Has steampunk lost its edge? What began as a kind of protest against the constraints and conventions of Victorian and Golden Age science fiction has evolved into a wide-ranging category that's difficult to define. Is it a discrete literary genre? Is it an ideology? Is it a counterculture movement? Or is it simply an aesthetic or style?

In this video, I discuss the origins of steampunk and how it has morphed and adapted throughout its history.

1:11 What Is Steampunk?
3:21 Steampunk as a Protest Movement
7:45 Cautionary SF Becomes the Exception
10:35 Early Steampunk Rebels
12:20 Mervyn Peake
13:24 Keith Laumer
14:46 Keith Roberts
17:24 Ronald Clark
19:06 Jack Finney
20:06 Michael Moorcock
26:07 Japan's Steampunk Tradition
28:40 Cyberpunk Influences
31:48 Has Steampunk Lost Its Edge?
34:12 Or Is Steampunk Inherently Transgressive?

Links to some of my other videos about SFF history:
A History of Gnome Press - https://youtu.be/_HlKhLG3ZxE
A History of Arkham House - https://youtu.be/5k_iug7rWmE
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - https://youtu.be/Yqr1wsiYhQw
A Tribute to Lord Dunsany - https://youtu.be/AJKfoLUN47M
A History of Science Fiction Anthologies - https://youtu.be/3VNt6N9m-_4

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Art Credits:
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