I’d like to preface this by pleading that I have tried. I really have. I have watched many steampunk proponents wandering around in their elegant outfits, looking like they fell through a warp hole in 1840′s metropolitan England. I observed their special vehicles and modified instruments, I have visited their shops and heard their music, and even though the whole “movement” is technically just beginning, I am officially done. I hate steampunk.
I do not hate the concepts behind steampunk – rather, I find them quite interesting. Steampunk, for you odd few innocents, examines a world where either the invention of electricity and modern mechanics have not occurred yet, or an alternative present or future where electricity has been skipped entirely and the gap simply covered by earlier-found means such as steam power or clockwork mechanicals. Steam power, of course, tends to be the most prevalent, hence the name. It has also been frequently compared to “cyberpunk”, in the sense that although the technological background is different, it covers many of the same themes as cyberpunk does, such as rebellion towards authority. The original inspiration for steampunk can be traced back to a handful of earlier fiction works, such as H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and the works of Jules Verne. Verne’s works did take place in Victorian times, and may partly have inspired the Victorian aesthetic sensibilities surrounding steampunk, but since they were created by an author living in Victorian times, readers most likely took it as being set in the present.
Other works employed steampunk principles throughout the last century, and the term itself was coined for a specific few writers in the late 1970’s. However, the novel that really cemented the reputation of steampunk as a distinct genre was The Difference Engine, published in 1990 by William Gibson — yep, same fellow of Neuromancer fame. His novel, set in an alternate 1855, shows a timeline changed by the invention of the mechanical computer (the “difference engine” of the title) almost a century ahead of schedule, thanks to Charles Babbage. As a result, London commenced through its Industrial Age and Information Age simultaneously. Welcome to dirigible platoons, early-edition credit cards, and “clackers” – hackers, give or take a few consonants.
Steampunk, or at least the basic principles thereof, has been unobtrusive and omnipresent throughout the last century. Everyone has had some small amount of exposure. If you’re a fan of the old, old, OLD school, you might have read the adventures of Tom Swift and his fantastic inventions. If you prefer to get your Nihon on, you’ve probably been exposed to a wide range of steampunk riffs from a variety of anime-based sources. The most popular that come to mind are Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Cannon Fodder” and “Steamboy”, as well as Hiyao Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” or his misunderstood-badly-in-Spanish opus, “Laputa, the Castle in the Sky.” And even if you’re content with the here and now, odds are you’ve at least heard of “Wild, Wild West” — both the 60′s TV show and the 1999 movie. While employing an American western theme rather than Victorian, both are firmly entrenched in the genre of steampunk.
There’s a lot more to steampunk than I’ve even mentioned, and the more research you do, the more neat stuff you’ll find. Still, this serves a good basic view of the idea – which is all it really is, you know? An idea, and an idea, really, is nothing but a toy. It’s something you play with and toss it around in your brain. While an idea can be good or bad depending on context, when all is said and done, I can’t hate an idea.
What I can hate, and virulently so, is a movement, as well as the specific people who comprise it.
I can hate the people who attempt to project their own ideas about anything that ISN’T steampunk, onto steampunk. This can range from people who like to dress up in Victorian garb and arbitrarily declare themselves steampunk, to people who suddenly display an intense interest in steampunk ideas or scenes because it’s getting popular, to the cadre of complete morons telling a panel at a recent crafts-and-invention fair that they love steampunk because it’s so open-minded and queer-oriented. (Thanks to the quick reflexes and cool head of my compatriot, they did not end up covered in soda. Steam-operated machinery does not care what you have sex with.) I can hate a band that effectively turned steampunk, apparently not due to any great love of the ideas or literary history, but because they weren’t cutting it as a basic rock band and needed to appeal to a niche market. A band made up entirely of electric guitars and violins, an electric drum machine and a synthesizer – oh yeah, that’s FUCKIN’ steampunk! Certainly, I can hate every time one of you brain-dead meatbags opens your fat mouth and begins blabbing about air ships and gears and sky pirates with absolutely no background on what you think you are talking about, other than Final Fantasy X. You know what happens when you do that? Jules Verne, William Gibson (if he were, you know, dead), Michael Garrison and Benjamin Franklin knock on the walls of each other’s graves and start a contest to outspin one another.
But in the end, I can rest easy. You know why? The joke’s on you. People who have always been genuinely interested in steampunk will continue to be, in their own quiet way. They’ll be reading and writing and trying to recreate the engine room of Captain Nemo’s Nautilus in their basement, and they will still be here when this shit blows over. As for you good folks, who are simply amped by being on the crest of the latest thing? Be proud, you are officially cool for the moment. You’ve got scenes all over, articles in Rolling Stone and the New York Times, your own fashion marketplace and all that jazz. But goth was only taken seriously for maybe half as long as punk was, and emo didn’t stay legit a quarter as long as goth, if that. How long do you suppose it’ll be before you see an illiterate 15-year-old girl in a mall wearing a watch necklace with exposed gears, for all the reasons you’d never own up to? Until “airship” aviation goggles are sold in Hot Topic? Until you realize that the only smart people in all this are the ones you are handing your money to, in one way or another, and that you’ve just fallen for everything, the way you always do, again and again, and have learned nothing?
