Steampunk: Part 1 [History and Manifesto]

While I would never classify myself in to one (and others are sure to disagree with that), I've always found myself intrigued by cultures and particularly subcultural movements. There is something intrinsically fascinating by the way in which fashion and ideologies conflict with a mainstream ideal, and how this community develops from it. Currently, I've been enjoying watching a new subcultural movement developing before my very eyes this past year-- Steampunk. While its literary roots are not new (they date back to the 80s and 90s), there is a development of a personal aesthetic and ideology stemming from the literary form.

In it's early literary form, we tend to see a scientific romance, where steam-powered technologies reign and science fiction rules. There is a technological fusion of the early 20th century with modern day inventions, creating a fantastical world that often has no relationship to historical accuracy. Steampunk is extending beyond the pages of paper to create a living, breathing lifestyle. Wikipedia describes the Steampunk aesthetic and lifestyle as "This movement [that] may also be (more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies."

Steampunk Magazine, a fine and interesting publication has a different definition of steampunk to give (in issue 1, "What then, is Steampunk?"):

"Steampunk is a re-envisioning of the past with the hypertechnological perceptions of the present....steampunk is a non-luddite critique of technology.... It revels in the concrete reality of technology instead of the overanalytical abstractions of cybernetics.... Authentic steampunk seeks to take the levers of technology from those technocrats who drain it of both its artistic and real qualities, who turn the living monsters of technology into the simpering servants of meaningless commodity..... Ours is not the culture of Neo-Victorianism and stupefying etiquette, not remotely an escape to gentleman's clubs and classist rhetoric. It is the green fairy of delusion and passion unleashed from her bottle, stretched across the glimmering gears of rage."

In another more personal description of the movement, it is more beautifully and eloquently described by my friend Willow (who does not identify herself as someone who is steampunk). She says,

"To me, this manifesto was about not boxing yourself in, not saying what Steampunk is or isn't. It's about letting the culture evolve how it will, based on the ideals that it believes in. And that brings me joy. I see our (dare I say) generation as being at a point of major change (just as much as any other was, I'll admit). Every crossroad determines future paths, and one of the reasons I'm so into Transhumanism is trying to guide those decisions towards the nurturing instead of the destructive. Right now I see Steampunk on the brink of going down the path that so many other subcultures have gone down - being co-opted, capitalized, routinized. But the difference is because of the people involved being self-aware, giving a shit, and being willing to fucking stand up, Steampunk doesn't have to go down that path. Instead it can form a new sort of system of belonging. A system that can set an example for other emerging subcultures online and IRL.

Can you imagine it? Being accepted in a subculture because of what you've contributed instead of what you claim to be interested in, who you know, what clever words you can say, what clothing you can afford? I can. And I believe in it."

Sources: Steampunk modified computer by Steampunk Workshop; Girl drawing from Syber Punk; Steampunk Magazine; Willow Bloo; and Wikipedia.