MannerPunk: A Fantasy genre for the 21st Century?
The niche of MannerPunk is relatively new by literary standards, but if you are familiar with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, or any of the thirty-one Carry On films produced by Peter Rogers, then you’re not too far off from discovering an entire genre that follows in their tradition.
All of those aforementioned pieces of media firmly rest in the Comedy of Manners genre. Typically, we would see the characters that inhabit these worlds being buffeted against the stringent social structures - say, in Regency England - that constrain them. Often to comedic effect. A Fantasy of Manners, then, promises all the wit, charm, and satire that we see in a Comedy of Manners, but with a fantastical twist.
Where a High Fantasy may pit two seven-foot warriors against each other, in a Fantasy of Manners, a coggery old magician may turn his neighbour’s sugar into salt for daring to trim his side of the hedge. And here is the chief difference between a High Fantasy and a Fantasy of Manners. Where the threats in a High Fantasy are existential, in a Fantasy of Manners, they generally come from within society, or is the society itself that prevents characters from fulfilling their desires. Often, the world employs a “soft magic” system; meaning the practicalities of magic are nebulous, as the story relies on the mystical nature of magic to embellish the absurdities of the unspoken rules that society places on their characters.
Whilst the term “Fantasy of Manners” was first used in print by the science-fiction critic, Donald G. Keller; we can attribute its genesis to the fantasy author, Ellen Kushner, and her novel Swordspoint (1987) that won praise for questioning the fantasy standards of the day. In his article, Keller described the sensibilities of the works of Kushner and her American contemporaries, who’s works hold in high regard the ability of words to disarm opponents as effectively as wands.
And so, MannerPunk was born.
For my part, my introduction to MannerPunk came in the form of the BBC’s television adaptation of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2015). Perhaps this will be telling of my age, but for a long time I had been looking for a fantasy that would fill the Harry Potter shaped hole in my heart. What I found, however, was something entirely new. But that’s a story for another day.
For the seasoned fantasy lover, this all may be sounding quite familiar. Indeed, a friend of mine laughed that “you’ve just stolen Steampunk.” And perhaps we have. There are certainly elements that cross-over, especially for stories set in the Regency and Victorian eras. Although, here is another integral difference: a Fantasy of Manners is equal parts a reality. For one to work, there must be the appearance of truth that passes as recognisable to us. Therefore, there are seldom chosen ones, unwieldy beasts, and dark lords. Instead, protagonists are given “petty evils” to conquer, as Ellen Kushner would put it. This is not to say they cannot exist. The Fantasy of Manners is just as versatile as any genre, and the possibilities it presents for a new generation of stories are multitudinous.
The virtues of MannerPunk are what differentiate it from that of High or Urban Fantasy. There is no escapism in MannerPunk. Rather, we are forced to confront a world, not unlike our own, that is unjust in the burdens it places on its inhabitants. It allows us to name the constructs that only serve the interests of those who care not for our own, and see them as folly. It reminds us that our greatest weapons are our words; and our greatest weakness, our silence. It dares you to question why the world is the way it is, and not resile that it is simply the way of the world.