“She stimulates us to supply what is not there”: Expanding Jane Austen’s World Through Fandom

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore Jane Austen?s lively afterlife in popular culture through an exploration of fanfiction inspired by her most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813). The thesis combines analysis of online fanfiction with criticism of professionally published (profic) texts and film and digital adaptations as a way of contextualising Austen fandom. As a form of writing that is essentially about reading, Austen fanfiction can be interpreted as a valuable form of reader response that can illuminate the literary and cultural preoccupations of Austen?s readers, the ?Janeites?. Austen?s reception and readership have become increasingly topical subjects within Austen Studies. However, Austen-inspired fanfiction has yet to receive meaningful critical attention as studies of Austen?s readers tend to have an historical focus, concentrating on her male ?scholarly? readers from the nineteenth century rather than her predominantly female contemporary fans. The author?s place in contemporary popular culture has been explored by Austen critics through the lens of film and television adaptations of her work but there has been very little engagement with the extensive archives of fanfiction. Moreover, Austen fanfiction is underrepresented in fan studies, which has developed a rich body of research on fanfiction from popular film and television-based fandoms, but comparatively little analysis of fiction inspired by literary figures like Austen who straddle the divide between high and popular culture. Austen?s boundary-crossing appeal makes her a difficult figure to place. Certain aspects of her popular cultural legacy, such as fanfiction, have thus been under-addressed by popular culture and popular literature critics as well. By addressing the dearth of criticism on Austen fanfiction, my research makes an original contribution to existing criticism in the fields of Austen studies, fan studies, and the study of popular literature more generally.