True, though Standard Oil is also colonialist in China:

“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. ... In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”
― Smedley D. Butler, War Is a Racket

 

[Reynard]

This discussion raises an interesting question: what qualifies something as a mega corporation, particularly in cyberpunk?