Dieselpunk is aretrofuturisticsubgenre ofscience fiction similar tosteampunk orcyberpunk that combines theaesthetics of thediesel-based technology of theinterwar period through to the 1950s withretro-futuristic technology[1][2] andpostmodern sensibilities.[3] Coined in 2001 by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe histabletop role-playing gameChildren of the Sun,[2] the term has since been applied to a variety of visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering.[4]
The name "dieselpunk" is a derivative of the science fiction subgenrecyberpunk,[5] and represents the time period fromWorld War I until the 1950s, whendiesel-based locomotion was the main technological focus of Western culture.[6] The"-punk" suffix attached to the name is representative of thecounterculture nature of the genre with regard to its opposition to contemporary aesthetics.[3] The term also refers to the tongue-in-cheek[7] name given to a similar cyberpunk derivative, "steampunk", which focuses on science fiction based on industrial steam power and which is often set within theVictorian era.[8]
AuthorScott Westerfeld addresses the question of where to draw the line between steampunk and dieselpunk, arguing that his novelLeviathan (2009) qualifies as steampunk despite the fact that the technology it depicts includesdiesel engines:
I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'WeirdWorld War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me,World War I is the dividing point wheremodernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point,war is no longer about a sense ofadventure andchivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. So playing around with that border between optimistic steampunk and a much more pessimistic dieselpunk, which is more aboutNazis, was kind of interesting to me because early in the war we were definitely kind of on the steampunk side of that.[9]
Jennifer McStotts, another author, considers the two genres to be close cousins. She defines steampunk as concerned with theVictorian era, and the shift in technology and energy generation that came withindustrialization, and dieselpunk as combining the aesthetic and genre influences of the period of bothworld wars.[10]
Science fictioneditor andcriticGary K. Wolfe defines steampunk as primarily set in the Victorian era and dieselpunk as set in theinterwar period.[11]
Iolanda Ramos, an assistant professor ofEnglish andTranslation studies atNOVA University Lisbon, argues,
Dieselpunk draws not on the hiss of steam nor on the Victorian and Edwardian aesthetics and cosplay but on the grease of fuel-powered machinery and the Art Deco movement, marrying rectilinear lines to aerodynamic shapes and questioning the impact of technology on the human psyche.
In addition, Ramos gives "noir ambience" as an element of dieselpunk.[12]
Dieselpunk draws its inspiration from the diesel era and a characteristic referred to by dieselpunks as "decodence".[1] According to the online magazineNever Was, decodence (aportmanteau of "[Art] Deco" and "decadence"), "embraces the styles and technologies of the era; it rejoices in a prolongedJazz Age ambience characterized by great enthusiasm and hopes about the future."[13]
The term "diesel era" is a period of time that coincides with theinterwar period, that is 1918-1939. The interwar era is central to one school of dieselpunk often labeled "Ottensian". In addition to the interwar period, World War II also plays a major role in dieselpunk, especially in the school of the genre referred to as "Piecraftian". (See§ Common themes below.) The exact ending of the diesel era is in some dispute in the dieselpunk community. Depending on the source it ends either at the conclusion of World War II or continues until the early part of the 1950s with the advent of such cultural icons as theGolden Age of Television and the replacement ofBig Band andSwing music withRock and Roll in popularity.[citation needed]
Although the term "dieselpunk" was not coined until 2001, a large body ofart significant to the development of the genre was produced before that. Artwork (includingvisual arts,music,literature, andarchitecture) created in the dieselpunk style are heavily influenced by elements of the art movements most prevalent in Western culture during the diesel era such as:
According to Tome Wilson, creator of the now-defunct websiteDieselpunks, the term was retroactively applied to an already existing trend in literature. An alternative term was "low-brow pop surrealism". Writers of this trend blended traditional tropes and genres, such asPulp Adventure,Film noir, andWeird Horror, with a contemporaryaesthetic.[14] In his words: "They were creating a future fueled by the spirit of theJazz Age." In their works, the reader could seeSam Spade in the era ofsmartphones andJohn Dillinger use ahovercar as hisgetaway vehicle. They were writingcyberpunk stories about the era ofThe Great Gatsby (1925).[14]
