Steampunk: The Next Big Thing

“Steampunk” is a cross between Sic-fi and historical fiction that permeates many areas of modern pop culture. Originating from authors like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, steampunk has grown to encompass entertainment, engineering, and even fashion. Steampunk is a genre based largely off of the Victorian Era. This time in history, encompassing Queen Victoria’s rule of Great Britain from 1837 to 1901, has become synonymous with the entire Industrial Revolution. Hence, steampunk is characterized by steam-powered technology and Victorian Era social conflicts. Examples of steampunk influence are everywhere. The Victorian Era, with its unique technologies, social upheavals, and sense of wonderment, can make an interesting backdrop for a marvelous story, be it in a movie, book, or video game.

This is the inside of a clock from the movie Hugo released in 2011.

The greatest source of intrigue surrounding steampunk is technology. Often, these stories will feature modern contraptions such as televisions and robots being powered by steam and coal. Examples include machines like Charles Babbage’s difference engine or steam-powered airships. These elaborate devices are strangely more interesting than their modern counterparts. Perhaps this is because there is a subtle charm associated with a machine clanking away at a task. Humans like to understand things on their level, and microcircuits in a wristwatch are just too tiny compared to massive clock towers. These mechanisms are monstrous and powerful, but at the same time quite delicate and graceful, contributing to a ubiquitous sense of wonder throughout a steampunk story.

The power of these machines, used correctly by the characters, can be made useful, or it can be abused and bring about suffering. It all harkens back to a time when technology really was both incredible and terrifying.  Steampunk is a branch of science fiction where technology is more than a part of the setting. Like in the Victorian Era, steampunk technology is a force that shapes the plot, and provides characters with meaningful and interesting choices.



A screenshot from Bioshock Infinite, a video game released in 2013. 

Often, steampunk influence means more than simply Victorian Era technologies. It means Victorian Era social conflicts and themes. Avatar the Last Airbender, for example, not only features steampunk technology like steam-powered ships and airships; it also presents the Victorian Era theme of imperialism. During the Industrial Revolution, technology changed the face of the world, contributing to mass migrations and conflict between different social groups. This era saw revolutions, movements, world wars, and the rise and collapse of nations.  A character in a Victorian setting may struggle with the monotony of city life or conflict between great empires, anything that expresses the shifting world around them.

Finally, the Victorian Era culture and mood is found in many steampunk works. Rugged individualism is a common thread as are the characteristics of city life. Dishonored is a video game set in the fictional City of Dunwall. The city is filled with Victorian Era technologies like factories and pistols, and also Victorian themes dealing with urbanization like plague and poverty. Corvo, the protagonist, is exemplary of a rebellious attitude and a disregard for authority. This archetype is common of main characters in steampunk works, a personality likely borrowed from the culture of the late 19^th century, a time when city-dwellers had to find hope in a world of sameness and ambitions were larger than governments. This culture is a defining feature of Victorian fiction.



A steampunk Halloween costume.

Perhaps, steampunk stories are intriguing because they remind us of ourselves. We too live in a time where technology instills both wonder and concern, when we face a period of great social and political change. Lastly, the lessons about human nature echo through the centuries. In the end, we find things fascinating when they speak to us. Steampunk movies and books offer a glance into a forgone era, but also a window into our own. The job of a great steampunk storyteller is done when the viewer uses the social conflicts in the story to spot injustices in our world, or when they suddenly think of a great idea for an invention. It is done when the reader takes a second look at modern technology, and for once in a long while, feels that childlike sense of wonderment.