Steampunk – A Lifestyle with the Scent of Steam

Steampunk is a compound word. "Steam" refers to the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century. The second half, "punk," represents rebellion and breaking the norm—in this case, breaking the norms of the 19th century.

Steampunk is a style that places modern or non-existent technical devices into the Victorian era, powered by steam or mechanics—the technologies of the 19th century. Depending on your interpretation, it can be an alternative 19th century, an alternative Victorian future, a Victorian vision of the future, or Victorian sci-fi. It is up to you which definition resonates with your heart.

Steampunk emerged at the turn of the 70s and 80s as a literary genre, later expanding into cinema, design, and other fields.

How to recognize Steampunk?

During the Industrial Revolution, machines were powered mechanically or by steam. Therefore, the main attributes of steampunk are various machines and gadgets, gears, clocks, pipes, and gauges, as well as steam locomotives, airships, or submarines.

Perhaps the most famous hallmark of steampunk is welding goggles, most often worn on a hat. Why on a hat? So you don't have to look for them if your airship breaks down.

Clothing and Accessories

Steampunk is the era of Queen Victoria, and we draw from this period for our clothing. Victorian menswear means coats, vests, top hats, and walking sticks. For ladies, it means corsets, long skirts, high lace-up boots, gloves, small hats, and parasols. Since we are only inspired by this period, we take what we like and what suits us. Few people have a suitable coat, so men usually make do with a vest and a hat. Ladies wear corsets, but they don't hide them under their clothes—they wear them proudly on top. Small hats suit almost everyone, and long skirts—often hitched up to show off a lady's beautiful legs—are almost a given.

The main color of steampunk is brown. There is even a joke that steampunk was born when goths discovered brown. However, brown is not a very popular color, and you will rarely find a suitable piece in ready-to-wear fashion. If you don't want to sew all your clothes yourself, you end up with black. Most steampunks are therefore seen in brown or black clothing. However, there are a few rebels who dress in bright colors like red, blue, or green.

Clothing is complemented by small steampunk props. And, of course, welding goggles. Goggles are worn on a hat or directly on the head. Here, the "punk" element comes into play again, meaning nothing is strictly set, and it is up to everyone how they handle their costume within the given attributes. Goggles are not a requirement.

Some ladies look almost identical to true Victorian ladies. A man who doesn't feel like a gentleman skips the top hat and prefers a mechanic's costume. The more demanding ones build larger pieces, such as mechanical arms or more or less functional machines designed to be worn on the back.

Steampunk in Literature

Steampunk was primarily literary from the beginning, and its expansion into other areas can be attributed to both the fantastic imaginations of creative artists and its visual appeal or narrative depth.

In 2011, the book The Steampunk Bible was published, with editors Jeff Vandermeer and S. J. Chambers aiming to present a contemporary steampunk vision to the general public. In addition to references to famous 19th-century authors, readers could encounter the modern use of this movement in film, fashion, and art. The book was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Related Work and remains one of the most comprehensive overviews for mainstream enthusiasts.

The market also offers many titles for children. Works by P. Pullman are popular—the His Dark Materials series, The Book of Dust, or Sally Lockhart. The first mentioned work has been adapted for both film and television. P. Reeve's Mortal Engines from the Hungry City Chronicles series, which blends more influences than just steampunk, was also adapted into a film. We must also mention the popular Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Among the countless authors for children and young adults, we can mention the significant foreign steampunk personality Gail Carriger and her Soulless. A very successful piece combining many literary elements with a large dose of exaggeration and humor is A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. You can find steampunk in a fantasy guise in the book The Fairy Ring by Stefan Bachman.

As for comics, since 2018, the Argo publishing house has been releasing the most famous steampunk heroine - Lady Mechanika. Equally well-known is Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. At the same time, steampunk comics appear in the production of the Crew publishing house, the most acclaimed title of which is probably Monstress. Also worth mentioning is the Grandville series by Bryan Talbot, which will satisfy both fans of adventure literature and lovers of Sherlock Holmes-style detective stories.

When we say Steampunk

The name "steampunk" was used by K. W. Jeter in a letter to Locus magazine, where he used it to describe his book Morlock Night (inspired by The Time Machine by H. G. Wells), books by J. P. Blaylock (Homunculus, Lord Kelvin's Machine), and The Anubis Gates (1983) by Tim Powers. In the works of these authors, steampunk took its shape and established itself as an independent subgenre. It should be added that the name "steampunk" appeared only after the publication of all these books (in 1987) and was applied retrospectively.

Only Tim Powers' work The Anubis Gates has been translated into Czech; it is a historical fiction that blends technology with magic. Even in this book, we can notice the first characteristic features of steampunk literature, which are still used by contemporary authors today. We encounter typical character archetypes, time travel, or occultism, and there is no shortage of exotic landscapes or historicizing Victorian settings.

It is very likely that K. W. Jeter drew from the already known term "cyberpunk," which existed at the time, and used the suffix "punk" to emphasize a certain revolt, exaggeration, or contrast to the stiff Victorian era. Steampunk, however, has little in common with cyberpunk as such, although these two styles are often linked, and unfortunately, this is the most common misconception about these two subgenres. Both developed in parallel but independently. Part of the reason for this confusion is that many steampunk authors also worked in cyberpunk—one of them was Jeter himself, and the same was true for American authors Sterling and Gibson, who wrote both cyberpunk books and a joint steampunk work—The Difference Engine. This book was a great success and popularized steampunk in literature worldwide.

Given the specific area of interest, elements, and styles that steampunk deals with, it is currently one of many subgenres classified under retrofuturism. In this category of Anglo-Saxon terminology, we also find other subgenres often confused with steampunk, such as dieselpunk or atompunk.

Steampunk itself can be divided into several other subgenres, the most famous of which is probably clockpunk, in the spirit of which authors focus on using all sorts of props from old machines, and especially on the use of parts and components from clocks and watches. Literarily popular is, for example, historical steampunk, which takes place in fictional worlds inspired by historical realities.

Period backdrops and clothing styles, which steampunk adapts to its needs, are well-suited for various artistic uses. Various inventions and fashion accessories appear. However, it is more common to pay tribute to this era as we imagine it today than to strictly adhere to actual historical facts. On the contrary, this style uses creativity and imagination, as well as fictional or real technologies (for example, it uses prototypes of inventions that appeared only later, or purely fictional machines). Steampunk plays with history but does not programmatically stick to it, so in the vast majority of cases, it is fiction. Especially in fashion, we can notice a punk influence, as most steampunk costumes would not have been suitable at all in that era.

Steampunk and the Mainstream

The popularity of steampunk is also evidenced by how easily it has penetrated the mainstream consciousness—although it has never become part of the mainstream, most people have encountered it in some form. Steampunk jewelry appears in the regular production of fashion retail chains, and this style has also penetrated the collections of global brands (e.g., Victoria's Secret, Prada, or Dolce & Gabbana). We often encounter it in film production, whether it plays a significant role in the story or just completes an appealing backdrop or interesting element. It does not avoid the gaming industry in any form.

Steampunk is very variable, and whether we talk about it as a literary subgenre, a movement, or an alternative lifestyle, it has a characteristic face everywhere. Something that inspires artists, fans, readers, cosplayers, or musicians. Steampunk represents an attractive and playful style where you can apply your imagination and fresh ideas. I firmly believe that this book will also inspire you and help you discover the colorful world of steampunk, full of mad scientists and beautiful ladies in corsets from a time when airships crossed the sky and serving the Empire was the greatest honor you could receive.

author Petra Slováková

taken with permission from the book Ve stylu steampunk