Date of Award
6-2-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Lauri Umanski
Committee Members
Janelle Collins; Robert Lamm
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2023 B46
Abstract
In comparison to Jane Austen’s purportedly quiet, unassuming life, her six novels have had an ostentatious and extensive impact upon Anglophone literature, culture, and history, particularly through the innumerable adaptations that have been created, written, and produced by her most ardent admirers. As such, this research explores the ways that their various literary and filmic adaptations of Austen’s original narratives both create and expand their communities. Additionally, this project situates Janeite cultural production within the framework of Jacques Derrida’s theory of archival expansion, as well as the scholarship of Claudia Johnson, Abigail Derecho, and Sarah Glosson, among others. The texts examined within this study were gathered from within the ever-expanding collection of Austen pastiche which has been widely and consistently produced within the two centuries that have passed since Austen made her professional debut in 1811. One reason that Austen’s work has been so oft adapted is that her characters are distinctly realistic and thereby remain relatable to audiences despite the passage of more than two hundred years. Austen’s works are also inherently malleable, a characteristic that renders them particularly suited to adaptation for various mediums including stage plays, films, web series, and social media posts. Even as they present readers with Austen’s minutely detailed interpretation of Regency England, her narratives compel her most avid followers to spend more time in that place. Many fulfill this need to form a friendship with Jane by adapting her novels. Through their reworkings, these Janeites are keeping her plots and characters fresh, exposing new audiences to her genius, and ultimately ensuring that this unique community of Austen admirers will exist and expand for generations to come. This research shows that so long as Janeite women writers retain the realism with which Austen originally imbued her characters, their adaptations will successfully protect and prolong Jane Austen’s literary afterlife.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Bennett, Kerri L., "Austentatious Aspirations: How Janeite Women Writers Create and Expand Their Own Cultural Communities Through Recounting and Adapting Jane Austen's Original Works in Literature and Film" (2023). Student Theses and Dissertations. 190.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/190
Included in
English Language and Literature Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons
