Steampunk is a sort of retro-futurism, in which technological developments like robots, computers, and time machines are created using the technologies of the past: steam, rivets, gears and dials as opposed to electricity or electronics. It is heavily influenced by the work of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and steampunk fiction is often set in an idealized Victorian milieu.
Origin of the Name
The term "steampunk" was coined by science fiction author K. W. Jeter in a 1987 letter to Locus Magazine. Looking for a term to describe the work being written by himself and his friends Tim Powers and James Blaylock, he jokingly suggested "steampunks", a play on words regarding the cyberpunk genre of science fiction.
"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... Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks," perhaps."
Steampunk Authors
In addition to Jeter, Powers, and Blaylock, authors such as Paul di Filippi and Jay Lake have contributed to the steampunk library, and cyberpunk authors William Gibson and Bruce Sterling paid tribute to the new genre in their 1990 collaboration The Difference Engine. Jay Lake and S. M. Peters have presented an alternative approach to steampunk which they refer to as "clockpunk", revolving more around clockwork and spring-powered technology than steam.
Another related style is that of the "gaslamp romance", which is less involved with technology but which takes a "mash-up" approach to the Victorian era, combined historical and fictional characters to create alternative histories. An example would be British author Kim Newman's 1992 novel Anno Dracula, wherein Count Dracula marries the widowed Queen Victoria.
Steampunk Fashion And Art
Surprisingly, steampunk has developed a role beyond that of just a literary sub-genre, and has established itself as both a fashion trend and an artistic movement, and for some people a philosophy and a lifestyle. Followers of steampunk fashion sport top hats, goggles, and muttonchops, and accessorize their frock coats with brass ray guns and complicated ocular mechanisms.
Steampunk artists embrace an aesthetic based around copper, glass, wood and leather, and build both fantasy creations and reconstructions of modern technology such as laptops, iPods, electric guitars, and even vibrators. In addition, a wide variety of characters and stories have been re-imagined into the steampunk milieu: Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and DC comics characters, and so on.
Appearances in Other Media
Steampunk has inspired or influenced a number of movies and television programs, such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or the movie version of Wild Wild West, and is the milieu of Katsuhiro Otomo's 2004 animated film Steamboy. To date, however, steampunk has yet to make a true breakthrough into the public eye.
SId Plested - Although a photographer by education and a graphic artist by vocation, Sid has been a passionate fan of science fiction and fantasy for ...
