Adapting Jane Austen
Jane Austen's novels seem to invite endless adaptations, spin-offs, prequels, and sequels. There are even movies about how much we love to adapt Austen (The Jane Austen Book Club and Austenland, for instance). Taking Pride and Prejudice as a case study, this class will ask why Austen is so amenable to adaptation. How do recent adaptations and spin-offs such as the rom-com Fire Island, the YA novel Pride, and the horror spoof Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ask us to think about gender, sexuality, race, and social class, both in Austen's time and in our own? How do different media, from vlogs to comics, enable retellings of Pride and Prejudice?
We'll finish off the course by examining one of Austen's less well-known novels, Northanger Abbey, as an adaptation of the Gothic fiction that was so popular during Austen's time. What insights does Northanger Abbey provide into Austen's own understanding of the art of adaptation?
Assignments will include a class presentation, several response papers, and a chance to design your own adaptation.
Textbooks:
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Ibi Zoboi, Pride
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
Fire Island (Andrew Anh, dir.)