Steampunk is a sub-genre of
fantasy and
speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where
steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often
Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either
science fiction or
fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of
H. G. Wells and
Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain
alternate history-style presentations of \"the path not taken\" of such technology as
dirigibles,
analog computers, or
digital mechanical computers (such as
Charles Babbage's
Analytical Engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with
cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously
dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.
Various modern utilitarian objects have been
modded by individual
artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical \"steampunk\" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.