Jane Austen News - Issue 108 - Janeites and Shelley

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An Inside Scoop on the Janeite World Ted Scheinman, author and son of an Austen scholar, has just published his book Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan, which combines clandestine journalism with charmingly frank memoir, and academic savvy with insider knowledge. Ted spent a year and a half "in the world of Jane Austen fandom" to try and find out what being a "Janeite" involves and why Austen has such an appeal. Among other things, he went to Jane Austen Summer Camp (better know as the Jane Austen Summer Program [more on that later]), attended the meetings of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), and followed the Austen trail around the world - sometimes wearing a topcoat, cravat and breeches to do it. Essentially the book is dedicated to exploring the public perception of Janeites from the inside (at times somewhat like David Attenborough observing a family unit in the Serengeti). It sounds a bit strange, but it's been done in an affectionate way:

The first steps to infiltrate any secret society are simple: learn the language, make friends, strive to approximate the dress code. Eventually, if you're lucky, you will set them at their ease, even gain their trust. Then you write about them, of course, a betrayal that you hope earnestly they will forgive.

He also looks briefly at where the term Jane-ite came from, who coined it, and who the first ones to be given the term were.

Rudyard Kipling actually predicted the Jane Austen Society nearly a century ago, in a 1924 short story called "The Janeites," about a group of English soldiers who read Austen together while fighting in the First World War, and who use quotations from the novels as passwords and mantras, indicating membership among the elect.

An interesting read, and quite probably a very good one for anyone who has a friend or relative who is a Janeite and doesn't understand "what all the fuss is about".

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Jane Austen's Summer in North Carolina The Jane Austen Summer Program, which takes place each year at the University of North Carolina (and features in Ted's Camp Austen) has had the same idea as Kessel, of combining the works of Austen and Shelley in honour of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein. With this thought in mind, the theme for the program this year will be Northanger Abbey and Frankenstein: 200 Years of Horror. The sixth annual event will take place between June 14th and 17th in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and will include English afternoon tea, a Regency masquerade ball, Austen-inspired theatricals, talks from expert speakers, and discussion groups on the gothic-inspired novels.

Both Austen in Northanger Abbey and Shelley in Frankenstein react eloquently to the gothic taste in literature and have similar commentary on the frightening results of the French Revolution. Bringing the authors’ works together will allow us to explore their revolutionary legacy, both in terms of literary innovation and social change.

We especially like the logo they've made for the event.