Steampunk

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For the comic book, see Steampunk (comics).
A rocket lands on the moon in Le Voyage dans la Lune, the film adaptation of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.
A rocket lands on the moon in Le Voyage dans la Lune, the film adaptation of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. It is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Their main difference beyond the chronological differences in settings is that steampunk settings tend to be less obviously dystopian.

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[edit] Origin

Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a Victorian setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:[1]

Dear Locus,

Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.

Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks," perhaps ...

-- K.W. Jeter.

The prototypical steampunk stories were essentially cyberpunk tales that were set in the past, using steam-era technology rather than the ubiquitous cybernetics of cyberpunk but maintaining those stories' "punkish" attitudes towards authority figures and human nature. Originally, like cyberpunk, steampunk was typically dystopian, often with noir and pulp fiction themes, as it was a variant of cyberpunk. As the genre developed, it came to adopt more of the broadly appealing utopian sensibilities of Victorian scientific romances.

Steampunk fiction focuses more intently on real, theoretical or cinematic Victorian-era technology, including steam engines, clockwork devices, and difference engines. While much of steampunk is set in Victorian-era settings, the genre has expanded into medieval settings and often delves into the realms of horror and fantasy. Various secret societies and conspiracy theories are often featured, and some steampunk includes significant fantasy elements. There are frequently Lovecraftian, occult and Gothic horror influences as well.

[edit] Early steampunk

The origins of steampunk date back to the pioneering science fiction works of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain and Mary Shelley. Each of these authors wrote works featuring advanced technology and set in the nineteenth or early twentieth century. Although their books may fit the definition of today's steampunk it is improper to label them so, since they were, at the time of their publication, set in the present day (with the exception of Twain's time-travel novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court).

An additional influence on the creation of steampunk are the Edisonade stories of the late 1800s and early 1900s, written by Edward S. Ellis, Luis Senarens and others, in which their characters Johnny Brainerd, Frank Reade, Jr., Tom Edison, Jr., and Jack Wright used steam-powered and technologically-advanced vehicles to adventure across the United States and around the world. In addition to providing later writers with early examples of steam-powered science fictional creations, these stories had a direct influence on the "boy inventor" subgenre of science fiction as personified by Tom Swift.

Another arguable influence on steampunk is Georges Méliès original silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune which portrays a trip to the moon, using the technology of the time (for instance using a large cannon to shoot the 'rocket' into space).

Another important influence was Mervyn Peake's Titus Alone (1959), the last book of the Gormenghast trilogy. The book featured a young protagonist who was raised with hundreds of others in an isolated Victorian castle which was surrounded by a futuristic world. Though rarely classified as steampunk, the series included nearly every major theme of the genre.

A rather dystopian British alternate history featuring steam-based technology may be found in Keith Roberts' 1968 novel Pavane.

Other early examples include Harry Harrison's 1972 novel A Transatlantic Tunnel Hurrah, Robert A. Heinlein's 1980 novel The Number of the Beast, whose characters travel between alternate universes that are realizations of classic SF stories, and Philip José Farmer's 1983 foray into the writing style of L. Frank Baum, A Barnstormer in Oz.

The Moondog comics by George Metzger, published by the Print Mint in 1969 and 1971, embody many aspects of sci-fi/post-apocalyptic steam technology.

Science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock also made several early, and often overlooked, contributions to the genre. The most noteworthy of these are his The Warlord of the Air and its 1974 and 1981 sequels, The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar (collectively republished as A Nomad of the Time Streams). Moorcock's works were among the earliest to remold Edwardian and Victorian adventure fiction within a new, ironic futuristic framework, and also had a strong influence on the later absorption of fantasy elements into the steampunk genre.

Aside from the fact that he coined the term, K.W. Jeter's 1979 novel Morlock Night (a continuation of Wells's The Time Machine) is cited by most as establishing the genre. However, this novel was preceded by James Blaylock's "The Ape-Box Affair" a decidedly Steampunk story, which appeared in a 1978 edition of Unearth Magazine.

[edit] Recent steampunk

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's 1990 novel The Difference Engine is often credited as bringing widespread awareness of the genre "steampunk" among science fiction fans (although as mentioned above, the term was coined by Jeter in 1987[2]). This novel applies the principles of Gibson and Sterling's cyberpunk writings to an alternate Victorian era where Charles Babbage's proposed steam-powered mechanical computer, which he called a difference engine (a later, more general-purpose version was known as an analytical engine), was actually built, and led to the dawn of the information age more than a century ahead of schedule.

The present and growing popularity of steampunk is likely due in large part to comic books and movies, such as the works of animator Hayao Miyazaki, or Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series. Moore's concept and writing made the series popular, but reviews attaching the term "steampunk" to it became many people's first exposure to the term. The long delayed film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo titled Steamboy (スチームボーイ Sutīmubōi), a Japanese anime film about a boy in Victorian England struggling with modern geopolitical ideals, is one of the more recent examples of this in film.

