Subgenre to Subculture: The Evolution of Steampunk

Amanda Davis 12/15/10 4th hour Expository Writing: Research Paper

The term steampunk arose from the popularity of cyberpunk, which is a science fiction subgenre consisting of stories set in a not-too-distant dystopian future that is increasing intergrated with, if not ruled by, computers. Near the peak of cyberpunks popularity, a small group of science fiction writers developed a different sort of sci-fi (Klaw 350). Their stories were not set in a post-armageddon or dystopian future, but in an alternate Victorian era, a past that never was (Campbell 32). It was K. W. Jeter who decided steampunk would be an apt term for this burgeoning literary sect (Klaw 349). Steampunk has since expanded from literature into movies, music, fashion, and its own do-it-yourself movement. The idea of steampunk actually reaches back more than a century before the word itself appeared, with the Edisonade. The term Edisonade was coined by John Clute as a parallel to the Robinsonade, which was a genre of stories about lone travelers stranded on remote islands in the vein of Robinson Crusoe by Willian Defoe. The Edisonade genre consisted of stories in which a young American male invents a form of transportation and travels to the American frontier or other uncivilized parts of the globe. There he battles barbaric natives or foreign invaders, gains spoils often in the form of gold, and either settles out West, master of the frontier, or returns home a prosperous man. Together these works stood out from the rest of the eras fiction: though based on an extrapolation of the then-current technology, Edisonades were still seen as different than the mainstream fiction of the time, in part because they were written before science fiction was considered or even imagined as a genre (Nevins 7-8). There are similarities between Edisonades and steampunk, namely setting and technology, but there are just as many, if not more differences. The Edisonade is all about

the male inventor setting off to the frontier to blaze a new trail, kill natives and plunder the land, and promotes the themes of capitalism and man as larger than the machine. In steampunk, the characters come from all walks of life and all demographics, and the stories are often set in urban areas, the better to portray the themes of social issues and man struggling against machine. Jess Nevins, author of The Encycolpedia Victoriana, points out that Edisonade protagonists also have the approval of their society; the idea that the uncivilized natives should be taken advantage of, if not wiped out, was commonly held in the society of the time. However, steampunk embraces the punk aspect of its name, and its stories focus on rebellion against the social hierarchy. It uses the Victorian period as an allegory for many of todays issues such as class discrimination, womens rights, and the tedious balance between humans and machines (Nevins 8). Steampunk in modern literature is described as having two generations. There were a few early works such as Worlds of the Imerium (1962) by John Keith Laumer (Campbell 32-33), Queen Victorias Bomb (1969) by Ronald Clark and Warlord of the Air (1971) by Michael Moorcock, but the idea began forming into a genre with K. W. Jeters Morlock Night (1979), which featured characters from H. G. Wells The Time Machine. Michael Moorcock added another work, The Dancers At The End of Time (1981), soon followed by novels by Tim Powers and James Blaylock. What is often called the first generation of steampunk culminated in a novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and this work is cited as one of the definitive steampunk stories (Nevins 8). In The Difference Engine (1991), real-life inventor Charles Babbage has created the information age one hundred years early, with the use of punch-card reading, steamdriven calculating engines. These engines read kino cards which store information about

a person through assigned numbers (Gibson and Sterling 4 and 11) or a programmed series of images displayed through a mechanical projector (Gibson and Sterling 34). The novel features Victorian society and class structure, affected by the new machine age. One of the main themes is the way technology affects humans; for example, how news tickers have boiled information down to simple phrases (Gibson and Sterling 207) or how citizens have been numbered in a giant database (Gibson and Sterling 11). Steampunk in literature sufferend a decline in the 90s, only to be given renewed popularity in the past decade. Kenneth Oppels Airborn (2004) and Skybreaker (2006) follow the adventures of Matt Cruise, a cabin boy aboard the huge luxury airship Aurora, and the passenger Kate de Vries. Steampunk elements are evident in both books, most noteably the flight technology; the fictional gas hydrium, lighter than hydrogen but not flammable, fills ariship balloons and explains why the airplane was never invented in this world. The closest thing to modern flight technology is the ornithopters: small, motordriven flying machines with flapping wings. References to real historical figures, the famous pilot Amelia Gearheart and the Jewels Verne restaurant, are used. Finally, the themes of the books reflect the pitfalls of Victorian society; Matt and Kates relationship is likely doomed by a society that frowns on a cabin boy flirting with a wealthy bankers daughter. A womans position in society is also touched upon; Kate is rebellious against her position as a lords daugher, while the gypsy girl Nadria, from book two, doesnt have the wealth or power of Kates position, but more freedom (once she escapes her arranged marraige) (Oppel). A better-known work with steampunk elements is the Dark Materials trilogy by Phlip Pullman. Combining alternate history and mystical ideas, the series is mostly fantasy, but features such steampunk technology as airships, the mechanical

