Research Article

“Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency

Volume: 18 Number: 1 June 30, 2024
TR EN

“Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency

Abstract

The charm of Jane Austen’s writing and the historical context of the Regency era are so appealing that even in the 21st century, Austen texts and contents have continued to be produced through adaptations. These adaptations that function as re-visitings of the Austenian Regency have presented visual realms where we voyeuristically gaze and miss the Austenian past with nostalgic feelings. Austen, as a keen observer and social critic of her time, occupies such a place at the heart of the cultural heritage that she has become the symbol of Englishness whose works are the tools to remind longed notions of perfection and innocence lost after the Industrial Revolution. With the reflection of the romance plot, in these adaptations, the remote space of the Austenian Regency has become a “heterotopia” where past and present coexist simultaneously. In this article, I assert that the ITV mini-series Lost in Austen (2008), directed by Dan Zeff as an example of current adaptations, compares the Regency and the contemporary in such a way that it leads the forthcoming 21st-century adaptations to evolve into neo-Austenian phase that evokes a postmodern sense of nostalgia.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

This study has been supported with a postdoctoral grant by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBİTAK).

References

  1. Barber, N. (2015, September 22). Pride and Prejudice at 20: The scene that changed everything. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150922-pride-and-prejudice-at-20-the-scene-that-changed-everything
  2. Beer, G. (1970). The romance. Routledge.
  3. Benedict, B. (2000). Sensibility by the numbers: Austen’s work as Regency popular fiction. In D. Lynch (Ed.), Janeites: Austen’s Disciples and Devotees (pp. 63-86). Princeton University Press.
  4. Boym, S. (2001). The future of nostalgia. Basic Books.
  5. Bowles, K. (2003). Commodifying Austen: The Janeite culture of the internet and commercialisation through product and television series spinoffs. In G. Macdonald and A. Macdonald (Eds.) Jane Austen on screen (pp. 15-21). Cambridge University Press.
  6. Cardwell, S. (2002). Adaptation revisited: television and the classic novel. Manchester University Press.
  7. Crusie, J. (1998, March). Let us now praise scribbling women. Inside Borders. https://jennycrusie.com/non-fiction/let-us-now-praise-scribbling-women/
  8. Dow, G. and Hanson, C. (2012). Uses of Austen: Jane’s afterlives. Palgrave Macmillan.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 30, 2024

Submission Date

January 31, 2024

Acceptance Date

April 12, 2024

Published in Issue

Year 2024 Volume: 18 Number: 1

APA
Gündüz, E. İ. (2024). “Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 18(1), 39-55. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1429495
AMA
1.Gündüz Eİ. “Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency. CUJHSS. 2024;18(1):39-55. doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1429495
Chicago
Gündüz, Ela İpek. 2024. “‘Lost in Austen,’ Found in Regency”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 18 (1): 39-55. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1429495.
EndNote
Gündüz Eİ (June 1, 2024) “Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 18 1 39–55.
IEEE
[1]E. İ. Gündüz, “‘Lost in Austen,’ Found in Regency”, CUJHSS, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 39–55, June 2024, doi: 10.47777/cankujhss.1429495.
ISNAD
Gündüz, Ela İpek. “‘Lost in Austen,’ Found in Regency”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 18/1 (June 1, 2024): 39-55. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1429495.
JAMA
1.Gündüz Eİ. “Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency. CUJHSS. 2024;18:39–55.
MLA
Gündüz, Ela İpek. “‘Lost in Austen,’ Found in Regency”. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, vol. 18, no. 1, June 2024, pp. 39-55, doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1429495.
Vancouver
1.Ela İpek Gündüz. “Lost in Austen,” Found in Regency. CUJHSS. 2024 Jun. 1;18(1):39-55. doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1429495

Cited By

Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
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