Jane Austen and Performance [Paperback]

This is the first exploration of the performative and theatrical force of Austens work and its afterlife, from the nineteenth century to the present. It unearths new and little-known Austen materials: from suffragette novels and pageants to school and amateur theatricals, passing through mid-twentieth-century representations in Scotland and America. The book concludes with an examination of Austen fandom based on an online survey conducted by the author, which elicited over 300 responses from fans across the globe. Through the lens of performative theory, this volume explores how Austen, her work and its afterlives, have aided the formation of collective and personal identity; how they have helped bring people together across the generations; and how they have had key psychological, pedagogical and therapeutic functions for an ever growing audience. Ultimately, this book explains why Austen remains the most beloved author in English Literature.The book looks at different periods and movements in the 20th century that have taken quotations and themes from her novels and aspects of her life to identify with their ideals, needs and aspirations. & The book is clearly written and well organised. ... there is much to interest the general reader. (Pamela Whalan, Sensibilities, Vol. 55, December, 2017)Marina Cano is a teaching fellow in Womens Writing in English at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Her research interests include womens writing, the long nineteenth-century, performance and gender theory. She is also a researcher in Travelling Texts 1790-1914: Trl#§