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Steampunk
 

Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. It concerns works set in the past, or a world resembling the past, in which modern technological paradigms occurred earlier in history, but were accomplished via the science already present in that time period. It is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase but developed as a separate movement.

Works of this genre typically also fall into the categories of either science fiction or fantasy.

Origin

Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 70s, the term "steampunk" originated in the late 80s as a tongue in cheek variant of "cyberpunk". 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.

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 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court).

An additional influence on the creation of steampunk are the Edisonade stories of 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.

An arguable origin of the steampunk ethos within a media context might be 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).

However the first real example of steampunk, showing an adaptation into modern culture was the concluding volume of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, Titus Alone, which was published in 1959. The book featured a young protagonist who was raised with hundreds of others in an isolated Victorian castle, but which was surrounded by a futuristic world. The series included nearly every major theme of the genre, but although the series was highly popular in Peake's native Britain it had little influence on American authors. It is because of this that K.W. Jeter's 1979 novel Morlock Night (a continuation of Wells's The Time Machine) is instead cited by most as establishing the genre.

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

Science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock also made several early, and oftentimes 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 Timestreams). 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.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's 1990 novel The Difference Engine is often credited as the book which inspired the term "steampunk". This novel applies the principles of Gibson and Sterling's Cyberpunk writings to an alternate Victorian era where Charles Babbage's mechanical computer was actually built. However, the earliest citation for the term belongs to Jeter. *

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 two 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.

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 author's 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'.

Types 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.

There are two main sub-genres of steampunk: historical steampunk and fantasy steampunk. Historical steampunk tends to be more "science fictional": presenting an alternate history, presenting real locales and persons from history with different technology. Fantasy steampunk, on the other hand, tends to present steampunk in a completely imaginary fantasy realm, often populated by legendary creatures coexisting with steam-era or anachronistic technologies.

Historical steampunk

In general, the category includes any pre-electricity science fiction work with an emphasis on steam- or spring-propelled gadgets. The suspiciously sophisticated ancient traps of the Indiana Jones films and earlier works that inspired them are examples of historical steampunk elements within mainstream fiction, as is the Marchand the Toymaker subplot of the Hellraiser horror movie franchise.

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 Industrial Revolution. Some examples of this type include the comic book series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Girl Genius, the Disney animated film Atlantis, the novel The Difference Engine, the roleplaying game 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 (derived from, and sharing the same name as the Jules Verne novel). Steam powered robots were briefly featured in TimeSplitters Future Perfect, in an area set in 1924.

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.

More recently the Doctor Who episode Tooth and Claw allowed itself to stray into steampunk territory by speculating upon what would happen if an advanced being were allowed to take over the Victorian age: 'Just imagine, missiles and starships fuelled by coal and driven by steam'. This perfectly sums up what historical steampunk is trying to encapsulate, and also shows us that the idea of such concepts emerging earlier in our history is a truly terrifying one. Steampunk themes reoccurred in The Girl in the Fireplace, which featured clockwork robots in 18th Century France, and in the episodes Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, which featured modernized zeppelins and stylized Cybermen.

Fantasy steampunk

Since the 1990s, the application of the steampunk label has expanded out of the pure science fiction realm into other forms of speculative fiction, including both steampunk science fiction alongside traditional fantasy or horror elements. Fantasy steampunk is any work of fantasy fiction that combines magic with steam- or spring-powered gadget technology. China Mieville is one of the better-known fantasy steampunk authors. Other notable examples of fantasy steampunk include 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, Hellboy, also by 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 Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, in which the world is torn between its roots in magic and its steam-driven, industrial future. The movie City of Lost Children by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro is a canonical example of steampunk, with its brass technology and gritty feel. There are also many examples of the Steampunk subgenre in anime including the quintessential Steamboy movie, the futuristic cowboy Western Trigun series, the aerial fantasy Last Exile anime series, the The Vision of Escaflowne anime series, the One Piece manga and anime series, the Dragon Ball animé and manga series, the Naruto animé and manga series and the Steam Detectives manga and anime series. In the tabletop wargame 'Warhammer', both the Dwarf and Skaven factions display prominent steampunk stylings, although the Empire also stray into the genre too. Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has shown increasing steampunk elements as the series progresses. In the real-time strategy game Rise of Legends which features a highly advanced civilization (The Vinci) dependent on steam power. Skies of Arcadia for the Sega Dreamcast was a fantasy setting of floating islands in a 'sky' ocean offset by sailing ships and designs clearly inspired by 14th century tallships and early ironclads.

A more recent addition are the games set in the Warcraft Universe and produced by Blizzard Entertainment. There is a vast amount of technology, engineered and built by both Gnomes 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.

Other forms

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) and stonepunk (steampunk set in the Stone Age, as seen in The Flintstones).

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.

The children’s TV series Tiny Planets uses 3D CGI to create a quasi-steampunk universe inhabited entirely by non-humanoids. One of the "tiny planets" which the protagonists visit is the Tiny Planet of Technology, a hollow world made of brass and paved with diamond plate steel. Among its other features is a streamlined high-speed steam train.

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.

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.

A few people have tried to set steampunk fashion, one being Anachronaut, whose rusty metal version of cyberlocks capture some of the core ideas in steampunk.

"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, Rasputina, Thomas Dolby, Paul Roland, The Dresden Dolls, Sarah Brightman, Emilie Autumn, Jill Tracy, and Stiffs Inc.. Neutral Milk Hotel could be defined as somewhat steampunk, due to the band's album artwork and frequent use of outdated and obscure instruments such as the singing saw.

Steamgoth

Another variation is known as Steamgoth a newer variation, Steamgoth is what Cybergoth is to Cyberpunk. The basic style of Steampunk is retained, though whose style is more strongly rooted within goth than punk. It takes the basic style of Steampunk, though mixes it with the styles of EGA and EGL. The resulting style is more solidly black version of steampunk style, but keeps the main steampunk look within it. It also is a style of Steampunk that uses Mana-esque and Corpsepaint makeup styles. Steamgoths focus more on the Victorian's view on death, and exploration of life. So it is not unusual for Steamgoths to take on a mortician-esque look. One example that captures the Steamgoth ideals is the London Necropolis railway station a railway that used to transfer London’s dead to Brookwood cemetery.

See also

References

  • Clockwork worlds, Richard D. Erlich and Thomas P. Dunn (1983). ISBN 0313230269
  • Fiction 2000: cyberpunk and the future of narrative, George Slusser and Tom Shippey (1992). ISBN 0820314250
  • Science fiction after 1900, Brooks Landon (2002). ISBN 0415938880
  • Science fiction before 1900, Paul K. Alkon (1994). ISBN 0805709525
  • Victorian science fiction in the UK, Darko Suvin (1983). ISBN 0816184356
  • Worlds enough and time, Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, and David Leiby (2002). ISBN 0313317062

External links

Steampunk | Science fiction genres | Science fiction themes

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Steampunk".

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