Introduction: Going Global, orRe-Engineering Steampunk

FictionDiana M. Pho

Steampunk fiction has traveled a long way. Chronologically,steampunk’s inspiration stems from the classic scientific romancesand dime novels of the 19th century. Manifestations of “proto-steampunk” fiction existed, usually pastiches and re-interpretations of classic Victorian novels. One of the first earlyexamples of modern steampunk was Michael Moorcock’s Nomadof the Time Streams trilogy, written in the 1970s. This type offiction became anointed as “steampunk” in 1987, when K.W.Jeter wrote in his now famous letter to Locus magazine:“Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the nextbig thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collectiveterm…Something based on the appropriate technology of that era;like ‘steampunks,’ perhaps….”

Jeter’s Morlock Night and books from his fellow writers TimPowers (The Anubis Gates) and James Blaylock (Homunculus)

Going Global, or Re-Engineering Steampunk Fiction

are considered the founding texts of the modern steampunk genre.Later books have become game-changers in steampunk fiction,each one marking a new turn in the genre. William Gibson &Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine stamped the “punk” intosteampunk with its subversive, gritty take on how computingtechnology can change the industrial age in the West. CheriePriest’s Clockwork Century series, beginning with Boneshaker,took the science fiction community by storm, introducingsteampunk that isn’t limited to Victorian England andhighlighting how people across race, class, gender, and sexualityalso had stories in history worthy of being told. The fictionanthologies by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer gathered both classicand modern takes on steampunk together, and their latest volumedares to ask whether steampunk fiction can become arevolutionary act. Now in your hands you hold another book thatseeks to impact steampunk fiction by asking: “Where doessteampunk happen?”

Not in England. Not in the United States. Not anymore.But before the “where” can be further discussed, there have

been many debates on defining steampunk that must beacknowledged. Jess Nevins’s early writings on steampunk pointto its 19th century literature roots in Edisonades, the boy-geniuspulp fiction adventures. Offering another argument, literaturescholar Mike Perschon argues that steampunk is an aestheticbased on “neo-Victorian retrofuturistic technofantasy.” Fellowprofessor Dru Pagliassotti suggests that there is a differencebetween steampunk stories which highlight subversion, rebellion,and marginalized underdog protagonists, and “steampulp” oneswhich contain the 19th century milieu and adventure, minus thepolitics.

Let me propose another idea. Steampunk has been thought of asbeing “undefinable” because of the range of elements it actually

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includes, but I think in some sense, steampunk has becomesynonymous with an emergent idea in today’s fiction—the cross-genre. No more can stories be contained into one category; now,they jump across many. Nothing is simply “steampunk” after all– it is steampunk and alternate history, or mystery, or romance, orhorror, or what-have-you. This idea isn’t coming strictly from anacademic angle – if it was, I’d also mention the role ofpostmodernism and include a whole lot of citations. As apublishing professional, I also think that cross-genre is a trickycatch-all gambit that can make books fly off the shelves likehotcakes or be stuck in the clearance bin because no one knowsexactly how to sell it. But that is also the miracle explanation ofhow cross-genre works, because everyone can find somethingthey like about a book of that kind. Steampunk fiction as a cross-genre explains its rising popularity in pop culture: because it actsas a wide-appealing topical idea that tailors itself to the individualinterests of the steampunk fan. We know that steampunk style canspan all media forms – video games, films, books, music, fashion.The subject can work as a building block for online communitiesand offline maker spaces. It can be as high-minded ashistoriographical discourses on neo-Victorianism or as lowbrowas that trendy new porn site.

By categorizing steampunk as cross-genre, what happens whenwe take one aspect commonly seen in steampunk and cross it outentirely? In this case, how can steampunk stories be told outsideof that western geographical cage?

The answer is straight from a tinker’s DIY manual: by howeverthey work.

The tales that Sarah Hans has selected for Steampunk Worldincorporate steampunk’s biggest thematic idea into non-Westernbackdrops: namely, the impact of industrialization. More than asimple exercise of imagination, then, steampunk fiction from a

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Going Global, or Re-Engineering Steampunk Fiction

global perspective can be a deep exploration of cultural andhistorical issues: encroaching westernization, economic upheaval,shifting gender roles, prejudices concerning race and nationality,the impact of imperialism and war. Plus, as much as steampunkfiction loves dealing with the past (or alternate pasts), SteampunkWorld also contributes to the conversation about the future ofspeculative fiction: how is genre fiction becoming more divergentin a globalizing culture?

This anthology touches upon all of these questions. And it’s afun read to boot!

For example, high adventures unfold through rebellion andexploration. In Nisi Shawl’s “Promised,” an American soldier inthe Congo witnesses something otherworldly while fighting aspart of the African rebellion against Belgian rule. Another warriorconfronts a demon determined to retrieve an object stolen fromhim in Balogun Ojetade’s “The Hand of Sa-Seti.” A transplantedscholar travels from his home in Constantinople to the desert insearch of a lost treasure in “One Thousand and One Pieces” fromLucien Soulban. In “The Leviathan of Trincomalee,” by Lucy A.Snyder, a brave and intelligent young girl goes on a quest withher father to hunt a mysterious ocean beast.

Oftentimes, these tales root for the underdog as they triumphover unlikely odds because of their wit and fighting spirit. MalonEdwards’s “Mary Sundown and the Clockmaker’s Children”recounts a “David versus Goliath” battle between a clockworksprinter and an enemy of titanic proportions in an alternateChicago. An enigmatic inventor falls from the sky and saves aYoruba village in Tade Thompson’s “Budo Or, The FlyingOrchid.” S.J. Chambers’s trapped protagonist in “The ŞehrazatınDiyoraması Tour” has the last laugh and gives a European tourgroup an unexpected surprise. “The Construct Also Dreams ofFlight” from Rochita Loenen-Ruiz is a subtly-told tale about a

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small household in the Philippines and the secrets its inhabitantshold. “The Omai Gods” by Alex Bledsoe squares off a gang offleeing Chinese rebels against the South Pacific Islanders theyattempt to subdue. One young Jewish woman must decidewhether to make her dreams a reality in Lillian Cohen-Moore’s“Hatavat Chalom.” Indrapramit Das’s “The Little Begum”features a pair of sisters living in India, and the plans for freedomthey hatch together.

From these dynamically-changing worlds come the birthingpains of a new era. Old traditions give way and new boundariesare formed that affect even the most mundane of lives. Twomigrant workers cope with changes in their romantic relationshipin Jaymee Goh’s “Hidden Strength.” A government agent’scultural heritage becomes unexpectedly relevant to her latestinvestigation in Pip Ballantine’s “Tangi A Te Ruru /The Cry ofthe Morepork.” Russian noble sisters confront a new world, post-Revolution, in Emily Cataneo’s “The Firebird.” Nayad A.Monroe’s Incan inventor evades political subterfuge in “TheEmperor Everlasting.” Benjanun Sriduangkaew presents a radicalre-telling of “The King and I” from the perspective of a Thaiautomaton builder in “The Governess and We.” Ken Liu’s “GoodHunting” tells the struggles of a demon hunter and a fox spirit ina world that stops believing in them both. Steampunk even takes amythological turn in Jake Lake’s “Shedding Skin; Or How theWorld Came to Be.”

Thus, by writing about universal truths and untold possibilities,Steampunk World recognizes that imaginations don’t exist withinthe walls of our heads, but are part of the complicated meatspaceof our lives. Now prepare to broaden your mind and your heart,and enjoy some of the freshest stories steampunk has to offer!

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