aletheometer, and the medical experimentation equiptment in Bolvangar (Klaw 356). The popular novelist Scott Westerfeld has made his own foray into steampunk literature with his alternate version of WWI in Leviathan. On one side of the war are the Clankers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies, waging war with diesel and steam-powered walking and flying war machines. On the other side are the Darwinists, which are Britain and its allies, who employ a host of genetically-engineered animals, culminating in the great living airship Leviathan (Westerfeld). Steampunk literature has its own subgenre, that of post-apocalyptic steampunk. These stories take place after the decline of modern society, usually following some sort of cataclysmic disaster, in which the only viable option for technology is to burn debris to heat water and to produce steam power. Philip Reeves Hungry City Chronicles portrays a future where America is a nuclear wasteland following the Sixty-Minute-War, and the whole of Europe is filled with moving cities that devour each other in the practice of municipal Darwinism. Hints of the Victorian class structure can be spotted, as well as Victorian-era clothing and technology (Reeve). Steampunk has expanded from traditional literature into the realm of comic books and graphic novels, particularly in the past ten years. Kia Asamiyas Steam Detectives (1989) was one of the first, its setting a fictional Victorian city shrouded in the steam of thousands of engines (Campbell 94-95). Ten years later, Alan Moores The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2000) set up a world in which all fiction is true. Villains of many literary works try to take over the world; only the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stands in their way. The Victorian period incarnation of the League consists of Allan Quartermain; Captain Nemo; Hawley Griffin (also know as the Invisible Man); Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde; and their leader Mina Murray, survivor of an

encounter with Count Dracula. Another work, The Five Fists of Science (2006), brought together many actual historical figures in a fictional battle; Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla, and Baroness Bertha von Suttner try to sell a war engine to the highest bidder, and are opposed by Thomas Edison, Goglielmo Marconi, John Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie. Ian Edginton and DIsraelis Scarlet Traces (2003) continues the story of H.G. Wellss The War of the Worlds, in the Brittish Empire, risen again through the use of Martian technology. While the technology in this story is not actual steampunk, the Victorian style, setting and society are. One of the most popular steampunk comics today is Phil and Kaja Foglios Girl Genius, an ongoing webcomic also available in paperback. The story is set in a world ruled by mad scientists, where these so-called sparks are either wildly successful scientists or, more often, killed by their own inventions. The life of young Agatha Clay is turned upside down as she discovers her true identity as the last of the Heterodyne clan, famous sparks and heroes of the people. The story follows her misadventures as she goes on the run from Baron Wulfenbach, genius spark and ironfisted ruler of Europe. The setting is less historically based, but the technology is thoroughly steampunk from the airships to the rayguns and Agathas clockwork robots. There are many other steampunk graphic novels, and still more with steampunk elements in setting, society, or technology (Baker 359-366). Before long, steampunk leapt from the page to the screen, and the genre of steampunk in movies now includes both film adaptations and original films and television shows. Steam Detectives became an anime in 1998, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen became a movie in 2003 (Campbell 88-89). The television series and movie Wild Wild West is an example of a western featuring steampunk technology such as a rocket-propelled train car and a giant, steam driven mechanical spider. La Cit des

Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children) was a 1995 French movie about a mad scientist who, unable to dream, steals the dreams of children, but is confronted by a group of circus performers after he kidnaps the little brother of one (Klaw 356). Steampunk elements appear in recent American works, including Victorian uniforms, a clockwork robot, and spaceships that look like historical sailing ships in Treasure Planet (2002); airship pilots who hunt lightning in the 2007 adaptation of Neil Gaimans Stardust; and a living machine and the theme of civilizations advancement destroying old but valuable traditions in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (Campbell 88-89). Besides Steam Detectives, Japans animation industry has produced the anime Last Exile, about two airship pilots, and Steamboy, in which two rival engineering groups turn London into a battlefield of steam-driven war machines (Klaw 355). Steampunk has also found its way in music. The actual style of music ranges from goth, industrial, and dark wave to new wave and synth-pop, often with hints of orchestral, cabaret, Indian, gypsy, ragtime, or even traditional klemzer music. Bands such as The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and Abney Park produce songs with steampunk lyrics, describing an alternate Victorian reality. Another band, the duo of Vernian Process, produces mostly instrumental music featuring Victorian orchestral influences and the sounds of machinery. More often than not it is a bands live performances that define them as steampunk, with members showing up in costume and using modified instruments. The members of Abney Park portray themselves as airship pirates aboard the time-traveling airship H.M.S. Ophelia, and describe their adventures through many of their songs (Campbell 76-77). Steampunk has grown from a subgenre into a subculture through music and into fashion. Steampunk fashion is much like its genre: Victorian styling with science fiction

elements added. Newsweek writer Brian Baker describes it as punk meets goth meets dirigible pilot. Tophats, corsets, bustles, vests, and pocket watches are paired with gears, gadgets, and new colors and materials. The essential steampunk accessory is a pair of goggles, which can be anything from a pair of vintage WWI aviators to a modified pair of welding goggles; some are even built from scratch. Steampunk costuming is generally more eccentric than everyday fashion and is usually worn for conventions or costumed gatherings. Costumes often come with a character concept or even full history, and include props such as field glasses, steam-powered jetpacks, or rayguns. While the overall effect can stray greatly from actual Victorian wear, the style is still based on historical materials and designs. Steampunk enthusiasts in costume can be spotted at small, planned meetings; at science fiction and anime conventions; and at events such as Dragon-Con, Maker Faire, and Burning Man. As the movement grows, whole steampunk conventions have been created, including Steamcon in Seattle, Washington, and The World Steam Expo in Dearborn, Michigan (Campbell 43). The town of Oamaru in New Zealand hosts a steampunk exhibit as part of its heritage celebration, complete with steampunk fashion show and a raygun gallery (Exciting Things Afoot in Oamaru). One of the greatest aspects of steampunk as a subculture is modding. Short for modifying, modding is the practice of altering high-tech objects such as cell phones, computers, or even vehicles and musical instruments to give them a steampunk look. Additions include gears, filigree, brass fittings, nuts and bolts, fine leather, lenses, and Victorian-style finished wood (Braiker). Jake Von Slatt, proprietor of the online Steampunk Workshop, has modified a decommissioned school bus into a steampunk-style camper reminiscent of a Victorian summer home (Campbell 38). The modding process is often cheap but labor-intensive, and yields a product that is often less practical, but for

steampunks, more aesthetically appealing than the original (Braiker). Steampunk as a movement often overlaps with the Do-It-Yourself movement, encouraging originality and individuality. One group took this doctrine to the extreme: for the 2006 Burning Man festival, the Academy of Unnatural Sciences in Berkeley, California created the Neverwas Haul. Resembling a cross between an old-fashioned train car and a small Victorian manor, this vehicle from a past that never was is made from 75% recycled material and runs on alternative fuel. Its creators keep it running to tour outdoor festivals hosting steampunk events across the nation (Campbell 107). Steampunk as a both a science fiction subgenre and a subculture continues to evolve, featuring new stories and ideas on a daily basis. As more items become mass produced and uniform, modding takes on new popularity for all consumers (Braiker). Steampunk stories carry both modern ideas and sensibilities and the unique appeal of the Victorian era, the music provides listeners with something very different from the mainstream, and the fashion is certain to turn heads (Campbell 32, 76, 48). Each work builds upon the legacy of older works, while presenting new elements to be included in the ever-changing, ever-growing phenomenon known as steampunk (Klaw 356).