The Fantasy of Manners is a sub-genre of fantasy that draws from the traditions of the Comedy of Manners: a genre that satirizes the manners and etiquette of a society used to enforce social expectations, limitations, and conventions. Popular media that falls into this category includes Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer.

Jane Austen was a master of the Comedy of Manners; wit and irony pervades her work to mock the social conventions of Regency Era England. In fact, it is fair to say she was instrumental in inspiring the Fantasy of Manners, as her works are regarded as foundational texts for the likes of Ellen Kushner, who brought the sub-genre to popular attention with her novel, Swordspoint.

Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner, is a novel that transplants the sensibilities of a Comedy of Manners into a fantasy setting. The antagonists are not Dark Lords or ferocious dragons, but the society itself, that is pit against the protagonist. In the words of Ellen Kushner, it is a story about “petty evils;” a genre-defining piece of mannerpunk fiction - mannerpunk itself being a term coined by Kushner.

MannerPunk Magazine is a publication - supported by The Commonside Press - that explores the sub-genre. Spanning book reviews, articles, essays, music, art, and fiction; MannerPunk Magazine aims to be the hub where any afficianado can deep dive into ideas that populate the tradition, as well as a starting point for anyone looking to get a wholistic view of what the fuss is all about.