What is Steampunk?
Airships. Steam engines. Clockwork machinery. Corsets. Top hats. Dark streets by gaslight. Victorian London. Industrial Revolution. Tinkerers. Mad scientists. In the sky. Underwater. In space. In some mirror dimension powered by steam and machine.
It is hard to define the term "steampunk" because it is ever changing and can encompass practically every genre in fiction and--sometimes--non-fiction. Steampunk can be a story that holds some, all, or very few of the above-mentioned elements. If you ask one person what it means, chances are her definition of "steampunk" is different from someone else's. Neither would be wrong. There is no denying the presence of a retro-futuristic type of technology (that contains steam, mind you), as well as the never-ending appeal of custom, do-it-yourself craftsmanship that seems to prove unique from modern mass production.
To sum it up, I'm pretty much going to go with John Coulthart's definition of "steampunk" below:
It is hard to define the term "steampunk" because it is ever changing and can encompass practically every genre in fiction and--sometimes--non-fiction. Steampunk can be a story that holds some, all, or very few of the above-mentioned elements. If you ask one person what it means, chances are her definition of "steampunk" is different from someone else's. Neither would be wrong. There is no denying the presence of a retro-futuristic type of technology (that contains steam, mind you), as well as the never-ending appeal of custom, do-it-yourself craftsmanship that seems to prove unique from modern mass production.
To sum it up, I'm pretty much going to go with John Coulthart's definition of "steampunk" below:
STEAMPUNK =
Mad Scientist Inventor
x
[Invention (Steam x Airship or Metal Man/Baroque Stylings)
x
(Pseudo) Victorian Setting]
+
Progressive or Reactionary Politics
x
Adventure Plot
Confused yet? Yeah, that happens. Pretty much the standard definition of a steampunk story--a typical one anyway--usually includes the presence of an innovative steam creation or creator living in a Victorian setting where some political or adventure-related event is occurring to move the plot. You can take any of these elements and mix and match from there, but the definition is a great start for those completely at a loss for what steampunk means.
Word Origins
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 'steam-punks', perhaps.
- K.W. Jeter
While it can technically cross over various genres, steampunk was originally a subgenre of science fiction as a branch-off of cyberpunk (a subgenre relating to modern or futuristic technology in a volatile society). For the most part, the term itself was something three authors (K.W. Jeter, Tim Powers, and James Blaylock) had played around with to classify their fiction. In 1979, Jeter wrote a letter to Locus magazine that eventually led to the viral calling of the Victorian era-science fiction story as steampunk.
K.W. JeterScience fiction and horror author
Known for novels in the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Blade Runner universes Steampunk contributions include Morlock Nights and Infernal Devices |
Tim PowersScience fiction and fantasy author
Known for writing historical fiction based largely on famous people, with a supernatural twist Steampunk contributions include Anubis Gates and The Stress of Her Regard |
James BlaylockFantasy author
Known for a more humorous style of writing, and bases his stories in a modern fantasy setting Steampunk contributions include Homonculus and Lord Kelvin's Machine |
Father Figures
As nifty as the word is, Jeter, Powers, and Blaylock were by far not the first authors to have written steampunk fiction. It's largely agreed that if there were anyone who had been the "Fathers of Steampunk," they would have been Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
Jules Verne
Verne was a pioneer and one of the fathers of today's science fiction genre.** His novels covered a wide range of settings during the Industrial Age, including an adventure across the world in a hot air balloon, a dangerous journey thousands of leagues under the sea, and an expedition to the center of the Earth. He gave creation to Captain Nemo (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) and his Nautilus, a grand submarine that would become a staple in steampunk imagery. In The Steam House, Verne devised an adventure across India on the back of a steam-powered elephant. In Around the World in Eighty Days, he breathed life into Phileas Fogg and his almost impossible race across the globe through land and sky.
Verne was a pioneer and one of the fathers of today's science fiction genre.** His novels covered a wide range of settings during the Industrial Age, including an adventure across the world in a hot air balloon, a dangerous journey thousands of leagues under the sea, and an expedition to the center of the Earth. He gave creation to Captain Nemo (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) and his Nautilus, a grand submarine that would become a staple in steampunk imagery. In The Steam House, Verne devised an adventure across India on the back of a steam-powered elephant. In Around the World in Eighty Days, he breathed life into Phileas Fogg and his almost impossible race across the globe through land and sky.
H. G. Wells
Like Verne, Wells is considered a "Father of Science Fiction."** His novels also featured speculative elements, though his stories tended to reel back from the overly fantastical and dream-like qualities that Verne's stories contained. With a background in biology, Wells tended to add some realism into his work, often mixing that with contemporary social commentary (which explains why he wrote largely in a Victorian setting). The most renowned and most "steampunky" of his works is The Time Machine, wherein an unnamed English scientist--usually referred to as the Time Traveller--invents a machine that travels forwards and backwards in time.
Like Verne, Wells is considered a "Father of Science Fiction."** His novels also featured speculative elements, though his stories tended to reel back from the overly fantastical and dream-like qualities that Verne's stories contained. With a background in biology, Wells tended to add some realism into his work, often mixing that with contemporary social commentary (which explains why he wrote largely in a Victorian setting). The most renowned and most "steampunky" of his works is The Time Machine, wherein an unnamed English scientist--usually referred to as the Time Traveller--invents a machine that travels forwards and backwards in time.
Other Early Notables
The description of the Balloon and the voyage was written with a minuteness and scientific ability calculated to obtain credit everywhere, and was read with great pleasure and satisfaction. We by no means think such a project impossible.
- The New York Sun
Edgar Allan Poe
Not normally considered a science fiction author by any means, Poe has contributed to the science fiction and--by relative degree--steampunk genres. The most notable of his contributions in the field of steampunk was his 1844 article in the New York Sun, which detailed the voyage of a hot air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean. At the time, this was a feat which was deemed impossible. Much to the chagrin of many readers, it was eventually revealed as a "great hoax", wherein there was no factual report of an event ever happening. The staff at The Sun did write a retraction the following day, holding to a belief that there would be flight of such nature at a later time.
Shunro Oshikawa
Oshikawa was one of the early Verne-inspired and pioneer science fiction authors of the Eastern hemisphere, and often he is considered to be the "Father of Japanese science fiction." His notable steampunk contribution is a 1903 speculative adventure series, Kaitei Gunkan (or Warship at the Bottom of the Sea), which involved a naval officer's creation of an "undersea battleship" with futuristic weapons.
Not normally considered a science fiction author by any means, Poe has contributed to the science fiction and--by relative degree--steampunk genres. The most notable of his contributions in the field of steampunk was his 1844 article in the New York Sun, which detailed the voyage of a hot air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean. At the time, this was a feat which was deemed impossible. Much to the chagrin of many readers, it was eventually revealed as a "great hoax", wherein there was no factual report of an event ever happening. The staff at The Sun did write a retraction the following day, holding to a belief that there would be flight of such nature at a later time.
Shunro Oshikawa
Oshikawa was one of the early Verne-inspired and pioneer science fiction authors of the Eastern hemisphere, and often he is considered to be the "Father of Japanese science fiction." His notable steampunk contribution is a 1903 speculative adventure series, Kaitei Gunkan (or Warship at the Bottom of the Sea), which involved a naval officer's creation of an "undersea battleship" with futuristic weapons.
**Arguably, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein less than 50 years before Verne's publications, which could technically make her the "Father" of the science fiction novel. Just saying.
Now onto the Assignment!