Steampunk

Steampunk is a style of fiction having to do with a semi-fictional world where old machinery from the Victorian 19th century is still being used. Technologies that were new or important to the Victorians, such as steam power, clockwork or electricity, are big themes in steampunk.

Important influences on steampunk are the Victorian "scientific romances", the first science fiction novels. Authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are still very popular.^[1] Modern novels often cross-over with Goth and vampire themes.

The fictional style has become an active 'scene' where steampunks dress in costume and attend meetings or conventions. This costume is a large part of the scene. Many steampunks spend lots of time sewing their own outfits, or collecting accessories such as hats and goggles. The Maker movement involves many people who are both Makers and steampunks.^[2] They make Contraptions, fanciful devices as either art or a pretended function. Some of these contraptions are as large as cars, buses^[3] or even a steam-powered mobile house.^[1]

Sometimes this aspect is expanded to include cultural ideas of the 19th and early 20th century, such as small items like clothing and accessories, or large objects such as locomotives (trains) or machines that had not even been invented yet, like airplanes.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Neverwas Haul".
2. ↑ Jake von Slatt. "Steampunk Workshop".
3. ↑ Jake von Slatt. "Victorian RV - Bedroom Redecorated". Steampunk Workshop.