Austentatious
Fandom & Culture
Paul Booth and Katherine Larsen, series editors
Austentatious
THE EVOLVING WORLD OF JANE AUSTEN FANS
Holly Luetkenhaus & Zoe Weinstein
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PRESS
IOWA CITY
University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242
Copyright 2019 by the University of Iowa Press
www.uipress.uiowa.edu
Printed in the United States of America
Text design by Omega Clay
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps have been taken to contact copyright holders of material used in this book. The publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach.
Printed on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Luetkenhaus, Holly, 1985 author. | Weinstein, Zoe, 1990 author.
Title: Austentatious : the evolving world of Jane Austen fans / Holly Luetkenhaus & Zoe Weinstein.
Description: Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2019] | Series: Fandom & culture | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018044858 (print) | LCCN 2018051446 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-60938-640-5 | ISBN 978-1-60938-639-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Austen, Jane, 17751817Appreciation. | Austen, Jane, 17751817Influence.
Classification: LCC PR4037 (ebook) | LCC PR4037 .L84 2019 (print) | DDC 823/.7dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018044858
For my husband.
HOLLY
To my parents, who recorded every Jane Austen adaptation ever on PBS when I was little and who regularly listen to me rant about Austen (or anything else). Thank you for everything.
And to my friends, who pushed and supported me on the phone, skype, in person, at hockey games, and in the gym. Your high-fives, virtual and otherwise, helped me forward.
ZOE
contents
acknowledgments
First and foremost, Zoe. We somehow managed to balance different time zones, full-time jobs, cross-country moves, and personal crises and still make it to the finish line as not only coauthors, but friends. This book exists because of you.
To my parents, who spent my whole life telling me I could do anything and always pushed me to challenge myself. Mom, youre the strongest woman I know, and I am so blessed to have grown up with you as a parent and role model. Dad, I wish you could be here to see this moment, and to feel the pride you had in me, and in all of your children. And Adam, Alex, Austin, and Aaron, you are the best four brothers a girl could ask for.
To my colleagues, and friends, who kept me motivated and focused, especially Matt and Cristina; working with you and being your friend has brought me more joy and fulfillment than I ever thought a job could offer. I will be forever grateful for whatever plan brought me to Oklahoma, and to your team. Lorena, who betad sections of my writing and tore it apart so I could make it better.
Finally, to Katherine Larsen, who shared her time and expertise with us as we worked to complete this project.
HOLLY
Most important, Holly. Thank you for everything. Obvs this book wouldnt exist without you, and I couldnt have asked for a better coauthor and friend.
To my parents, to whom this book is also dedicated. You are amazing and smart and loving. I could not have done this book without your encouragement, read throughs, and your patient listening to all my complaining.
Next, my friends. There are too many to name who helped on this journey. Hannah, Stephanie, Alex, Victoria, Dan, Rey, and Eli are just a few of many, many who helped me, but are especially key to this book existing. Aimee Slater, thank you for listening to me rant about book stuff at work while using your publishing knowledge and helping me not panic. Otavia Propper, thank you for helping me sit my butt down and write, feeding me, and talking me through writing drafts. Piseth Sam, thank you for every ounce of motivation youve instilled in mewithout that, this book would be half of what it is.
Next, some industry folks, both fan studies and general academia. To Katherine Larsen, thank you for all of your help, but especially for accepting our first abstract for PCAwithout that opportunity we would not be here at all. To Catherine Cocks, thank you for reaching out and getting this project started. To KT Torrey and JSA Lowe, we didnt speak much at PCA 2016, but Ive been following you ever since, and youve inspired my academic motivation more than you could know.
Last, a few stray thanks to folks Ive mostly never met but who helped a lot along the way: to the McElroys (The Adventure Zone, especially), Friends at the Table, The Great British Bake Off, and Ngozi Ukazu, who helped me procrastinate. To Brooklyn Boulders Somerville, for providing me with a workspace on occasion, and a place to go and work out my frustration. And, of course, to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, the original inspiration for this whole crazy project; keep telling stories.
ZOE
INTRODUCTION
From Petticoats to Hashtags
Jane Austen, of course, wise in her neatness, trim in her sedateness; she never fails, but there are few or none like her.
Edith Wharton
Another book about Jane Austen? Well, kind of.
The number of books about Austen has long surpassed the number of her original works. Others pens have dwelt on the author herself, her stories, and the many ways in which people can read and interpret her writings. Our pens are here to celebrate the people who keep reading, watching, and writing: the fans. Here we will explore the fan communities that have sprouted across the internet and investigate the ways in which fans engage with Austen and each other. We examine common tropes among fanworks, the new formats of fan practices, and the themes that emerge across fan platforms.
This text, we hope, will help fans reconnect, or connect for the first time, with fan-made Austen material. In a fandom as old as this, we, the fans and scholars, are all we have left; Austen isnt going to write us any more material. Join us as we dive into big and small pictures of fan-made and fan-opined Austen. Let us, dear reader, explore the intertwining fields of Jane Austen and media and fan studies, as well as the diverse people who make up the contemporary cult of Janeism. Austen can be for everyone, so lets see how everyone does Austen.
When we started this book, we wanted to get an idea of what people associate with Jane Austen. So, naturally, we did a completely unscientific Facebook poll of our friends and family, asking them what they first think of when they hear Jane Austen. The responses were fairly close to expectations: Petticoats. Manners. Bonnets. Zombies. Colin Firth.ars to pleasure readers; they even included responses from people who have never picked up an Austen novel and only know her stories or name from pop culture or various adaptations. Austen and her works mean different things to different people, and every Austen fan has a story of how they first came to read a novel or see a film, and what keeps them coming back to her and her stories. The depth of her novelswhether they are read as comedies of manners, romances, social commentaries, or any other genreappeals to diverse groups of readers. Among fans there is never going to be an agreement on which novel is best, which heroine most dear, or which hero most appealing because the experience of reading Austens novels is so
