Pathfinder: The Steampunk Movement

A UnLibrarian Resource

Courtney Lerner
LIBR 210 Reference Services
Spring 2009, Professor Midyette
Master of Library & Information Studies 
San Jose State University, California

Monday, May 11, 2009

Introduction to Steampunk


What is Steampunk?

Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and oftenVictorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction orfantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works ofH. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigiblesanalog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.

Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.

Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk. ~Wikipedia Definition of Steampunk

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