Fantasy of manners
The
fantasy of manners is a
subgenre of
fantasy literature. The term was first used in print by
science fiction critic Donald G. Keller in an article,
The Manner of Fantasy, in the April, 1991 issue of
The New York Review of Science Fiction, although author
Ellen Kushner has said that she suggested the term to Keller [
1]. The subgenre, or a close relative to it, has also been called
mannerpunk, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the
cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.
"Fantasy of manners" is fantasy literature that owes as much or more to the
comedy of manners as it does to the traditional heroic fantasy of
J. R. R. Tolkien and other authors of
high fantasy. Author
Teresa Edgerton has stated [
2] that this is not what Keller originally meant by the term, but "the term has since taken on a life of its own". Fantasy of manners generally take place in an urban setting and within the confines of a fairly elaborate, and almost always
hierarchical, social structure. The protagonists are not pitted against fierce monsters or marauding armies, but against their neighbors and peers; the action takes place within a society, rather than being directed against an external foe; duels may be fought, but the chief weapons are wit and intrigue.
Major influences on the subgenre include the social novels of
Jane Austen, the drawing room comedies of
P. G. Wodehouse, and the historical romances of
Georgette Heyer. Many authors also draw from nineteenth century popular novelists such as
Anthony Trollope, the
Brontë sisters, and
Charles Dickens. Traditional
romances of
swashbuckling adventure such as
The Three Musketeers by
Alexandre Dumas,
The Scarlet Pimpernel by
Baroness Orczy, or the works of
Rafael Sabatini may also be influences. The
Graustarkian romances typified by
The Prisoner of Zenda by
Anthony Hope, or
George Barr McCutcheon's
Graustark itself, are also of some consequence as literary precedents, as are the historical novels of
Dorothy Dunnett.
A typical fantasy of manners tale will involve a romantic adventure that turns on some point of social punctilio or intrigue.
Magic, fantastic races, and
legendary creatures are downplayed within the genre, or dismissed entirely. Indeed, but for the fact that the settings are usually entirely fictional, some of the books considered "fantasy of manners" could be considered as
historical fiction.
Ellen Kushner is perhaps the definitive writer of fantasy of manners tales; almost all of her novels have some of the traits of the genre, and her
slashy Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) is considered as the epitome of the genre.
Other writers who have written books considered to fall into the subgenre include:
*
Kage Baker*
Steven Brust*
Emma Bull*
Pamela Dean*
Teresa Edgerton*
John M. Ford*
Barbara Hambly*
Alexei Panshin*
Madeleine Robins*
Caroline Stevermer*
Elizabeth Willey*
Patricia C. Wrede A class of fantasies set in contemporary times and blending some characteristics of fantasies of manners with the subgenre
urban fantasy has been dubbed, tongue-even-further-in-cheek,
elfpunk.
