Steampunk is a progressive literary genre that evokes, imitates, and re-imagines the nineteenth century and favors the Industrial Revolution ideals of science and technology. In a historical framework, it mixes nineteenth-century conventions and retrofuturistic machinery with science fiction and fantasy elements. Steampunk authors are able to radically redefine socio-cultural implications that affect both past and contemporary societies. The following study explores the multitude of characteristics that define Steampunk literature as an interdisciplinary study. Chapter 1 explores the definitions and literary genres that construct Steampunk and includes a brief literary history of Steampunk works. Chapter 2 focuses on Cherie Priest’s novel Boneshaker (2009), which depicts self-sufficient females battling hardships in America’s last frontier. Chapter 3 looks at how Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series (2010-2013) illustrates female identity as a performance in an age of technological progression and cultural revolutions. The female characters in Priest’s and Clare’s novels resist hegemonic conventions and create an alternative vision of nineteenth-century women.
","abstract_html":"<p>Steampunk is a progressive literary genre that evokes, imitates, and re-imagines the nineteenth century and favors the Industrial Revolution ideals of science and technology. In a historical framework, it mixes nineteenth-century conventions and retrofuturistic machinery with science fiction and fantasy elements. Steampunk authors are able to radically redefine socio-cultural implications that affect both past and contemporary societies. The following study explores the multitude of characteristics that define Steampunk literature as an interdisciplinary study. Chapter 1 explores the definitions and literary genres that construct Steampunk and includes a brief literary history of Steampunk works. Chapter 2 focuses on Cherie Priest’s novel Boneshaker (2009), which depicts self-sufficient females battling hardships in America’s last frontier. Chapter 3 looks at how Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series (2010-2013) illustrates female identity as a performance in an age of technological progression and cultural revolutions. The female characters in Priest’s and Clare’s novels resist hegemonic conventions and create an alternative vision of nineteenth-century women.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bergman, Cassie N."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Deborah Logan (Director), Kelly Reames, Jane Fife"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z","subjects":["Victorian Literature","British Literature","American Literature","Nineteenth Century","New Woman","Science Fiction","Fantasy","Neo-victorian","Steampunk Fiction-American","English Language and Literature","Literature in English, British Isles","Literature in English, North America"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1266","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Deborah Logan (Director), Kelly Reames, Jane Fife"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bergman, Cassie N."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Victorian Literature","British Literature","American Literature","Nineteenth Century","New Woman","Science Fiction","Fantasy","Neo-victorian","Steampunk Fiction-American","English Language and Literature","Literature in English, British Isles","Literature in English, North America"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1266"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Steampunk is a progressive literary genre that evokes, imitates, and re-imagines the nineteenth century and favors the Industrial Revolution ideals of science and technology. In a historical framework, it mixes nineteenth-century conventions and retrofuturistic machinery with science fiction and fantasy elements. Steampunk authors are able to radically redefine socio-cultural implications that affect both past and contemporary societies. The following study explores the multitude of characteristics that define Steampunk literature as an interdisciplinary study. Chapter 1 explores the definitions and literary genres that construct Steampunk and includes a brief literary history of Steampunk works. Chapter 2 focuses on Cherie Priest’s novel Boneshaker (2009), which depicts self-sufficient females battling hardships in America’s last frontier. Chapter 3 looks at how Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series (2010-2013) illustrates female identity as a performance in an age of technological progression and cultural revolutions. The female characters in Priest’s and Clare’s novels resist hegemonic conventions and create an alternative vision of nineteenth-century women.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Clockwork Heroines: Female Characters in Steampunk Literature"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Deborah Logan (Director), Kelly Reames, Jane Fife"],"dc:creator":["Bergman, Cassie N."],"dc:description.abstract":["Steampunk is a progressive literary genre that evokes, imitates, and re-imagines the nineteenth century and favors the Industrial Revolution ideals of science and technology. In a historical framework, it mixes nineteenth-century conventions and retrofuturistic machinery with science fiction and fantasy elements. Steampunk authors are able to radically redefine socio-cultural implications that affect both past and contemporary societies. The following study explores the multitude of characteristics that define Steampunk literature as an interdisciplinary study. Chapter 1 explores the definitions and literary genres that construct Steampunk and includes a brief literary history of Steampunk works. Chapter 2 focuses on Cherie Priest’s novel Boneshaker (2009), which depicts self-sufficient females battling hardships in America’s last frontier. Chapter 3 looks at how Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series (2010-2013) illustrates female identity as a performance in an age of technological progression and cultural revolutions. The female characters in Priest’s and Clare’s novels resist hegemonic conventions and create an alternative vision of nineteenth-century women.
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