What does Steampunk mean to you?

[SPL]

Everyone I've met who is familiar with steampunk has their own definition of what is and is not steampunk. Some bulk in other subgenres, while others are quite specific.

I personally probably group far more into the genre than I should

So, tell me, what does steampunk mean to you?

[Inferno]

The genre to me means steam as a way of life! I hold a pretty general idea about steampunk, like most do. The Jules Vern utopia of steam power. Victorian style with a twist, and lost of brass....

[TheJackTree]

One of the things that I love about steampunk is how nebulous the genre is, which allows for a lot of creativity and cool ideas to float around.

For me personally steampunk is a literary genre that I've found I enjoy applying to my life. I try and live according to a very Darwinian/Neo-Victorian style of morals and social behavior and I love technology. While I truly love our modern technology the idea of "what might have been" with steam technology is very intriguing. This is especially in regards to analog computers which I think is a really interesting proposition.

Also Victorian and turn of the century fashions have my heart. I would wear early 20th century suits for the rest of my life.

[AngsterH]

I have a hard time defining steampunk as my opinions change so frequently. However, I agree with the above posts and generally view steampunk with the victorian flair. I will bend towards an american wild west steampunk vision at times, since I tend to be a rebel at heart, and the wild west seems to capture that rebel spirit.

But above all, it's got to be brass - wood - leather, and definitely form before function!

I do have a question. Has anyone seen or thought about an oriental flavor to steampunk? I know Japan was trying to become more 'western' in the mid to late 1800s. They would have had steam locomotives, telegraph and so on. I just haven't seen anything relating to how they would have been steampunk'd.

[SPL]

Interesting idea on asian take on steampunk..

only thing that even remotely comes to mind is some scenes from Blade runner, which really arent steampunk at all... but still a vision of asian retrofuturistic.. so maybe the idea can be adapted... i'm grasping at straws here, and probably a horrible example.

[Gren]

(03-03-2009 04:29 AM)AngsterH Wrote:  I do have a question. Has anyone seen or thought about an oriental flavor to steampunk? I know Japan was trying to become more 'western' in the mid to late 1800s. They would have had steam locomotives, telegraph and so on. I just haven't seen anything relating to how they would have been steampunk'd.

Heh Heh Steam powered Gundams. I love the inventiveness of it as someone else here said form before function. Though my tastes run more towards functioning form. If it's beautiful it's a bauble. If it's functional, it's a contraption. If it's funktional beauty or beautiful functionality then it is that more the impressive and inspiring.

[Bryan]

I to lean more to function with form; for a inventor in the victorian era(more or less) their inventions were meant to be leaps and bounds above the current tech. Even so their creations still had an appealing artistic flair to them which i found wonderful, and sad that today's tech is based around trying to make as much as quickly and cheaply as possible. Plus the people from that era new how to dress to impress.

[Desert Doc]

Heck I've been Steam Punk most, if not all my life and didn't even know it. I've always been attracted to that funky bazaar vintage Victoria age of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells. I was born in the wrong era and parallel universe.

[DreamSteam]

Steampunk to me envelops all the accepted definitions, and allows leeway for creativity. After all, who can imagine everything that NeverWas could ever be? Not I.

When I posted a poll on my blog, asking people what their favorite incarnation of steampunk was, I got some interesting results. There were eight options, specific divisions of steampunk (more were possible, but I tried to narrow the list down a bit). Here is a link to the poll results: What is your favorite incarnation of steampunk? Poll results

Before and after that poll, I posted about two other articles on aspects of the steampunk world: American "wild west" steampunk and Dieselpunk. Both articles address the "what is" question, and some about how they came to be.


Hold Onto Yer Spurs - A Gander at American Steampunk
What's Petrol Got to Do with It? Dieselpunk

I found the question interesting because I struggle with the question "what is steampunk" every day I am trying to create jewelry. Some days I "get it" and some days I fall short of even my expectations, but I notice that when I make a piece that is definitively, beautifully steampunk, it sells quickly. While I am always a little sad to see such work go (because I love steampunk too!), I hope those pieces are enjoyed and shared with other steampunk fans forever. =)

But may I just say ... long live steampunk!!!

DreamSteam

p.s. -- I think I will research the Asian/Oriental steampunk question, too. If you like, check my blog in a while to see if I found any answers.

EDIT -- Here is my steampunk Blog post about Oriental Steampunk. Enjoy!

[bluelight2]

(11-20-2008 03:51 PM)Inferno Wrote:  The genre to me means steam as a way of life! I hold a pretty general idea about steampunk, like most do. The Jules Vern utopia of steam power. Victorian style with a twist, and lost of brass....

i agree to your idea