Congratulations. You’re part of the next big thing. Take a taste of that, savor it, lick it and suck it down and swallow it. Because, in a couple of figurative seconds, it’s going to be gone. And the taste that follows is going to be bitter.
Audrey Soffa is the writer and artist for the online comic The Bunny System. She currently enjoys drawing, writing, shooting her mouth off, and combining two or more of these pastimes at once.
This piece was originally published on May 4, 2008.
Having been into steampunk for a long time, in all honesty i couldn’t care less if little idiots start running around with goggles on, lets face it they will move on when the next big thing hits, but till then it means we don’t have to go to plumbing supply shops to make a piece of clothing, might as well enjoy it while we can, instead of hating on it… but that’s just an optimists opinion, instead of someone who throws hate around on the internet for page views.. odd that…
Elitism is a trend by the pompous… how’s life up in that tower of yours? Either way, I’m furious because I was into pants before anyone else, and now EVERYONE wears pants! That’s why I’m naked right now.
This is great and could apply for any silly fanbase. I have to say, however, brief popularity can be helpful because it can show those who might be genuinely interested and might be fans for years to come.
In addition to that, it gives the rest of us something to laugh about.
(Admittedly, I know very little about Steampunk, but I don’t run around proclaiming that “I am Steampunk” or anything. I just wanted to know a bit more about it… knowledge never hurts.)
Aw, puddin…Why so serious?
Of course it’s a fad. The believers will stay, the tourists will stray and the earth will keep on ‘aspinning.
I’m with Peaches on this one. Mostly because this column makes no sense. You tried it, you didn’t like it. Fine. Walk away. The rest of us will get back to what we were doing before you roared thru and be happy. Sorry if that doesn’t work for you.
I bought the Difference Engine in paperback and it was my first real exposure to Alternate History as a concept. The Victorian era has had such an impact on how the societal norms that we now live with. This encourages those who are not the mechanical engineers to look at what the alterations each writer presents in their versions of the tech/society mix. Which lets us see how they handle things, and how those things affect their characters and their stories.
The Difference Engine proposed one change and the framework of the story explores how that one thing altered the history we know. If there was a Steampunk correspondent to the Renaissance Faires, I think you would see a lot more people exploring the ‘dress-up’ aspect of the scene as it stands now. Dressing up is fun, always has been, and being able to do it in a group the way the SCA and others do it, is even better.
But none of the dress up takes away from the fiction. What you read or write or watch, doesn’t require you to dress accordingly (especially since even Leonard Nimoy hated those ears). That is simply a bonus. The story drives, and some of this seems to be driven by group stories as opposed to published series and serials. Hence the dress up aspect.
So, you don’t like the Steampunk Bus? Don’t get on.
Hi there! Bunni, here, with a few comments for you. I, personally,am not Steampunk, however, I know many people who are infatuated with the culture. Have you ever considered that perhaps those people don’t care if it’s huge and that they genuinley like the culture and style? Also, since when, exaclty, did this become a big fad? I have NEVER seen anyone wearing Steampunk in public, and I’ve been to New York over 11 times. So, then, your argument there is invalid. It is a growing culture, yes, but obviously the people who actually like it spend real time on it aren’t posers. Just because you feel like being hateful and ignorant, doesn’t mean that you’re going to change anyone’s opinion. It sounds more to me like you’re the whiny one here.
I am 17 years old and I didn’t even know that steampunk existed until about a week ago. Never-the-less, I’ve always loved anything to do with the time period this is based around. I’ve never read any of the books mentioned, but I have seen all of Hiyao Miyazaki’s films, but it didn’t even occur to me that this was a fad. I actually love tinkering with watches and gears and other things like that, just for fun. Also, if I could afford to make my own clothes, it would be done somewhat like this, just because that is what was in my mind when I thought of the past fashions. I love imagining the type of world we would live in if this was real. I write stories, make art, and listen to styles of music of the 1800′s. This has actually helped me to know that I am not alone in my love of this style. So, no matter your opinion, I’m going to continue loving it, but not to the point of going out in public fully done-up(too self-conscious). So, thanks, and hopefully the posers will get over this, or actually come to like the ideas based behind it.
I myself a 28 year old artist am very interested in the schematics and layout of steam powered machines and cog works. To me the work of the machinist and cogs men are beautiful. Your article does not touch on these aspacts of the “steampunk” crazy overly but I feel the article it’s self is very well written and hit a major point, “do not jump in the band wagon of a misunderstood idea. Your not doing it for knowledge, your doing it to be cool.” I am glad you wrote it.
the trouble is, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, is that much of the Steampunk movement is derivative fandom.
There are about three or four generations of work involved.
The first is actual Victorian science fiction.
