Moodle

Long after Jane Austen’s time, her works continue to fuel the ”Austenmania” which emerged with the wave of cinematic adaptations of Austen’s novels in 1995, marking the entry of Jane Austen’s novels into pop culture and simultaneously carrying the great academic interest in them to a new level. Against this background of the persisting impact her novels have (not only) on British literature and culture, this seminar will explore Austen’s satirical portrayal of Regency society and consider the narrative techniques that make her writing so complex. Via close readings of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion, this course will focus on Austen’s accounts of the intersecting power structures especially between class and gender, as well as on her in-depth character studies. The concept of the family, set forth through the many different families presented in these novels, will provide a framework for various discussions on femininities and masculinities, love and marriage, money, and religion.

Reading the assigned texts in preparation for each class is mandatory.