Steampunk is a type of science fiction and fantasy literature that is usually set during the 1800’s but features inventions and gadgets from modern times. In a typical steampunk story, such modern technologies as air travel or robots are driven by steam , a major power source in the 1800’s. The most common historical periods for steampunk writing are the Victorian Age (1837-1901) in England and the American West during the mid- and late 1800’s. Some settings are realistic, and some take place in alternate worlds.
Steampunk’s roots go back to the 1950’s and 1960’s, though its ancestors are such writers as H. G. Wells in England and Jules Verne in France. Both writers published fiction in the 1800’s that gave an important place to inventions belonging to a later time, such as the submarine, or to such fantastic futuristic devices as a time machine.
The term steampunk originally appeared in 1987. The American science fiction and horror writer K. W. Jeter used the term in a letter to the editor of the science fiction magazine Locus. However, the book that first earned steampunk wide attention was The Difference Engine (1990), written by the American-born author William Gibson and the American author Bruce Sterling. They set their story in 1885 in England, with a version of a modern computer playing a central role in the narrative.
Steampunk has spread beyond books into other areas of pop culture, including television and motion pictures . The television adventure series “The Wild, Wild West” (1965-1969) takes place in the American West of the 1800’s with the two heroes using bizarre modernistic weapons and devices to battle the villains. The movie series Back to the Future (1985-1990) used time travel to mix modern times with settings as far back as the 1880’s.
Steampunk literature has inspired a steampunk subculture. A subculture is a group of people who share distinct traits within a larger culture or society. People in the steampunk subculture create functional or art objects combining Victorian or American Western styles with more modern technology. Others engage in steampunk cosplay , dressing up as characters from steampunk books and movies or as characters of their own invention.
