Steampunk

Steampunk is a subgenre of modern fiction. Presently it is mostly associated with comic books thanks to the works of Alan Moore. The genre itself became popular in the 1980s and 90s, therefore it is relatively new. It originates from fiction literature and uses the elements of the 19th century aesthetics and technology to represent the world. Simultaneously, steampunk is a form of a critique of man’s addiction to technology (in effect it counters the ideas and assumptions of cyberpunk). There are different theories of the origins of steampunk that do not exclude themselves. One claims that steampunk was ‘born’ with the release of Disney’s “20.000 Leagues under the Sea” in the 1950s. The movie intentionally used the Vernian setting and modern technology (like the atomic power) and mixed them together. Another theory claims that the genre emerged from the book “The Difference Engine” by William Gibson (the author known for creating the cyberpunk genre) and Bruce Sterling. The book describes a Victorian-like past when analogue computers were actually built. An interesting aspect of this theory is that it depicts steampunk as originating from cyberpunk and criticizes its message at the same time. Moreover, steampunk is related to the works of authors such as Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley. Modern steampunk is a reference to the Victorian-Edwardian science romance (e.g. J. Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”) and gothic horror stories (e.g. M. Shelley’s “Frankenstein”). The genre itself may be divided into to sub-categories: __historica__l and __fantasy__ steampunk. The former represents the more popular type which is set in any point in history with the characteristics of steampunk present. The latter adds a different factor – magic, to the world created in the story (e.g. “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell” by Susanna Clarke). Furthermore, there are other variations of the steampunk theme, like bronzepunk (set in the Bronze Age), classicpunk (set in ancient Greece or Rome), stonepunk (set in the Stone Age), or clockpunk (set in the Renaissance period). __Steampunk in literature:__ The most influential steampunk work was created by the aforementioned author – Jules Verne. Other works include “His Dark Materials Trilogy” by Phillip Pullman. __Steampunk in movies:__ The most popular movie that is associated with this genre is __Georges Méliès’__ classic French silent film “A Trip to the Moon”. Though it is not the only one that used steampunk (other titles include the adaptations of Verne’s “20.000 Leagues under the Sea” and “Around the World in 80 days”). Still, only Méliès’ work captures the essence of this genre. More recently an interesting example of steampunk was used in the movie “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”. The movie “A Trip to the Moon” by Georges Méliès:

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__Steampunk in graphic novels:__ As I have already mentioned, the popularization of steampunk in graphic novels is mostly accredited to the great Alan Moore. In his classical stories like “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (which uses not only the Victorian stylistic in the drawing of objects but also the characters created by Verne, H.G. Wells, etc.!) and “Promethea” (which presents Victorian objects used in the future) he gives a superb example of steampunk. While the Western world has been slowly adapting the aesthetics of steampunk, the genre had become most popular in the Japanese forms of comics and animations – Manga and Anime. The most famous and influencial works are those of Tezuka Osamu, i.e. “New Treasure Island” (based on R.L.Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”) and “Metropolis” (a variation on Fritz Lang’s famous silent motion picture under the same title).



REFERENCES: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk Steampunk: Victorian Adventures in a time that Wasn't: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9094/STEAM2.html Steampunk.com http://www.steampunk.com/Cyberpunk

Pictures taken from: "Metropolis": [|www.scifimoviepage.com] "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen": [|www.blogcritics.org]"20.000 Leagues under the Sea": [|www.laserdisken.dk]

Movies taken from: You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbGd_240ynk

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