Steampunk

Steampunk is a branch of science fiction that blends retro-futuristic technology with the look and feel of 19th-century steam-powered industry. Its stories typically take place in an alternate version of the Victorian era or the American frontier where steam engines never faded away, or in a fantasy world built around similar steam-based machinery. The genre imagines inventions as people from the 1800s might have dreamed them up—think steam cannons, airships, and mechanical computers like Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine—setting it apart from Neo-Victorianism. It also draws heavily on the fashion, culture, architecture, and art of that period.

Steampunk often mixes in elements from fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other speculative genres, making it a hybrid form. As speculative fiction, it can explore alternative futures or pasts while also tackling real-world social issues. The term "steampunk" first appeared in 1987, though it has since been applied retroactively to works from as far back as the 1950s or earlier. A notable offshoot is Japanese steampunk, found in manga and anime.

Beyond fiction, steampunk describes an artistic style, clothing fashion, and subculture inspired by steampunk stories, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and mid-20th-century films. Artisans modify everyday objects into pseudo-Victorian mechanical creations, and many visual and musical artists are labeled steampunk.

**History**

**Precursors**

Steampunk takes cues from 19th-century scientific romances by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Mary Shelley, and Edward S. Ellis’s *The Steam Man of the Prairies*. Several key works predate the genre’s name. Mervyn Peake’s *Titus Alone* (1959) is often considered the first true steampunk novel, while Michael Moorcock’s *The Warlord of the Air* (1971) was heavily influenced by Peake. The film *Brazil* (1985) was an early cinematic influence, though it also points toward the related dieselpunk style. *The Adventures of Luther Arkwright* was an early 1970s comic about a traveler between timelines. In fine art, Remedios Varo’s paintings mix Victorian dress with fantasy and technofantasy. On television, *The Wild Wild West* (1965–69) brought steampunk ideas to a mainstream audience and later inspired a film.

**Origin of the term**

Though many foundational works appeared in the 1960s and 1970s, the term "steampunk" was coined in the 1980s as a playful twist on "cyberpunk." Science fiction author K. W. Jeter came up with it while looking for a label for works by Tim Powers (*The Anubis Gates*, 1983), James Blaylock (*Homunculus*, 1986), and himself (*Morlock Night*, 1979; *Infernal Devices*, 1987). All these novels were set in the 19th century (usually Victorian) and mimicked the style of actual Victorian speculative fiction like H. G. Wells’s *The Time Machine*. In an April 1987 letter to *Locus* magazine, Jeter wrote:

"Dear Locus, Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel *Morlock Night*; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it to Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in 'the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate' was writing in the 'gonzo-historical manner' first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March *Locus* to be quite flattering. Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like 'steam-punks,' perhaps...."

**Modern steampunk**

Jeter’s *Morlock Night* and *Infernal Devices*, Powers’ *The Anubis Gates*, and Blaylock’s *Lord Kelvin’s Machine* were the first novels to receive the "steampunk" label, though the authors themselves didn’t dwell on it at the time. Earlier writers had already explored steam-based technology, alternate histories, or 19th-century science fiction. Examples include Keith Laumer’s *Worlds of the Imperium* (1962), Ronald W. Clark’s *Queen Victoria’s Bomb* (1967), and Michael Moorcock’s *Warlord of the Air* (1971). Harry Harrison’s *A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!* (1973) depicts an alternate 1973 Britain with atomic locomotives, coal-powered flying boats, ornate submarines, and Victorian dialogue. *The Adventures of Luther Arkwright* (mid-1970s) was an early steampunk comic. In February 1980, Richard A. Lupoff and Steve Stiles began their 10-part comic strip *The Adventures of Professor Thintwhistle and His Incredible Aether Flyer*. In 2004, an anonymous author described steampunk as "Colonizing the Past so we can dream the future." The first use of "steampunk" in a title may have been Paul Di Filippo’s 1995 *Steampunk Trilogy*, which included the short novels "Victoria," "Hottentots," and "Walt and Emily."