Imagine a fantasy world derived from the Roaring Twenties to the end of World War 2, one where film noir, jazz, and art deco creations dominate vast landscapes filled with a myriad of technologies powered by oil. Such a world is characteristic of dieselpunk, a retrofuturistic fantasy subgenre that draws inspiration for its setting from the time period of 1919 – 1950. Dieselpunk has four key traits: a sense of retrofuturism, key aesthetics, an oil–driven setting, and the punk element. We, as writers of modern times, are looking back (retro) on the time period of 1919 – 1950 and deriving speculative stories (futurism) from it. The punk element refers to a sense of rebellion or resistance against social norms or ideals. And, like its sister subgenre steampunk, dieselpunk has certain aesthetics and settings associated with it.
History and classics
The name dieselpunk was coined in 2001 by Lewis Pollak as a means of describing his RPG Children of the Sun. Since then, the name dieselpunk has been expanded into art, literature, music, video games, and many other forms of media. And yet, dieselpunk remains a relatively rare subgenre compared to its much more influential sisters: steampunk and cyberpunk. However, there are certain works that could be considered dieselpunk classics. Children of the Sun is the work that began the dieselpunk subgenre and deserves a place as a dieselpunk classic. Similarly, the video game Final Fantasy 7 by Squaresoft (later Square Enix) could also be considered dieselpunk (at least the first bit of the game). Final Fantasy 7 features an oppressive society where the mega–corporation Shinra is the dominating force, using Mako Energy (a liquid forged from life force and is analogous to oil) to provide the world's power, although the eco–terrorist group AVALANCHE fights against this status quo (the punk element). Although often treated as a steampunk book, Scott Westerfeld's novel Leviathan could also be considered dieselpunk as the technologies featured in the book (an alternate history World War 1 following two protagonists) includes diesel engines.
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Setting
Vastness is the key to a dieselpunk setting. Imagine titanic cities filled with simplistic yet majestic architecture, a labyrinth of roads, and all manner of fantastic technologies powered by oil. The 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s were a time of immense technological change. You have vast airships like the Hindenburg, powerful battleships like the Iowa, and marvellous tanks like the Tiger 1. The more incredible the technologies are, the better. The only restriction is that the technologies should plausibly exist in an oil–driven setting, (so something like a Dyson Sphere would NOT fit but diesel trains, battleships, airships, etc., do). The aesthetics of dieselpunk are very art deco. A sense of both simplicity and majesty is what one should aim for in a dieselpunk setting. The gears, clockwork, and steam engines of steampunk are replaced by the shine of chrome, art deco designs, and powerful diesel engines in dieselpunk. Music is primarily based on the Blues and Jazz. Film noir (black and white films) is also very popular in dieselpunk settings. For fashion, trench coats, vests, and bowler hats are still popular for men but the top hat has been replaced by the trendy new fedora. Women's fashion is more varied. During the 1920s, Women's Rights movements reduced gender differences and women dressed more like men (for instance, they wore shirts, pants, and masculine hats). By the late 1930s and the 1940s however, war, nationalism, and the threat of totalitarian regimes have enhanced gender roles and women dressed in more feminine attires with blouses, skirts, and short coats (although simpler than in Victorian/Edwardian times). As long as your fashion is derived from the 1920s to 1940s, you cannot go wrong.
