Brass Cogs and Goggles: The Origins of Modern-Day Steampunk

Hello, time travelers to the Victorian era!

Last time in 'Brass Cogs and Goggles', we covered a brief overview of the time that is the era of Queen Victoria, the basis of most Steampunk we know and love. This time around, we take a look at where the source of Steampunk during our years stemmed from.

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When one thinks about what Steampunk is, generally, it is seen as science fiction set in Victorian times. It can also be considered alternate history or fantasy, depending on how it is applied: the scientific portion of Steampunk, with its complex mechanical aspects and pieces, are used as magical apparatuses for wizards as well as auto mail arms for soldiers, airship pirates and a host of other characters.  It is not limited to the era of Victorian England and Europe, however. It has been used hand-in-hand with the American Wild West, as well as World War I.

I personally love a dash of fantasy with my Steampunk but that is the brilliant thing about the genre: you can mostly combine it with anything well enough and possibly get away with it.

 

Steampunk dragons. Because why the heck not?

 

The actual term, however, was developed far after these times in history. Only as of late has the term ‘Steampunk’ been coined and created. The general time period the word was made is in the 1980’s. Three writers in California were discussing each other’s novels and a word to describe them was the result. These three individuals were Tim Powers, K.W. Jeter and James Blaylock.  At this time, they all had books which they categorized as ‘Steampunk’: Power’s The Anubis Gates (1983), Jeter’s Morlock Nights and Infernal Devices, and Blaylock’s Lord Kelvin’s Machine. What they all shared in common was a Victorian setting as well as a sense of the sci-fi genre of writing.

Or, to say in layman's terms, it really started in literature.

Today it's been (no pun intended) gaining steam: re-emerging in the form of printed words with such authors like Ekaterina Sedia (The Alchemy of Stone), Cheri Priest (Boneshaker) and Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan).

     “It’s partly a set of nostalgias- for handmade and human-scale technologies, baroque design, and elegant dress and manners- combined with the puerile pleasure of mussing up a very stuffy stage in history, bringing a flamethrower to a tea party, so to speak. And this flamethrower extends to the political and social as well as technological, because Steampunk creates a new set of Victorian stories that expand the role of the colonized and otherwise subjugated in that era (girl geniuses, for example).”

                                       - Scott Westerfeld, The Steampunk Bible (pg. 66)

By the way, I really should read Leviathan at some point.

What's that? You want even more literature to check out?! You got it in the form of comics as well as graphic novels. From manga to Western versions, it can be seen in a myriad of series: Hellboy, Puppet Makers by Molly Crabapple (setting is an alternate Versailles, France), Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius, and Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua. Many are found in the form of web series that are free. And who doesn't love free stuff?

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And so ends another lesson into the corners of Steampunk, ladies and gentlemen. Coming up on the next installment: we go headfirst into the arts on "Tinkering Time: Steampunk and the Arts".