Is There Diffrent Genre In The Steanmpunk Community?

[Jumjum]

I wonder if somebody has put labels on the different styles in Steampunk?

I have seen clothing from from British Victorian Era with some brass jewelry,
clothing inspired from Japanese Manga cartoons,
Brass Cyborgs,
Post Apocalyptic style(before WWI),
Gothic inspired,
Future Style
And MANNY MoRE!

Every body can see its steampunk,but do you set yourself up your categories, or do you "real" steampunkers call your self just for steampunkers??

[TimeTinker]

For many of us we simply use "steampunk" as a signpost that allows us to meet others who share our interests.  We do not feel a need to define boundaries etc and therefore do not create names for these divisions.

Personally I prefer to keep it free form since this helps with letting imaginations run free.

[rod-on]

Yes, keep your tags and labels to yourself.  There are no "real" steampunkers and no one is more steampunk than someone else.  Some may have access to more resources than others but that doesn't define their steampunk. 

Steampunk is all embracing (just don't glue a cog on it and call it steampunk) and should be left that way.

[Dr Fidelius]

Shun the Splitter!!!!!

[The Corsair]

I'm a tad tired of these sorts of questions. It's typical that one can pose a 'yes/no' question and will receive all manner of answers as long as essays...

So, in answer to your question:
No.

[Aleister Crow]

Please don't try to put labels on me. They're sticky and they itch. 

[OswaldBastable]

Some people love to obsessively label and pigeon hole everything "oh that's not a rock band; they are a thrash/grunge/punk/metal/jazz crossover band" I think most steampunks are probably too busy enjoying themselves to bother with such things to be honest. The only other  'label' as such I take any notice of is Dieselpunk and even then theres a lot of merging at the edges with Steampunk. No doubt there are some people who love to infinitesimally hair split and create more and more obscure sub category's but i don't think anyone actually takes any notice of it. to be honest my general reaction to such things is to roll my eyes  and carry on regardless 

[Professor J. Cogsworthy]

I think the differences are based more what you want to get out of it. You tend to seek out those
that want the same and once you reach 'critical mass' you magically change from 'a bunch
of people' into a 'group' and you start to see a name applied to that new group so that you
can file it away easily mentally or....



the same as anything else that has a name.

a soft fluffy cloth used to dry yourself off when you are wet = towel.



I like the creative art aspect and the making of things. I'm not all that interested in the
Steampunk 'nightlife'.

I probably will go the route of historically accurate clothing with some Steampunk elements
added 90% of the time. ( so I can use the clothing for other historical interests )

Whatever label gets applied to that matters little to me as long as I am having fun and
getting what I want out of the hobby.

[Brynjolfr]

I know I'm new, but really, you don't want labels? So Steam Punk, Diesel Punk, Steam Western Punk don't really matter, then?  So it's all just punks?  Well Rock the Casbah.

But to attack the poster with "Shun the splitter" (which did not read as tongue in cheek to me) and draw your own line excluding them seems contrary to your point.

Forget it.

[Argus Fairbrass]

Hello Jumjum!

As you can tell this sort of question doesn't always receive a positive response, don't take it too personally. Yes I have encountered various blogs and what have you attempting to categorise SP style, but it always falls down very quickly as the style itself is very much open to individual interpretation. And of course even separate styles that have been vaguely categorised are constantly evolving, crossing over with each other and adding new elements, so the whole thing does rather defy being neatly compartmentalised.

And honestly we kind of like it that way. 

[Jumjum]

okej, its a NO, that is what i thought!

I love all directions of Steampunk and share a love for brass, so a label free zone <3

[James Harrison]

Yeesh; let's not piledrive the new guy who has questions- we were all like that once.... and I daresay some of us started heated debates ourselves in naivety 

Jumjum; welcome to Brassgoggles!  In answer to your question, personally I take the various 'genres' not as being labels or anything like that, nor even a million miles apart from each other.  More akin to varying flavours of the same idea.  I suspect that whichever flavour any individual prefers has its roots in such factors as where they live, their local or national history (the idea of the cowboy is utterly foreign to a Londoner, for example) and, largely, their own opinion on how the past should have been.   

[Dr Fidelius]

Lumpers Unite!!

(Splitter/ Lumpers - it's a taxonomy joke. At least five people on the internet will get it.)

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

Please don't try to put labels on me. They're sticky and they itch. 

Try some white spirit, that should dissolve the glue.

