Steampunk is NOT Victorian Science Fiction

Boromir

This article is one of several that are an attempt to address the problems within the steampunk community. These problems are not the doing of steampunks who enjoy the culture, but of those who wish to only make profit from it.

It’s a common misconception that steampunk is Victorian Science Fiction. I fully believed this misconception until I discovered what I believe to be the truth. I believe this because it makes a lot more logical sense. This description of steampunk has been hidden under a veil of deceit by clever people who simply want to further their own career. It’s done by convincing you that their opinion of steampunk is the correct opinion and removing any that disagree.

It’s true that steampunk is based in the Victorian/Edwardian era when steam power was at it’s most prominent. However, a major difference between the Victorian era and steampunk – and certainly a difference that many people seem to have trouble getting to grips with – is that before 1987, steampunk didn’t exist. There may be steampunk styled films or novels or music before then, but as a name, it didn’t exist. It certainly didn’t exist in the Victorian era.

As steampunks, we all know that it’s a very real culture followed by millions of people around the world. Yet so many of us are blindly following a description of it without really questioning the source.

The reason this is happening is because if you search steampunk online it’s likely you’ll hit certain pages that have a certain way of making you perceive it. Because steampunk is such a free concept, it’s open to exploitation and that’s essentially what has happened.

What is steampunk if not Victorian Science Fiction?
The answer is so incredibly easy that I kicked myself when the penny dropped after reading some conversations online. Quite simply; steampunk is Victorian Inspired Science Fiction. It’s incredible that one word can make such a difference, but when you analyse those three words, it really does.

Once it’s understood where steampunk lies against Victorian Science Fiction, all the arguments on social media seem to be irrelevant. HG Wells and Jules Verne are superb authors. Their vision and creativity is laudable even today.

Let’s look at it from their viewpoint. Wells or Verne were sat in their study in the Victorian era thinking about what fantastical adventures, vehicles and inventions may happen in the future. They wrote about them and this is Victorian Science Fiction. That is to say, it’s Science Fiction written in the Victorian era by a Victorian author.

Steampunk is Science Fiction that has a Victorian theme such as steam powered vehicles or technology that hasn’t moved forward. Fashion may still be stuck in the 19^th century. It is inevitably inspired by the great authors of the actual time and that’s why steampunk isn’t Victorian Science Fiction. That being said, you don’t have to stick to this ideal and more articles will cover this in the near future.

Like I mentioned before, steampunk has been exploited and because there are no rules, if someone says “This is my interpretation of steampunk” then no-one can disagree and quite right. However, your own interpretation of steampunk should remain just that, yet in some cases these personal interpretations have been published and forced upon people so much that it’s changed our perception of what it really is. By following someone else’s interpretation of steampunk, not only are you forging the culture into something else, you’re also not sticking to the punk element of the name. You’re essentially conforming and not thinking for yourself.

Why isn’t anyone allowed say what steampunk is or isn’t?
It’s not that anyone isn’t allowed to say something isn’t steampunk. It’s your right to say what you like. It’s important to bear in mind that if someone posts a picture of something they’ve created and we all popped up slating it for not being steampunk, you can hurt that person’s feelings. For all we know they could be new to steampunk and have spent what little money they have creating something from their head. Who are we to say it’s not what they say it is? It may be exactly what they had in mind, or it might even be incomplete.

“If someone builds something and does what they can with the materials and money they have, they should be commended and encouraged. Not brought down.”

I’ve seen a lot of people find steampunk because it’s all encompassing and they feel welcomed whereas they may normally be shunned. We’re a welcoming bunch and don’t judge people on their differences.

KW Jeter had already written Morlock Night in 1979 before releasing Infernal Devices in 1984. It was with this book that he coined the term “Steam Punk” in a note to Locus magazine in 1987. It’s important to keep that in mind that this didn’t happen in 1887, it was 100 years later. Interestingly, when people discuss the great steampunk authors, Jeter is rarely listed. In fact, in a recent internet meme, he was missed off completely and replaced with H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe. The latter actually being considered more part of the American Romantic Movement.

Steampunk isn’t Victorian Science Fiction and if you’re new to the culture then you need to keep this in mind. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be adding more to this topic and I welcome any input from readers who would like to say what steampunk means to them and whether you agree or disagree. Feel free to put across your point of view. After all, I’ve changed my mind once about how I view steampunk, there’s no reason why it can’t be done again.

This is a great article about steampunk books: Nine novels that defined steampunk