In discussing punk genres, Ted Stoltz defines dieselpunk as the quasifuture from theArt Deco era. He argues that cyberpunk, steampunk,clockpunk,atompunk, andbiopunk are all defined by their connection to their respective technological element. He found this does not apply to other related genres such aselfpunk, mythpunk, andsplatterpunk where technology plays a minor role.[15]
Alternative history and World War II feature prominently in dieselpunk literature.Len Deighton'sSS-GB,Philip K. Dick'sThe Man in the High Castle,Alan Glenn'sAmerikan Eagle,Robert Harris'sFatherland,Philip Roth'sThe Plot Against America,Guy Saville'sThe Afrika Reich,Harry Turtledove'sThe War That Came Early series andThe Man with the Iron Heart, andJo Walton'sFarthing are considered dieselpunk by some.[16]
Other examples of dieselpunk novels are Hugh Ashton'sRed Wheels Turning,[17]David Bishop'sFiends of the Eastern Front,Anders Blixt'sThe Ice War,[18] Kevin Cooney'sTales of the First Occult War,Larry Correia'sHard Magic: Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles,Richard Kadrey'sThe Grand Dark,[19] J.W. Szczepaniak'sBeyond Aukfontein,[20] and Arlo Z. Grave'sBlack Rose andThe Ice Moves for No One, Book 1 of the Duskingr Saga.[21][22]
A feature that was first identified by the online magazineThe Flying Fortress is that dieselpunk can be divided into two primary themes or styles: Ottensian and Piecraftian.[23] The dividing line between the two themes is commonly acknowledged as the start of World War II.[24]
One theme, named "Piecraftian" after its proponent author "Piecraft", focuses on the aesthetics of the world wars and speculates on how humanculture could theoretically cease to evolve due to constant, widespread warfare.[2][23] According to Ottens and Piecraft, this theme continues the aesthetics of the diesel era into later periods of history by describing a world where survival (largely based on a reliance on diesel power) is placed above aesthetical evolution (as seen in such dystopian movies asMad Max[25]).
A second theme, named "Ottensian" after its proponent author Nick Ottens,[13] focuses on a setting where the decadent aesthetics andutopianphilosophies of the AmericanRoaring Twenties continued to evolve unhindered by war or economic collapse. Ottensian dieselpunk fiction is primarily concerned with a positive vision of technology, where the utopian ideals predicted by the World's Fairs of the times came to light.[26][27] As a result Ottensian dieselpunk incorporates "an enthusiasm for the predictions about the future",[28] and often shares elements withretro-futurism.[29]
Dieselpunk features prominently in the gaming industry, in both tabletoprole-playing games and computer and consolevideo games.[citation needed] World War II is a popular theme in dieselpunk games. One of the more prominent of these was Activision'sReturn to Castle Wolfenstein,[30] as well as the sequel to the 2009 gameWolfenstein,Wolfenstein: The New Order, which takes place in an alternate 1960s Europe where the Nazis have won World War II. Other dieselpunk games includeCommand & Conquer: Red Alert (1996),[30]Crimson Skies (1998 board game, 2000 video game),Iron Storm (2002),[31]You Are Empty (2006),[32]Scythe (2016),Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (2008),[16]Sine Mora (2012),[33]Iron Harvest (2020),[34]HighFleet (2021),BioShock (2007),BioShock 2 (2010),Frostpunk 2 (2024), andDeadlock (TBA). TheBenoît Sokal-created gamesAmerzone,Syberia, andParadise all use the dieselpunk aesthetic and machines.
With regard to moving pictures, dieselpunk combines the tropes, character archetypes, and settings of diesel-era fiction genres such as Serial Adventure, Noir,[35] Pulp, and War with postmodern storytelling techniques and cinematography. Inspirations for dieselpunk cinema includeMetropolis (1927)[27] andThings To Come (1936), thanks to their period visions ofutopian culture and technology.[1] Even the popular filmStar Wars (1977) has been noted as having strong dieselpunk influences, as it drew heavily on pulp andWorld War II iconography but mixed them with futuristic settings.[36] Some even argued that thesteampunk country named Steamland, led by an odd industrialist named Alva Gunderson voiced byRichard Ayoade, in the Americanfantasyanimated sitcom,Disenchantment, created byMatt Groening forNetflix, was "dieselpunk inspired".[37]
Some commonly referenced examples of dieselpunk cinema and television include:
According to an article titled "Dieselpunk: Love Affair with a Machine", published in the online magazineDark Roasted Blend, dieselpunkart "takes an interest in various bizarre machines, full of esoteric levers, cracked-glass meters – all visually intense and pretty sinister-looking, when photographed."[58] The article references Japanese artistShunya Yamashita's having created one of the definitive examples of dieselpunk art with his workI Can't Explain.[59] The article also references Kow Yokoyama as a dieselpunk artist with his figurine series titledMaschinen Krieger.[60]
Other prominent artists in the dieselpunk movement include: Alexey Lipatov, Stefan Prohaczka,[61] ixlrlxi,[62][63] Keith Thompson,[64] Rob Schwager,[65] and Sam Van Olffen.[66][67][68]
