What Is Dieselpunk?

What is Dieselpunk? Ask a hundred dieselpunkers and you’ll probably get a hundred answers. I’m a newbie to the genre and in searching the ‘net for answers and reading the literature that is available I found the technical answers somewhat similar, but the literary execution to be anything but. That is perhaps due to the dieselpunk genre being rather new and as yet mostly unformed, in contradistinction to the much more established steampunk.

So what is Dieselpunk? I see the genre as being an attempt to recreate the Zeitgeist of the era spanning from the end of World War I to the end of World War II (and perhaps extending into the ‘50s). This recreation can be either in the time period itself or in a more contemporary era which is heavily influenced by the Zeitgeist and aesthetic of the diesel era. The recreation of the Zeitgeist is accomplished by a revival of the future vision of the people of the diesel era through their science fiction and especially non-fiction visionary writings as found in magazines such as Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Popular Aviation.

In short we could say dieselpunk is the future vision of the people who lived in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s made into reality via fiction.

That vision I see as one which was extremely positive and optimistic regarding what humanity could accomplish. In an era weighed down by a massive depression and an era which struggled to maintain peace, there was incredible hope and optimism. Science would indeed make our lives better and the world a better place in which to live. I find that attitude so very encouraging.

Do you have any thoughts on the Diesel Era and the Dieselpunk genre? Let me know.

[Originally published on www.cwhawes.com, 16 December 2014.]