Jane Austen and the Creation of Modern Fiction: Six Novels in "a Style Entirely New"

by Collins Hemingway

Overview

Jane Austen's creative process has been largely unexamined. This book explores her development as a writer: what she adapted from tradition for her needs; what she learned novel to novel; how she used that learning in future works; and how her ultimate mastery of fiction changed the course of English literature. Jane Austen overcame the limitations of early fiction by pivoting from superficial adventures to the psychological studies that have defined the novel since. Her creativity and technique grew as she wrestled with pragmatic writing issues. This evaluation of Austen's creative process brings into focus the strengths and weaknesses of her six novels. Each is examined in its use of major fictional techniques—description, scene-building, point of view, and psychological development—to reveal unique literary attributes. The result is a revealing analysis of how world-class fiction is built from the ground up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476694276
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	05/23/2024
Pages:	258
Sales rank:	985,450
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The author of eight books, Collins Hemingway is an authority on Jane Austen and the Regency period. He has written dozens of articles about the British author as well as literary fiction based on her life, and regularly speaks to Austen societies on everything from her development as a writer to the major events and issues of the era. He lives in Redmond, Oregon.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
The Pivot Between Centuries: How Austen Carries the Novel into the Future
 1. Writer as Thinker, Builder
 2. Austen’s Knowledge, Motivation
 3. Remarkable Coincidences, Unfunny Humors
 4. Austen Develops Her Style and Voice
Barefaced Questions, Ingenious Suppositions, and Distant Surmises: How Description Measures Austen’s Growth as a Writer
 5. Finding a Way into Austen
 6. Amiable Economy, or Dearth of Experience: Description in Northanger Abbey
 7. Stepping into the Bright Sunshine of Description
 8. Now the Student Becomes the Master
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman: The Steventon Novels
 9. A Bridge to Austen’s Mature Works—and More
10. Sense and Sensibility, Letter by Letter
11. How Austen Stages a Novel: Pride and Prejudice
An Exploration of the Mind: The Chawton Novels
12. The Marvelous Complexity of Mansfield Park
13. Penetrating the Mist Obscuring Mansfield Park
14. Emma’s Wonderful Velocity of Thought
15. Emma’s Reality Distortion Field
16. Persuasion’s Psychic Break (with the Past)
17. So Little Friendship: Mrs. Smith Reveals the Writer’s Struggle
18. Trying to Sustain a Large Creative Attack
19. A Side Excursion to a Seaside Resort
20. Her Own Style and Her Own Way
Works Cited
Index