Some commentators contest this conventional history of steampunk. Tat Wood's essay Disraeli Gears (2003) charts the history of the 'retro-Victorian techno-novel' through Victorian architecture, the art of Aubrey Beardsley and the Decadents, 1960s fantasy films and 1970s comics by Bryan Talbot and Moebius. For Wood, 'steampunk' is primarily a marketing category and essentially of US origin: 'Americans, especially in the era of Reagan, believed time and space to be interchangeable and West = Future, hence the genuine belief of American tourists that Britain is still physically in the 19th century.' Wood contends that The Difference Engine (like Gibson's Neuromancer, which has the same plot) is a riposte to simplistic assumptions about technology and money made by mainstream US science fiction and is characterised by its authors' interest in Victorian bricolage. Subsequent to this novel, he concludes, the most interesting developments in the field are in comics such as Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Promethea (which is not typically seen as a steampunk text).

John Clute, in a review of The Anubis Gates (1983) by Tim Powers, alternatively argues that steampunk derives from Charles Dickens, via late Victorian and Edwardian imitators, including Robert Louis Stevenson and G.K. Chesterton. For Clute the central image of steampunk is a prettified industrial London from which 'entropy has been banished'.

[edit] Categories of steampunk

Steamboy, an example of steampunk.
Steamboy, an example of steampunk.

Although originally conceived as being Victorian-era science fiction only, the term has become common use for many related forms of speculative fiction set in the pre-Electric age era.

While most of the original steampunk works had a historical setting, later works would often place steampunk elements in a fantasy world with little relation to any specific historical era. Historical steampunk tends to be more "science fictional": presenting an alternate history, presenting real locales and persons from history with different technology. Fantasy-world steampunk, on the other hand, presents steampunk in a completely imaginary fantasy realm, often populated by legendary creatures coexisting with steam-era or anachronistic technologies.

[edit] Speculative fiction

In general, the category includes any recent science fiction that takes place in a recognizable historical period (sometimes an alternate-history version of an actual historical period) where the Industrial Revolution has already begun but electricity is not yet widespread, with an emphasis on steam- or spring-propelled gadgets. The most common historical steampunk settings are the Victorian and Edwardian eras, though some in this "Victorian steampunk" category can go as early as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Some examples of this type include the comic book series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Girl Genius, the Disney animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the novel The Difference Engine, the roleplaying game Space: 1889, and the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, as well as television series such as The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and Mysterious Island (both derived from various Jules Verne novels, the latter specifically on the book of the same name), and the computer game The Chaos Engine.

Karel Zeman's film The Fabulous World of Jules Verne from 1958 is a very early example of cinematic steampunk. Based on Jules Verne novels which were actually futuristic science fiction when they were written, Zeman's film imagines a past based on those novels which never was. [3]

The next most common setting is "Western steampunk", being a science fictionalized American Western, as seen in the television shows The Wild Wild West and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and films Wild Wild West and Back to the Future Part III. See Science fiction Western for a list of fiction combining these two genres.

There are also "Medieval steampunk" stories set in the Middle Ages, in which steam and industrial technology is developed in the Medieval era, such as Leo Frankowski's Crosstime Engineer series.

A rare example of a story that arguably has elements of steampunk but is set in the present day is Lawrence Leonard's The Horn of Mortal Danger (1980). However, since the steampunk elements take place in a hidden underground civilization which coexists with our own but is not derived from any actual historical civilization, this story could also be placed in the "fantasy-world steampunk" category below.

Historical steampunk usually leans more towards science fiction than fantasy, but there have been a number of historical steampunk stories that incorporated magical elements as well. For example, Morlock Nights by K. W. Jeter revolves around an attempt by the wizard Merlin to raise King Arthur to save the Britain of 1892 from an invasion of Morlocks from the future, while The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers involves a cabal of magicians trying to raise ancient Egyptian Gods to try to drive the British out of Egypt in the early 19th century.

[edit] Fantasy

Since the 1990s, the application of the steampunk label has expanded beyond works set in recognizable historical periods (usually the 19th century) to works set in fantasy worlds that rely heavily on steam- or spring-powered technology. China Miéville is one of the better-known fantasy steampunk authors. Other notable examples of fantasy steampunk include the Privateer Press Iron Kingdoms, a Dungeons & Dragons style RPG setting, and the Warmachine tabletop wargame, the Goodman Games role-playing game DragonMech, the OGL steampunk campaign setting by Mongoose publishing, the Castle Falkenstein role-playing game, the Ironwolf comic from Howard Chaykin and Mike Mignola, the Thief first-person sneaker series, many of the games in the Final Fantasy console role-playing game series, where characters get around in airships run by steam (especially Final Fantasy VI, which has the most prominent steampunk themes), and the PC game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, in which the world is torn between its roots in magic and its steam-driven, industrial future.

