| Description |
There are hundreds of film, television and book adaptations of Jane Austen's novels in the world, all different retellings and interpretations of the original source texts. And while these adaptations' quality is typically judged based on its fidelity to the original novels, this value judgement only takes into account how closely a work recreates the historical Regency Era and the major plot points of the novel. In this value judgment, the actual experience of reading Austen and the narrative techniques she uses within her writing are often overlooked, primarily because they are difficult to recreate onscreen. However, three recent Internet adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (Pride & Prejudice), Welcome to Sanditon (Sanditon), and Emma Approved (Emma), do attempt to replicate the echniques experienced when reading Austen in an audio-visual format. Through a close reading of both the original novels and theseinternet adaptations, as well as studying a variety of theories such as transmedia, digital media, and fan studies, I identified three ways in which these daptations highlight formal features of Austen's work. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries highlights the metafictional nature of the original novels, Welcome to Sanditon , their recreation of contemporary daily life, and Emma Approved focuses on the creation of community between characters and audience. |