JumJum the reason so many of us are against labels is that it does discriminate against the new guys, why should you have to find a catergory or niche to fit into? basically if you can bring something new and fun to the table, who are we to complain?

[yaghish]

As far as I'm concerned, there is steampunk and steampuke.
And gaslight, for that matter.

But I do experience a different approach to all things steampunk in
1. The other side of the pond, ie the USA and parts of Canada
2. The UK
3. North-Western Europe, including Scandinavia
4. Southern parts of Europe, like Spain and France
5. Russia and related countries
6. Japan
I'm not to sure about Australia though, I do think they fit in with the UK.

A label is supposed to show what it's inside, but with modern steampunk, you're never sure. A "big" label like steampunk might be an "umbrella" that shelters many subgenres/substyles. Yet these subs might have their own definitions and rules.

[Jumjum]

No hard feelings here!
Before I wrote the post, I looked around for answers to my question but found nothing, so if you don´t ask you will never know!
Everyone uses clothing and accessories that they can get locally. So it´s natural there will be many styles worldwide , but the spirit is the same. Here in Sweden it is easy to get hold of interesting inexpensive brass, but when I was on vacation in Turkey, there was allot of brass ... but NOTHING that I thought was beautiful or particularly well done.
The taste is like a butt, split

[OswaldBastable]

I thought it was a good question, nothing like a bit of lively but polite discussion

[Dr. Leise Legierung]

Chocolate, Strawberry, Americone Dream.

It's all ice cream.

[kidkunjer]

As far as I'm concerned, there is steampunk and steampuke.

what on earth is steampuke?

[Semper Victoria]

Mmmm ice cream. Ewwwww steampuke.

A big part of what makes Steampunk fun for me is the profligate and shameless mixing of styles and influences! You can incorporate whatever "subgenre" elements that you care to into your outfit, decor, or what-have-you, without fear of somehow doing it wrong. (All in the realm of good taste, as we've already seen in another thread there are just some pink sparkly fuzzy phones that are not and never will be Steampunk  .)

As you've seen there are MANY permutations of steamy interests represented here, and it is a huge plus to the Steampunk community when it has such open-minded members that welcome whatever geeky, nerdy, unusual, or unexpected things that you happen to love and express. (And I say geeky and nerdy fondly as a proud self-proclaimed geek and nerd!)  I'm not sure there even IS a label that would perfectly encapsulate any of us and our personal brand of Steampunk. (Unless there's a genre for Darksteam/Victorian/vintage-obsessed/music-nerd/deconstructivist/Steampunk-pianist  )

[pakled]

I thought the 'splitters' remark was a shout out to Monty Python and the Life of Brian...

[The Corsair]

Given that my local community hasn't even got to the stage of 'all these things are Steampunk' I think they're far from being at risk of going 'this is XX, which is a kind of Steampunk'

(Seriously, I dress in early 20th century period fashion and they don't consider it Steampunk. Or rather, they don't even think of it as Steampunk and don't realise. They just think I'm dressed formally... You know what? This is getting its own rant thread...)

[yaghish]

what on earth is steampuke?

Anything that's been created to hop on the bandwagon called steampunk, without any second thoughts about aesthetics, and basically no thought at all apart from "it should be steampunk because that is popular nowadays". Includes anything with gears glued/embroided/painted on, and each piece of collected rubbish that has been labelled steampunk (or any other kind of punk, or anything with steam) without proper cleaning/modding/other work been done to it.
And anything else that hurts the eyes (or ears) and has been named steampunk by the "creator".
Sometimes it includes other styles, like "industrial", "victorian" and "gothic", that have been renamed steampunk just to cash in.

[Dr Fidelius]

I thought the 'splitters' remark was a shout out to Monty Python and the Life of Brian...

No. then I would have referred to the World Steampunk Council, the Council of Steampunks of the World, the Steampunk World Council, and the Worldly Council of Steampunkish People. (He's sitting over there.)

[kidkunjer]

Anything that's been created to hop on the bandwagon called steampunk, without any second thoughts about aesthetics, and basically no thought at all apart from "it should be steampunk because that is popular nowadays". Includes anything with gears glued/embroided/painted on, and each piece of collected rubbish that has been labelled steampunk (or any other kind of punk, or anything with steam) without proper cleaning/modding/other work been done to it.
And anything else that hurts the eyes (or ears) and has been named steampunk by the "creator".
Sometimes it includes other styles, like "industrial", "victorian" and "gothic", that have been renamed steampunk just to cash in.

I know exactly what you mean.