What is steampunk?
What is steampunk? That's been a common question for me when I tell people what I write. It's one of those things most people have seen, they just don't know there's a term for it, or how popular it is. So popular, in fact, that IBM's Social Sentiment Index has predicted that steampunk is a major trend that will only grow stronger in 2014. (This, folks, is likely the only time in my life I'm on the cutting edge of something trendy.)(And seriously click on the link above. It has a fantastic infographic.)
When I explain steampunk to people, I usually say, "It's like Jules Verne or Wild, Wild West. It's Victorian and Edwardian era clothing and manners, but with more technology, like airships and submarines. It started out being a British thing, but steampunk can take place in any setting, really. The TV show Firefly is often classified as steampunk because of how it blends frontier clothing and sensibilities with outer space."
Somewhere in there, I usually see the person's eyes light up in understanding.
Since I have the internet at my disposal, that makes it even easier to draw out examples. The funny thing about steampunk is that literature is only a small part of the genre. Jay Lake did an excellent post on the subject and observed that steampunk emphasizes clothes and costumes, crafts (though some folks glue gears on something and call it steampunk), and music (check out Steam Powered Giraffe or amusing songs like "Lady Has Bustle" and "Fighting Trousers").
There has been some controversy and nose-sniffing that steampunk is a horrible thing because it celebrates a time period where women were chattel, tribal people were displayed in zoos, and the new technology of the day drenched cities like London in toxic fog. This is all true. This is history.
Steampunk rewrites history. The books in the genre often have a strong undercurrent of darkness--soot, poverty, gangrene--but that darkness lets the light shine even brighter.
To me, the great beauty of steampunk isn't limited to ornate corsets or finely-creased trousers. It's really about acceptance and celebrating the marginalized. You see steampunk attire on every skin color, every age, every body type, and it looks universally fabulous. It's about women being brilliant scientists and machinists and defying convention--and saving the world while they're at it. It's about nobodies who are really somebodies. It's about celebrating beauty and manners while being completely clothed--an opposite of reality TV and the crassness of modern media. Steampunk emphasizes civilization in the midst of chaos, really. After all, this is the genre with the fine sport of tea dueling.
If you hadn't encountered steampunk before, did this help?
If you're familiar with steampunk, are there other examples you'd like to point out?
When I explain steampunk to people, I usually say, "It's like Jules Verne or Wild, Wild West. It's Victorian and Edwardian era clothing and manners, but with more technology, like airships and submarines. It started out being a British thing, but steampunk can take place in any setting, really. The TV show Firefly is often classified as steampunk because of how it blends frontier clothing and sensibilities with outer space."
Somewhere in there, I usually see the person's eyes light up in understanding.
Since I have the internet at my disposal, that makes it even easier to draw out examples. The funny thing about steampunk is that literature is only a small part of the genre. Jay Lake did an excellent post on the subject and observed that steampunk emphasizes clothes and costumes, crafts (though some folks glue gears on something and call it steampunk), and music (check out Steam Powered Giraffe or amusing songs like "Lady Has Bustle" and "Fighting Trousers").
There has been some controversy and nose-sniffing that steampunk is a horrible thing because it celebrates a time period where women were chattel, tribal people were displayed in zoos, and the new technology of the day drenched cities like London in toxic fog. This is all true. This is history.
Steampunk rewrites history. The books in the genre often have a strong undercurrent of darkness--soot, poverty, gangrene--but that darkness lets the light shine even brighter.
To me, the great beauty of steampunk isn't limited to ornate corsets or finely-creased trousers. It's really about acceptance and celebrating the marginalized. You see steampunk attire on every skin color, every age, every body type, and it looks universally fabulous. It's about women being brilliant scientists and machinists and defying convention--and saving the world while they're at it. It's about nobodies who are really somebodies. It's about celebrating beauty and manners while being completely clothed--an opposite of reality TV and the crassness of modern media. Steampunk emphasizes civilization in the midst of chaos, really. After all, this is the genre with the fine sport of tea dueling.
If you hadn't encountered steampunk before, did this help?
If you're familiar with steampunk, are there other examples you'd like to point out?
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