The second are those authors who were inspired – very creatively, I might add – by that stuff. “Difference Engine” was as thought provoking and interesting a Gibson work as any other Gibson work.
The third are the comic books and stories which are *inspired by the second generation of derivative material*
And the fourth – are the contemporary Steampunks!
They’re fans of fanfiction!
I’ve always been a huge fan of Victorian retrofuturism before there was even a word for it, and have been called Steam by other people.
but practically every current work of “Steam” fiction and imagination totally ignores the social realities of Victorian times. The actual novels of Verne, Wells, etc were *products of those realities* and commented on those realities. The world of The Time Machine was *totally* about the English social structure at the time, but
Why can’t we have the wonder AND the reality, grit and darkness at the same time? Other fandoms (*cough* Diesel *cough*) have no problem with this.
A lot of people need somebody to look down on and despise and it would seem you need somebody to look down on and despise more than most.
In my neighborhood, it’s part of the Steampunk ethic (I can hear you now, struggling with the hairball induced by that phrase) that we welcome unto our world anybody who expresses an interest in Steampunk. And if an illiterate 15-year-old girl GETS IT WRONG, if she, by Ghod, CHOOSES THE WRONG ACCESSORY do we pour yet more scorn on her? Hasn’t she got problems enough, not being able to read screeds such as yours and thereby come to a full realization of how hopelessly behind you she is?
Steampunk is not for you. You got that much very, very right.
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You see, I actually didn’t know steampunk was all that popular and I have liked it for a long time. I like the mechanics of it and not so much the fashion, I am also a writer and most of my books (before I found out about steampunk) were based in that time in that kind of way. I honestly think that this is testament to HATING steampunk, but to hating the people that like it because it’s cool and hip… and honestly who can blame you for not liking those people? Theres a difference between liking steampunk and being into it and most don’t know the difference. So I applaud you for actually going out and stating your opinion and HOPEFULLY staving off some of the people who like it purely because everyone else does.
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Wow, bitter much? you don’t own Steampunk. Rather than pick on people who are just getting to know the term and grow an appreciation for it, you could always welcome and encourage them. “Hate” is a pretty strong word and emotion, and does no good for anyone.
I’d sound about as mature saying “What? You like Andy Warhol? Well I liked him BEFORE you, so you’re stupid and you can’t have him!”
I am sorry you are being hagged out by these kids. Honestly I would focus more on the fact that they are completely ignorant to how stuff is fucking created rather than make a few random hits.
What are the hours of work? young bbs links
%[[
There’s idiots in every fandom or movement. Ignore them.
Would Eppiboppers turn me off the Les Mis fandom? Would itas and Milanoo-puppets turn me off lolita? Would I abandon ASOIAF because a few hypocrites frown upon fanfic?
No.
And you just sound like a bitter ex-fan who was ostracized from his local group for being a complete asshole.
I like the art of steampunk, i dislike the whole steampunk scene which in appearance look like a larp gathering complete with cheap plastic toys and clock parts glued to different clothes pieces.
Some can pull it of and look good with it, not to much things and no plastic crap but most look like plastic figures rejects.
What I hate is that people in the Steampunk scene are trying to connect the Steampunk scene with politics !
If they succeed it will be the number one reason for me to stay out and far away from the whole Steampunk scene.
Steampunk is a art form and that’s it, making a steampunk computer, a steampunk lamp and a steampunk bike, that is steampunk and only steampunk.
I don’t see people who like baroque art wearing a miniature baroque church pipe organ as a hat and trying to connect it to politics!
‘’ I can hate the people who attempt to project their own ideas about anything that ISN’T steampunk, onto steampunk.’’
Freakin’ Abraham freakin’ Lincoln.
THIS COLUMN IS GAY JUST LIKE THE AUTHOR
Wow……an elitist if I ever heard one. Who made you the god/queen of what steampunk should or should not be? Hmmm? The reason that I got into steampunk is its wonderful world of what ifs and never happens. And that can be applied to almost any culture or time period. Granted you cant slap gears and cogs on something and call it steampunk and yes I take a cetain pride in the accessories I make. However steampunk is such a broad world that I have learned to accept all even the “tourists” as one poster calls them. Okay you tried it you didnt like it cause it doesnt fit to your little narrow criteria or the people annoy or what have you, move on instead writing a blog about it.
Wow someone’s got a bug up their arse. Steampunk is much like any emerging subculture, it evolves and changes and while yes it has a base from which you can work from it has no set in stone, you must do this aspect, you make it what it wants, and if a 15 year ild girl wears goggles in a mistaken way, then she does I mean WTF she’s 15 and learning what she wants to be, who are wd to judge and pour scorn on her burgeoning ideas and creativity? I tend to mix several subcultures such as cosplay, goth, period costume and steampunk because I like them and learn what I can as I go along, which no doubt many of these wannabes which is what you seem to be calling them in more words than strictly necessary, are also doing. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover cos one day it’ll turn round and bite you in the arse.