…is a lot harder than it looks, as any of us who immerse ourselves in the retro-futuristic ideals of steampunk realize. Newbe’s Steam Powered Blog tackles the problem in his own words in order to resolve a few sticking points for world-building of his own, calling steampunk “a “can do” genre where if you can have an idea that seems plausible, then it should be possible.” Which in my eyes is the heart of science-fiction, even though sci-fi worked solely with the pure aspects of technology and its effects, whereas one of the responders points out that steampunk is more loose and free-wheeling. I personally love the idea of returning to that ‘what if’ wonder the Victorians had of the infinite possibilities of the future. I love that steampunk includes the culture and etiquette and mindset of the Victorians themselves, with its emphasis on classical training and unhampered joy of beauty, not to mention when people still treated each other with respect.
To wit, poster Marcus Tairov said : “Not only is Steampunk where Science runs the world but that people are cordial to one another. They dress in creative and mad scientist looks. Gears are common. The individual is unique and more importantly, can contribute to society easily. The focus on success is what you can accomplish, not how much money you make. The quality of life is better. The science though is a bit more important than anything else and you run the risk of loosing your humanity in it.”
I think the 20th century worked very hard to call the century before it every dirty name in the book, including Puritanical and repressive and staid and stuffy and unyielding and frozen and then worked even harder to get rid of everything that we might actually discover about the 19th century in terms of the wonder and awe. Some might blame the atom bomb for this, some might say it was the 60s Hippies. Anyone who reads up on what Victorians were really like discovers a much more vibrant world. A view I have held for a LONG time is that the 20th century discarded the 19th as useless junk and we have crudity and blandness instead. Cynicism replaced wonder, thus leading some at the end of the Millennium to declare that we have reached ‘the end of history.’ So I would have to say that for me, steampunk means going back to the heap and taking what was discarded and rediscovering what worked…and having FUN with what did not.