There are also many examples of the Steampunk subgenre in anime and manga series and films, the most famous being Last Exile, The Vision of Escaflowne, Sakura Taisen (which combines a Historical setting with Fantasy elements), D.Gray-Man, Full Metal Alchemist, Howl's Moving Castle, Trigun (The newly built civilization takes advantage of steam based trains and electronics) and Steam Detectives (Steamboy would also be a prime example of steampunk anime, but falls more into the above category of 'historical steampunk'). In the tabletop wargame setting of Warhammer, both the Dwarf and Skaven factions display prominent steampunk stylings, while certain of the more prosperous sections of the Empire also stray into the genre. Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels have shown increasing steampunk leanings as the series progresses.

Other notable, and more recent, additions are the games set in the Warcraft Universe and produced by Blizzard Entertainment. There is a vast amount of technology, engineered and built by Gnomes, Goblins, and Dwarves, reminiscent of steampunk. This is most clearly seen in the 'wondrous techno-city of Gnomeregan,' a city run primarily by steam engine technology, and experienced as an instance dungeon in the game World of Warcraft. The traditional dwarven tanks are also known as "steam tanks" or "siege engines", with Goblins having created steam or clockwork-powered mechanical suits called "Shredders".

[edit] Variants of the steampunk concept

GURPS Steampunk also introduced several other variations on the steampunk theme, including timepunk—a general term covering any historical variation on steampunk— or more specifically, bronzepunk (steampunk set in the Bronze Age), classicpunk (steampunk set in Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire), stonepunk (steampunk set in the Stone Age, as seen in The Flintstones) and clockpunk (steampunk set in the Renaissance, as seen in Paul J. McAuley's novel Pasquale's Angel and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series).

In between the historical and fantasy sub-genres of steampunk is a type which takes place in a hypothetical future or a fantasy equivalent of our future where steampunk-style technology and aesthetics have come to dominate, sometimes (as in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines or Frank Herbert's Dune) as a result of modern computer-based technology being mysteriously forgotten or completely forbidden. Other examples include the Neotopia comic, Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War and even Disney's Treasure Planet film. This could also be considered a type of Retro-futurism.

Dieselpunk is a neologism coined by game designers Lewis Pollak and Dan Ross[citation needed] for the role-playing game Children of the Sun which describes a fantasy society with an industrial level of development, informed by cyberpunk sensibilities. Dieselpunk is an alternative history environment in which the most important aspect of society is diesel fuel and the machinery that depends upon it. It has been noted that the distinguishing characteristics of a dieselpunk world as explained by Lewis Pollak: "a world of grit and oil, dust and mud, also is one in which magic and technology are combined. Dieselpunk is the darker, dirtier side of steampunk."[4]

The 2004 movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow contains a mixture of amazing science and technology in an alternate 1930's timeline, drawing on the science fiction of that time period, and could be considered Dieselpunk as diesel and gasoline powered vehicles co-exist with much more advanced, fantastic robotic technology, as well as the inclusion of the mythical Shangri-La.

[edit] Steampunk as a subculture

Because of the popularity of steampunk with people in the goth, punk, cyber and Industrial subcultures, there is a growing movement towards establishing steampunk or "Steam" as a culture and lifestyle. [5] [6]

The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies. (The growth of which was presaged by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in The Diamond Age).

"Steampunk" fashion has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. This may include Mohawks and extensive piercings with corsets and tattered petticoats, Victorian suits with goggles and boots with large soles and buckles or straps, and the Lolita fashion and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat styles. Some of what defines steampunk fashion has come from cyberpunk, and cyberlocks have appeared being used by people adopting a steampunk look.

"Steampunk" music is even less defined, and tends to apply to any modern musicians whose music evokes a feeling of the Victorian era or steampunk. This may include such diverse artists as Abney Park, Vernian Process, The Masquerade Project, Thomas Dolby, Paul Roland, The Dresden Dolls, Sarah Brightman, Emilie Autumn, Jill Tracy, Gravemist, Rasputina, The Cassettes, and Stiffs Inc..

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.theworksoftimpowers.com/related.htm
  2. ^ http://www.wordspy.com/words/steampunk.asp
  3. ^ http://locusmag.com/2004/Reviews/10_WaldropPerson_Verne.html
  4. ^ Lewis Pollak "The Evolution of Dieselpunk" Game Trade Magazine 30 (August 2002)
  5. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/steamfashion/profile
  6. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/steampunk_l/profile

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. Please remove this tag when this is done. This article has been tagged since March 2007. (talk)
Literary sci-fi punk genres
Cyberpunk — Postcyberpunk — Steampunk — Biopunk
Other themes
Retro-futurism — Cyberprep — Transrealism
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