For your Thursday (and my laziness), I have decided to quote a piece from the Victorian Steampunk Society’s website about what Steampunk is. As I have said before, there is no absolute definition of Steampunk, in my own opinion. Part of the great advantage of the Steampunk genre is its variety, in that one can take it however one pleases, be that as straight NeoVictorian or as a stronger science fiction drive of mechanisms and flying ships. The great thing is that Steampunk is creative science, and a definite compliment to us who are bipartite and ‘duo-minded’.
Steampunks try to take some of the very best parts of the past and make them part of a bright future. Steampunks value good manners and polite conduct and try to encourage this by setting an example for others. They think things should be made to a high quality and to last thus helping the environment. They value and encourage creativity and indeed have been asked to collaborate in educational and arts projects across the globe.
Whilst things are set in a pseudo historical world which harks back to our Victorian heritage steampunks do not promote any of the inequalities of that past. Indeed theirs is deliberately an all inclusive community. You will find steampunks of all ages, genders and ethnic backgrounds and abilities. They also come from all walks of life from students to academics and from comedians to solicitors.
Can you still call it steam-PUNK? Punk in the seventies was a rebellion against contemporary society. It is plain that steampunks are rebelling but theirs is a stand against: throwaway society, poor manners and antisocial behaviour, homogenisation and commercialism.
Steampunks are generally polite, friendly, care about the environment , the past and the future and creativity and individuality.
Tinker, 2011
Splendid, eh chaps? I do suppose this harks onto the main virtue I attempt to uphold as part of my Steamsona: politeness and equality. Simple enough, perhaps, but the world in its 21st Century self has quite forgotten those values in favour of the ‘selfie’ and fame/popularity. No wonder Steampunk is becoming so much more popular as time goes on. Those of us concerned with raising the world back to the realms of Victorian manners must group ourselves together.
“Steampunk is nostalgia for what never was!”
And nostalgia is sweet indeed.
Alexandrina Brant 
Yo, if you like steampunk, you should try All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen. It’s amazing. 😀
I have it on my tbr list already. 😉 Possibly because I saw you talking about on your blog! It’s based on Twelfth Night, am I right?
Pffft, yes. I’ve blogged about it several times, I think…
Yes! And on The Importance of Being Earnest. 🙂
Awesome stuff. 🙂 It’s one I’d rather like in print, so I’ll wait until I have the money…
Brava! Excellent post! I’ve been thinking about writing about the definition of Steampunk on my (rather newly launched) blog, but I’m not sure I can top this one. Now that Steampunk, or at least the Steampunk aesthetic, has gone more mainstream, there is the tendency from some quarters of sniffing, “That’s not Steampunk.” whereas I think that anyone that makes an effort should be welcomed whole-heartedly. And at my age, I tend more to the “Steam” side than the “punk” side anyways.