A person defined as a dieselpunk draws inspiration and entertainment from the aesthetics of the diesel era to achieve independence from contemporary aesthetics by blending the literature, artwork,fashion, grooming styles, modes of personal transportation, music, and technology of the diesel era with contemporary sensibilities.[69] The "punk" in "dieselpunk" can be interpreted as a rejection of contemporary society[70] and contemporary styles.[citation needed] Part of dieselpunk's postmodern nature can be seen in the important role that theInternet as a tool of international communication plays in its development. In addition to two prominent dieselpunkonline communities,Dieselpunks andNever Was Lounge, there are a number of online magazines dedicated to the genre, includingDieselpunk Encyclopedia,Dizelpanki,The Flying Fortress,Never Was andVintage Future, and several blogs which are simply titled "Dieselpunk". While there are many websites dedicated to the history of the diesel era, a growing number of sites are dedicated to topics that tie directly into dieselpunk. One such website of note isRetroTimes Production,[71] which is an independent film production company dedicated to creating documentaries about "retro living, retro design, and retro style". A few sites are springing up that have a retro pulp feel as well, includingCaptain Spectre and The Lightning Legion,[72][73] which is an online comic written and drawn in the classic serialpulp fiction style of the diesel era, andThrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual, an interactiveChoose Your Own Adventure-style pulp serial. In 2012, World Brews, a craft beer manufacturer inNovato, California, began producing "Dieselpunk Brew", a beer line (IPA, Porter and Stout) inspired and influenced by the subculture of dieselpunk, and displaying art deco-inspired dieselpunk designs on the labels.[74]
Dieselpunk fashion blends the styles commonly found during the diesel era with contemporary styles to create a fusion of both. The "punk" nature of the subculture comes from expressing a more complete presence in public akin to the fashion styles popular during the diesel era such as waistcoats, covered arms, hosiery, styles of shoes, and headwear. Dieselpunk emphasizes the inclusion of such accoutrements to render one's look "complete", in defiance of modern custom.[citation needed]
Dieselpunk music,[1] which has roots in theneo-swing revival,[75] combines elements of blues, jazz, ragtime, cabaret, swing, and bluegrass commonly found during the diesel era with contemporary instrumentation, production, and composition.[76] Some commonly referenced examples of dieselpunk bands are:Big Bad Voodoo Daddy,[77]Cherry Poppin' Daddies (who released a song and music video entitled "Diesel PunX" in 2019),[78]Royal Crown Revue,[79][80]Squirrel Nut Zippers,[81]The Brian Setzer Orchestra,Indigo Swing, Wolfgang Parker,[75] The End Times Spasm Band,RPM Orchestra,Big Rude Jake, andLee Press-on and the Nails.[82]
There has been growth of a Dieselpunk music referred to aselectro swing, which combines the styles ofSwing music withElectronica. Prominent bands within the Electro-Swing includeCaravan Palace, Good Co, and Tape Five.
Decopunk, also known ascoalpunk, is a recent subset of Dieselpunk, inspired by theArt Deco andStreamline Moderne art styles of the period between the 1920s and 1950s. In an interview[83] at CoyoteCon, steampunk authorSara M. Harvey made the distinctions "... shinier than DieselPunk, more like DecoPunk", and "DieselPunk is a gritty version of Steampunk set in the 1920s–1950s. The big war eras, specifically. DecoPunk is the sleek, shiny very Art Deco version; same time period, but everything is chrome!"
A similar, related pop surrealist art movement, which overlaps with dieselpunk somewhat, isatompunk (sometimes called atomicpunk). Atompunk art relates to the pre-digital period of 1945–1965, including mid-centuryModernism, theAtomic Age,Jet Age andSpace Age,Communism andparanoia in the United States, along withSoviet styling,underground cinema,Googie architecture, theSputnik,Mercury and other earlyspace programs, earlyCold Warespionage,superhero fiction and the rise of the US military/industrial powers.[84][85]
It's already pretty clear that Lucas was drawing from the dieselpunk styling of WWII ...
While set in a "real" New York City, the history is obviously changed.The Wizard of Oz (1939) andWuthering Heights (1939) references put the year at 1939. Despite being 1939, there is no sign of Germany preparing for war. There is also no sign that America is in the grips of an economic depression. All-in-all, not only is the technology "fantasized", but the entire history is idealized as well.
Hot was an unexpected hit that placed the Zippers at the head of a retro-swing revival that they didn't understand, much less belong to. For one thing, they didn't really play Swing Music,per se. They played 'Hot Music,' a perpetually evolving, hybrid-stew of Southern roots traditions that one critic aptly tagged, '30s punk.'
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