Mannerpunk is a subgenre of fantasy literature. It was coined, somewhat in irony, after the example of cyberpunk by science fiction critic Donald G. Keller , who wrote an influential article called The Manner of Fantasy discussing the genre in the April, 1991 issue of The New York Review of Science Fiction. Other subgenres such as steampunk were also "in the air" at that time; this subgenre is about as far removed from the noirish atmosphere of the other -punk genres as it can possibly be.
In gist, "mannerpunk" is fantasy literature that owes as much to the comedy of manners as it does to the traditional heroic fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien and other authors of high fantasy. Mannerpunk requires a populated, urban setting and a fairly elaborate, and almost always hierarchical social structure. The protagonists are not pitted against fierce monsters or marauding armies, but against their neighbours and peers; the action takes place within a society, rather than being directed against an external foe. The social novels of Jane Austen influenced some authors who have written books within the genre. More commonly, 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 are important 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.
A typical mannerpunk 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, many of the books considered "mannerpunk" fantasy could be considered as historical fiction. Ellen Kushner is perhaps the definitive writer of "mannerpunk" tales; almost all of her novels have some of the traits of the genre, and Swordspoint (1987) is considered as the epitome of the genre. Other writers who have written books considered to fall under the label "mannerpunk" include:
