Why is Jane Austen more fashionable than ever?

Barcelona"In every generation there is a group of people who have the opportunity to retell this story and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it." With these words, writer Dolly Alderton announced that she was working on an adaptation ofPride and Prejudice for Netflix that will have Jack Lowden (from Slow horses) and Emma Corrin (from The Crown) as protagonists. As the author, winner of the National Book Award for Everything I know about love, almost every generation has their own version of the Jane Austen classic and their favorite Mr. Darcy. The platform's interest in bringing the novel to the screen in miniseries format is further proof that Jane Austen, whose 250th anniversary is celebrated this year, is more fashionable than ever. Fans of the English author even have their own nickname: some prefer to be called Janeitas and those who are inclined to austenites.

"Austen is a cultural icon who transcends her work and is, in fact, popular even with people who haven't even read her books. I think it all started in the 90s, with the huge success of the BBC adaptation ofPride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. From there came a succession of film adaptations of his great works and, also, The Bridgertons, which is set in the Regency world that Austen explained," explains David Owen, coordinator of the English Studies degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. At first glance, the novels are books that only talk about love, but they go much further: "Jane Austen is popular because she has something for everyone. If you want a romance novel, she has a romance novel. If you're interested in a window into the pre-Victorian world, you'll find it. If you're a feminist, Austen is a proto-feminist," explains Owen.

He is convinced that the various adaptations that have been made of the author have been essential to popularizing her work. BeyondPride and Prejudice, the BBC has brought all of Jane Austen's novels to the screen, some on more than one occasion. In the cinema, Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sanity and feeling (1995) not only fascinated the writer's avowed fans but also received critical acclaim and the favor of film awards (it achieved seven Oscar nominations and won one, for Best Adapted Screenplay). Then came the version ofEmma (1996) with Gwyneth Paltrow and its modernization, Out of touch (1995), with Alicia Silverstone. "Since the 1990s, when the BBC has periodically asked what the British people's favorite book or author was, Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice "They've always been at the top. It wasn't like that before. It's very curious that a writer who was born 250 years ago is so popular now. There are great authors, like Charles Dickens, who don't generate nearly as much emotion," he says. Austenmania, which will remain open until January 2026 at the writer's home museum in Chawton, Hampshire, and which displays original materials from four of these films.

Professor Marta Ortega, from the Department of Modern Languages ​​and Literature and English Studies at the University of Barcelona, ​​​​says that the passion for Austen in Spain and Catalonia is relatively recent because translations of the books arrived quite late. In Spanish, the first translation was the one made in 1915 by Manuel Ortega y Gasset de Persuasion, a century after the original work was published. The complete works were not translated until 1993.In the case of Catalan, Austen's translations did not begin until 1985. "Austen's late entry into Spain and Catalonia contrasts with the current situation. Since then, there has been no stop to new translations and new versions. It has been incessant," notes Ortega.Pride and Prejudice by Keira Knightley; during the pandemic the version ofEmma with Anya Taylor-Joy; and three years ago Netflix released a very unsuccessful adaptation of Persuasion with Dakota Johnson. It can also be found on Disney+ Fire Island, a modernized, homosexual version ofPride and Prejudice. Even unfinished works by the author have been adapted, as is the case of the series SanditonThe long list of films Austenian It also includes versions with a Bollywood touch, such as Weddings and prejudices. Both Ortega and Owen assert that the many adaptations of Austen's works have been essential in bringing many people closer to the books.

Stills from the various films based on Jane Austen's works are part of the podcast's imagery. Nineteenth-century punks, by bookseller Carlota Freixenet and editor Blanca Pujals. The project was born to vindicate 19th-century literature, especially that written by women, and Jane Austen has a prominent place. Pujals is, in fact, the editor responsible for the Club Victoria collection, by Editions Viena, which has so far published new translations of five of Austen's works (Sanity and feeling,Mansfield Park,Northanger Abbey,Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion). The podcast is recorded live once a month from the JOK restaurant, always with a successful audience. "We've been recovering Jane Austen in our mental framework for several years. During the pandemic and the post-pandemic, having literature that took place inside our homes helped us a lot to change our mindset. After all, they are stories in which things are happening but in a very static way, and that defends her more," explains Freixenet, a politician, "more than romantic stories." The manager of the La Carbonera bookstore argues that, although film adaptations have helped make Austen mainstream, the importance of having good translations and good editions of her works should not be overlooked.

"It's a moment of glory for Jane Austen, but also for all female writers. What has happened is that many prejudices have been broken down. It's also a splendid moment for the Bronte sisters, for Elizabeth Gaskell or Edith Wharton, but it's true that Jane Austen is the one who has done the most to help people enter her literature," adds Blanca Pujals.

Only because of a female audience?

The fact that Jane Austen is a woman and that most of her books have a love story as a central element has often led to her being considered an author exclusively for a female audience. very different. I don't think it has to do with her literature, but with her status as an iconic figure," says Owen. Ortega agrees with Owen and points out that Austen doesn't only talk about being a woman in her work. "We always talk about women, but there are also many very vulnerable male characters," she says. ~BK_SLT_NA classrooms, specifically in the 19th-century narrative course that is part of the curriculum for the degree in English studies. "There is a group of people who come to class and on the first day you can see that they are superfans. of Austen, every year there is a festival in which all the attendees walk through the streets of the city dressed in Regency clothing.Pride and Prejudice since 2005 has made events with men and women transformed into ladies and lords multiply: Chatsworth House, the setting for the film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, has hosted several balls where the attending couples, dressed strictly in Regency style, are swept away by the music and a certain aura of romance.

Four films to get closer to Jane Austen

Beyond the many and diverse series and films that have adapted the British writer's works, there are also productions that delve into her personality or show the impact her works have had on the public.

Recently released in Spain on Movistar Plus+, this miniseries delves into a real-life literary mystery linked to Jane Austen. Although she is a world-renowned writer, relatively little is known about her life, partly because her extensive correspondence was destroyed by her sister Cassandra, her closest confidant. This miniseries, based on a novel by Gill Hornby, speculates on the reasons that led the eldest Austen to make this decision.

Unlike her literary heroines, Jane Austen never married, apparently by choice, like her sister Cassandra. Young Jane Austen, starring Anne Hathaway, explores the author's love life and a possible romantic disappointment that would have led her to choose to live as a single woman, devoting herself exclusively to writing.

The fascination with Jane Austen and her stories is beautifully portrayed in this American comedy. Keri Russell plays Jane Hayes, an American woman obsessed with the writer and, in particular, with Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy. In a fit of rage, she decides to spend all her savings to go to an Austen-themed resort in England where tourists dress in Regency clothing and live as if they were in one of the writer's stories. Once there, Jane will realize that reality has little to do with the hype. And, evidently, she will experience a love affair with many reminiscences ofPride and Prejudice.

The latest film with a Jane Austen connection is this French romantic comedy starring Agathe, a bookseller with limited social skills who is invited to the Jane Austen Writers' Residence in England to finish writing the novel she's dreamed of writing for years. In addition to trying to become a writer, she finds herself involved in a typically Austenian love triangle.