SteampunkĀ is aĀ subgenreĀ ofĀ science fictionĀ that incorporatesĀ retrofuturisticĀ technology andĀ aestheticsĀ inspired by 19th-centuryĀ industrialĀ steam-poweredĀ machinery.[1][2][3]Ā Steampunk works are often set in anĀ alternative historyĀ of theĀ Victorian eraĀ or theĀ American "Wild West,"Ā where steam power remains in mainstream use or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.
Steampunk featuresĀ anachronisticĀ technologies or retrofuturistic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them ā distinguishing it fromĀ Neo-Victorianism[4]Ā ā and is likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.[5]Ā Such technologies may include fictional machines like those found in the works ofĀ H. G. WellsĀ andĀ Jules Verne.[6]Ā Other examples of steampunk contain alternative-history-style presentations of such technology asĀ steam cannons,Ā lighter-than-airĀ airships,Ā analog computers, or such digitalĀ mechanical computersĀ asĀ Charles Babbage'sĀ Analytical Engine.[7][8]
Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres ofĀ fantasy,Ā horror,Ā historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches ofĀ speculative fiction, making it often aĀ hybrid genre.[9]Ā As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts but can also address real-world social issues.[10]Ā The first known appearance of steampunkĀ was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created as far back as the 1950s or earlier[11]. A popular subgenre is Japanese steampunk, consisting of steampunk-themedĀ mangaĀ andĀ anime,[12]Ā with steampunk elements appearing in mainstream manga since the 1940s.[13]
Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, orĀ subculturesĀ that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction,Ā art nouveauĀ design, and films from the mid-20th century.[14]Ā Various modern utilitarian objects have beenĀ moddedĀ by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and several visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.[15]