Research
Three researchers in English Literature on the pop culture treasure Pride and Prejudice
On the site An Archive of Our Own, seven fan fictions based on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice were published or updated on the first day of 2024. 211 years after the original publication, the novel continues to attract readers, specifically those who want to contribute to the textual universe that Pride and Prejudice represents. Fanfic writers fill in gaps in the story, change narrative perspectives, explore alternative romances, imagine what happened before the original story begins, or what happens after its end. Through their engagement, they join generations of readers who wish the story to continue.
During her short life (1775-1817), Austen did not get to experience the popularity of the novel, although it received a handful of positive reviews. However, in 1833, the first illustrated edition was published, and by the mid-century, Pride and Prejudice, along with Austen's other six completed novels, was used in both school education and by an educated elite for whom the books were signs of cultivation and finesse. In 1870, a biography was published, written by her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh, and with this, a larger readership became aware of Austen. She was brought to life as "dear aunt Jane" and became someone readers could establish a close relationship with. Her works began to be discussed in book clubs and dramatized by amateur theater groups. These activities are predecessors to the Austen boom that started in the nineteenth century and still continues, as seen in film adaptations, commercially published novels, fan fiction, and, of course, opera.
Pride and Prejudice is the most read (and re-read) of Austen's novels, with themes that work surprisingly well both in unchanged and manipulated form. Money and power, love and marriage, class belonging, and self-awareness can be read as comments on Austen's society and contemporary times, but just as well as inspiration for discussions about today's conditions. The importance of social information—whispers in ballrooms and libraries—and not getting stuck in either others' prejudices or one's own self-image comes to life, especially in popular culture where the well-known characters continue to live on. Elizabeth Bennet becomes Bridget Jones (but still finds her Darcy), the four Bennet sisters develop martial arts skills to conquer the undead in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (but still manage to attend a few dances), and the hunt for clues to characters' psychology can just as well be used to solve murder cases (as in P.D. James's Death Comes to Pemberley). The seven fanfics published on the first day of this year on An Archive of Our Own join thousands of others online. Whether we want more of or something additional from the novel, Austen has invited us into drawing rooms and on walks through the English countryside, and to socialize with characters who, despite the strict social codes of the eighteenth century, feel modern as they navigate through their lives.
Maria Lindgren Leavenworth, Professor of Modern English Literature, Umeå University
Heidi Hansson, Professor of English Literature, Umeå University
Anette Svensson, Associate Professor of Literature Didactics, Malmö University