Hopepunk?

[rachelmanija]

I pulled this comment of mine from a locked entry on my f-list on "hopepunk," which linked to some articles on it. After reading the articles, I wrote:

Apart from the impossible-to-pronounce name, hopepunk is a weird movement because it seems so utterly undefined as anything but "not grimdark," which is also a useless term as nobody agrees on what that even is either. One of the articles says The Handmaid's Tale (novel) is hopepunk because Offred is resisting inside her mind, but lots of others would say the book defines grimdark.

You can't have a movement without a set of media that everyone agrees exemplify it, but there doesn't seem to be a single example of something everyone can point at and say "it's hopepunk." If you take steampunk, there's tons of things that everyone can point at and say, "Those are steampunk." I think "punk" should be limited to things with a clear aesthetic that includes visuals - which was also the case for originalpunk.

The most interesting possible definition of hopepunk, IMO, would be this:

- Stories involve communities rather than lone individuals.

- Great change requires communal effort.

- Communities are not inherently bad, though some may be.

- People are not inherently selfish and cruel, though some may be.

- Compassion, kindness, and idealism is more likely to lead to good rather than bad consequences.

- Protecting only yourself or only your own loved ones at the expense of the Other or strangers is wrong.

- Meeting strangers is more likely to lead to interesting conversations, trade, or relationships than fights to the death.

- Even if the society contains prejudice, from the point of view of the story, all people are equal. Even if a story takes place in a racist and sexist society, the story itself will not marginalize those characters.

- Non-racist, non-sexist, non-homophobic (etc) societies are common in these stories.

- The visual aesthetic is pretty/beautiful/intricate/fun, with multiple cultures represented. There is an effort to make even ordinary items fun to use and pleasant to look at. Clothing is colorful and individual. The aesthetic is that things are both for use and for pleasure, showing that life is not only for survival.

Black Panther would be a good example of this, I think. Everything ever written by Diane Duane and Sherwood Smith.

Comments

[rachelmanija]

Same. I also like clair a lot because its counterpoint is noir, which is a clear genre with an aesthetic and examples but which isn't used as a term of disdain.

[ambyr]

I also find the clair/noir distinction a lot clearer than all the various *punks.

[swan_tower]

The *punk suffix annoys me because there is absolutely zero that's punk about most of them. It's like calling every scandal *gate, as if Watergate was somehow about water.

[sholio]

I loved that clair/noir discussion because it gave me the concept of creating clair pockets in a noir universe, which I think comes closest to describing the narrative style of most of what I love best (including the Ben January books). Fictional characters creating pockets of light and hope in a dark world, and holding onto it against all the world's attempts to stamp it out, is pretty much my favorite thing ever. But just straight-up clair, at least what I've seen people describe that way (e.g. Goblin Emperor), doesn't have enough of the counterbalancing dark for my taste. I need the chiaroscuro effect to really enjoy the light parts.

[rachelmanija]

Clair pockets in a noir universe is one of my favorite things too. It's like all those books of kids being sent away during the Blitz and having adventures in the countryside. Or the movie Hope and Glory (also WW2 England) where a young boy finds freedom and adventure in bombed-out London because the adults are too preoccupied with the war to keep close tabs on him.

[kore]

That discussion sounds really good, do you have a link?

[sholio]

Sure, here you go! The "clair pocket universes in a noir universe" add-on was a comment to the original post (and a comment which I now see is by hamsterwoman - oh hello there!).

[kore]

Awesome, ty!

[hamsterwoman]

Hi! XD

I'm really pleased to see people still remember that post of eglantiere's and seem to be finding the "pocket clair universe" concept useful! (Also I can't believe that post as almost 5 years ago, whoa...)

[sholio]

The "clair pocket universe" concept was IMMENSELY useful for me in defining the kinds of works that I tend to like! I really love it; thank you for coming up with it. :D

[scioscribe]

Clair pockets in a noir universe is a great way of thinking about some of my favorite takes, too, and you nailed why. I need to feel like the author and I are living in the same universe--one in which terrible things definitely exist--for the hope and warmth to have any meaning.

[sholio]

Yes, exactly. I know perfectly well it's a matter of reading taste rather than of either objective quality or moral superiority, and never want to imply otherwise, but I often find myself bouncing off works that read "too fluffy" to me, in the same way I often bounce off works that read "too dark". And that's pretty much exactly why, what you said right there. I want to feel like it's my world, including all the dark edges. But then I want a take on it that's about finding community and light and love in the midst of the dark.

I used to think of it as a tightrope walk of happiness above an abyss of tragedy -- the characters are happy and together because they constantly fight to be happy and together, and they could always fall off into the tragic ending; the tension is part of what makes it interesting to me, and the fact that they have to continually renew their commitment to the happy ending rather than the tragic one. "Clair pockets in a noir universe" captures the feeling more succinctly and probably gets more to the heart of what I like best about it.