It is Steampunk week on the @afrophantoms twitter account. To celebrate I am diving full force into this mysterious genre and subculture.
In all of my studies and journeys into the world of mythology and fantasy, the steampunk genre has always been elusive to me. I was first introduced to the this literary genre as a teenager. I read this phantasmal book called Snow. The book centers around the London underworld of animal like humanoids who were the result of science and sorcery gone wrong. Unbeknownst to me, literature is just one aspect of this popular subculture.
Steampunk is characterized by gears and steam powered machines usually in a Victorian London like setting. Modern day examples world be Penny Dreadful and the Sherlock Holmes remakes. It is not limited to this one setting, however. Steampunk has even found its home in the American West, i.e The Wild Wild West movie starring Will Smith. Meanwhile, The Legend of Korra has a magnificent way of combining Asian culture with the steampunk atmosphere.
To understand this mysterious genre we must go back to the late 19th century. Writers like Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, and H.G. Wells are seen as steampunk pioneers. Their works fall under an archaic term called scientific romances which would eventually evolve into science fiction.
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