Steampunk as Far Future Science Fiction
Most Steampunk in narrative form either flows from the alt/history spectrum of genre (eg, babbage machines and an alternate Victorian England) or very rarely fantasy (Perdido Street Station, etc), relying more on a romantization of the Victorian period for it’s steampunk creds. But I have a thought- couldn’t we also push this into the far, far future?
The makers and builders of the Steampunk subculture claim to want to return to a time when electronics were meant to last and not to be used and discarded. It’s not about trying to replicate the past (else, they wouldn’t be modding modern computers and laptops) but about a fusion of past with present. So, the current mode of Steampunk as a subculture is more interested in taking modern technology, and making it more aesthetic, and making it last longer and not require a disposable-goods culture.
A space faring society (esp one involving generational ships) would need electronics like that. They would need something reusable, something that lasted for a long, long, long damn time. Machines meant to be fixed, not replaced. In my mind, melding far-future space opera, with generational ships and that sort of thing, slides in perfectly with the modern steampunk subculture movement.
And it also side steps an important problem that most steampunk novels tend to try and ignore- the inherent sexism/ageism/racism/classism/colonial attitudes of Victorian England. It could replicate the look and feel, without needing to imitate the cultural problems and ethical nasties that come with alt history. It would also not need to be steam based power exactly- it would need to use the aesthetic, and use the idea of technology that lasts a really, really, really long damn time. Which would be in the generational ship’s best interests anyway.
Just some pondering….
The future is where I always want to place the steampunk timeline. A “what if” our culture broke down either through war or economical malfunction causing society to be thrown into an era of resourcefulness and reuse. There would be no or minimal resources causing people to fall back on the power of old such as steam, wood, coal and wind. Goodbye abundance, hello steampunk.
Perhaps on a Generation ship if the right ethics were drilled into peoples heads. Unfortunately I think most people would just continue with wastefulness until there was nothing left to waste. Society (at large) would then just spiral into a barbaric semi-primitive state. This is just conjecture of course, and I do have a pretty bleak opinion of the rapaciousness of the human animal.
first sunryse-
Not so sure about that. Steampunk is based on Victorian era stuff, which is the birthplace of disposable tech, factories and other crap that is destroying the world. A return to that period would make it worse.
And I’m not talking about that right now anyway. This isn’t post apocalyptic- a generational ship has different needs, needs that are quite unlike anything we’ve used so far.
Adam-
Ethics wouldn’t matter. The resources would be limited, period. No way to control. The first crew would know this and act accordingly. We’re talking severely limited.
Hey Paul,
You might want to check out The Shadow in the Cathedral, a new commercial Interactive Fiction game by my company, Textfyre. It has a lot of Steampunk elements and follows the historical angle. The central theme is clockwork, hence the series name Klockwerk.
David Cornelson
Textfyre.Com
I think you are dead on. For my first year as a steampunk I actually thought steampunk was the Victorian aesthetic carried into the present because the keyboard mod was my touchstone. I was so excited I didn’t research the history of steampunk. Only recently did I find out it is suppose to be set in the past.
The ship concept is perfect. Like the Nautilus, only without the baggage. Also works as example of our planet. We are already on a generational ship. It’s just really big and well stocked.
I thought of a story line using the tired time machine to travel through space using both gravity and time as controls. But I’m no writer. I just craved such a story. I hope this idea gels further for you.