Is Steampunk Just Goth with Gears?

“Steampunk is what happens when goths discover brown.” This quote, attributed to the writer Jess Nevins, has been floating around the internet for some time now. However, I find the quote to be misleading and a rather reductive view of both subcultures. First of all, I am a goth. I have discovered steampunk and the color brown, and still find black to be a vastly superior color for expressing the darkness of my soul. But more importantly, these subcultures are about so much more than just the colors they wear.

Goths and steampunks have strikingly different aesthetics. While some branches of the gothic subculture share steampunk’s interest in Victorian clothing, the two groups approach their style from different directions. Goth is about embracing the taboo and seeing beauty in darkness. For this reason, goths are especially fascinated by Victorian mourning fashion popularized by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband. Other styles of goth involve elements of fetish and punk fashion as well as images associated with death or the occult. Steampunk, on the other hand, is characterized by its focus on creativity and its DIY mentality. Steampunk fashion often involves a mix of American Western and Victorian-inspired clothing accompanied by elements of machinery or other technology. Steampunk embraces the spirit of the Industrial Revolution and celebrates the potential of human intellect. Thus, steampunks are especially fond of creating things with their own hands, often making elements of their outfits themselves.

Apart from fashion, another recognizable aspect of both the goth and steampunk scene is their music. The goth subculture can be said to have grown directly out of its music, as the word first began to be used to describe performers of—and later the fans of—gothic rock. Gothic rock is a clearly definable genre of music that arose out of post-punk in the late 1970s and early ’80s and included bands such as Bauhaus, The Cure, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Though other music genres have come to be associated with the goth subculture—including industrial, EBM, and even gothic metal—its origin specifically in the gothic rock scene is still essential to the definition of goth. The steampunk music scene, however, is a bit more nebulous, perhaps due to the fact that the music seems to have grown out of the existing subculture rather than the other way around. While there are many bands that embrace the steampunk aesthetic and even work steampunk-related lyrics into their songs, there isn’t really one unified genre of music identifiable as “steampunk.” If you attend any steampunk event, you’ll likely hear music that ranges from folk rock to dark cabaret to synth-pop. So, though music holds a central place in both scenes, what that music sounds like and the relationship between the music and the subculture is quite different.

I identify primarily as a goth and less as a steampunk. Despite this, I frequently enjoy participating in steampunk events and engaging with steampunk communities. Why is that? I find that although many of my personal aesthetics differ from those generally embraced by steampunk, goth and steampunk have a lot of common ground. One of my favorite things about both scenes is that they tend to be especially intellectual communities. Goths and steampunks are generally well read and often highly educated (whether formally or self-taught). I attribute this shared trait mainly to the fact that both subcultures draw significant inspiration from literature.

I’ve already written an extensive post that delves into the similarities and differences between Gothic and steampunk literature. In summary, though, both subcultures take inspiration from the literature of the Victorian era. Goth borrows its name and much of its aesthetic from the Gothic literary movement. Though this movement originated well before Queen Victoria’s ascent to the throne, its most celebrated works, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and of course the various works of Edgar Allen Poe, were all published during the mid- to late nineteenth century. The goth subculture today can’t really be said to have a unified literary scene, although many goths read the classics of their namesake genre, as well as contemporary fiction in genres that have their roots in the Gothic such as horror and paranormal fantasy.

Steampunk looks back to a different area of Victorian literature—nineteenth-century science fiction. Authors such as H.G. Wells and Jules Verne are considered to be the forefathers of steampunk literature. While science fiction and the Gothic tend to be quite different in their aims and focus—most noticeably, Gothic is very backwards-looking, reveling in the awe and mystery of simpler times in centuries past, while science fiction tends to be forward-looking, imagining the wondrous possibilities of the future—there are a number of works that bridge these two genres and are beloved by both subcultures. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a pre-Victorian novel traditionally labeled as Gothic fiction but also generally considered to be an early example of sci-fi. A much later writer, H. P. Lovecraft, has become a favorite of steampunks and goths alike for his clever blending of the horrific and the scientific.

Today steampunk culture continues to grow through its literature. Steampunk-inspired fantasy and science fiction has exploded as a genre in the last decade, with works by authors such as Gail Carriger, Cherie Priest, and Robyn Bennis. I’ve even reviewed a few steampunk novels on this site, as I consider it to be somewhat of a sister genre to the neo-Gothic. Though steampunk as a literary genre is relatively young (if we count it as something separate from its Victorian forerunners), it’s clear that these books are gaining momentum.

Overall, I find myself drawn to steampunk as a goth because the two subcultures share many overlaps in intellectual interests. Both groups celebrate a literary heritage arising from the Victorian era. Both groups embrace a love of literature as a defining characteristic of their culture. And best of all, both groups continue to have a thriving literary scene where readers and authors can come together and contribute to an ongoing conversation about what the subculture is and what it means. Whether your neutral of choice is black or brown, a love of books transcends subcultural boundaries.

What do you think of the steampunk scene and its literature? Do you see any other similarities to goth? Let me know what you think in the comments!