I’m a lifelong reader of SF, and yesterday when I was looking into which SF Cons I might be able to attend this year, I was surprised to notice a newish crop of Steampunk Conventions.
Now I’m flummoxed. Steampunk’s been a subset of SF&F for many years, going in and out of style among us nerd genre readers. I’ve kind of ignored it, because I didn’t like the few steampunk books I’d read. But while I wasn’t looking, somehow it has tipped into the consciousness of “mundanes” along the way, because its influence has really grown, even into mainstream fashion. I’ve noticed a number of steampunk romance novels, but I’d think it would take a blockbuster book, TV series (Warehouse 13?) or even a major film to insert the steampunk concept into mainstream brains and culture. Do you have any ideas about how/when this happened when I wasn’t looking?
I have been active among the New England Steampunk community for the past few years. Looking from the inside, I do not see any knowledge or interest in the aesthetic among the Mundanes, but we seem to have caught on with cosplayers, LARPers, Rennies and con-goers.
Given that daily Steampunk fashion tends to be either old-fashioned formal (vest and pocketwatch, with a nice hat) or pseudomilitaristic (my lovely and long-suffering Wife does a marvellous Sgt-Pepperesque outfit for events) I think that we have more of a case of Edwardian designs being seen as being “Steampunk” by those already familiar with the concept as opposed to designers intending a piece to be Steampunk. We repurpose things to make them Steampunk.
I’m hardly an expert on the genre, but I thought the two recent Sherlock Homes movies (the ones with Robert Downy Jr.) helped to mainstream the steampunk esthetic.
From what I can tell, steampunk is an aesthetic first, and a genre a distant second. The clothing, hats and accessories aren’t cash-ins - they’re the essence of the movement. The stories are the sideshow.
Well the online Steampunk comic *Girl Genius * has become extremely popular, and won a few Hugos as well. It probably isn’t the sole reason for the genre, but does give it impetus.
And, in at least a few instances I’ve seen, some conventioners have just recycled their “formal” Vampire the Masquerade outfits by added geegaws and gimcracks.
I think it’s the movie theme in general. Sky Captain was along those lines, as well as Tank Girl, Extraordinary Gentlemen, Wild Wild West, and many others. It works well in movies and I noticed the trend growth there long before I knew of the broader aspects of the genre. It’s a simple visual style that can be layered on any type of story. I’m not a huge fan of the style, but it is interesting. I wish it wasn’t applied to Sherlock Holmes because it’s a diverges so much from the classic work that stands on its own.
The few steampunk con websites I looked at did seem to focus on costuming and airship design. I think I’d agree (from the outside) that it appears to be primarily an aesthetic. I saw a mainstream fashion forecast that steampunk-inspired clothing would be big this year. But I think that steampunk-infused novels are also increasing in number and crossing with other genres.
I’m not quite sure how Tank Girl and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow could in any way qualify as steampunk. And Wild Wild West and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were both terrible terrible movies.
I’m with Alessan on this one. Steampunk is all about aesthetics with very little of substance behind it. Certainly it’s possible to do something interesting with the genre as The Difference Engine proves but most steampunk examples seem to be just as magical as regular old fantasy.
I should have been clearer. Those are things that use the visual style in movies, resembles the Steampunk stuff people make and wear. I think movies use that style because it’s simple and effective, and it’s drawing people in the direction of the actual Steampunk genre. And I certainly wasn’t endorsing those movies.
In my opinion (and certainly for myself) much of the appeal is a reaction to how so much of the modern world is so utterly style-free, deliberately boringly utilitarian. Everything from our buildings to our machines are grey/brown/black/white boxes (notice how much of the steampunk look revolves around brass & copper?) that don’t do anything visible, and our clothing - especially male clothing - is simple and utilitarian as well.
No. As with other movements, the visual style is just one of several modes of expression–the only one embraced by some people, perhaps, but no more central to the meaning than beads and sandals were for San Francisco hippies.
The philosophical essence is the retro-futurist attitude–a quasi-Victorian adventurism, a spirit of progress and possibility driven by curiosity and individual innovation, a kind of stylish boldness. A place that the generation that died in the trenches might have gone in their dreams.
There’s actually nothing really ‘punk’ about it, and that was an unfortunate naming, copied from “cyberpunk” without much thought. Some people just call it “steam,” or “gaslight.”
My memory sucks for things like this, but what about the flyers. They flew on “beams of light” right? But still had to crank them or some shit as I recall. I know if I watched it again I could pull out other example.
edit: oh, the device of harnessing the 9th ray? That was pure steam punk.
I just looked up steam punk in wikipedia and it seems that steam or spring tech is a prerequisite so I guess GL is correct. I’m thinking more of steam punk motifs I suppose. Apologies.
Good point. But do you think the mainstream has appropriated the philosophical essence? Probably the style is what is grabbing this larger audience, since there doesn’t seem to be much literary or narrative impetus to the increased interest.
By the way, I’ve also noticed a popular style of watches that lets you view the clockworks within. I wonder if that’s related to fashionable steampunk style.
Isn’t it a truism that the ‘mainstream’ face of any movement is the shallowest interpretation possible? The visual style in this case is easy to pick up on, flexible and fun to play with. Thinking about the theme and contextual meaning of a story is hard. Applying a philosophy is harder still.