Character adaptation in Val McDermid's retelling of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey"

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2014 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitt Mainz (DEL), Veranstaltung: Adaptation and Appropriation, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Ever since their publication between the years of 1811 and 1817, Jane Austen's novels, namely Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, have never gone out of print. Her works are "perennial favourites" (Carson xi) and, furthermore, there seems to be a huge demand for "Austen novelties". It does not come as a surprise, therefore, that there are hundreds and hundreds of Austen adaptations and spin-offs. All six novels have been repeatedly turned into movies and the amount of literary adaptations appears to be almost uncountable. Since most "educated people . . . have at least heard of Jane Austen [and her] novels are in the public domain" (Parrill 176), adapting them seems to be particularly attractive in regard to the low economic risk and reduced investment costs (no acquisition of legal licences and little marketing costs). Austen has become a "cultural commodity[,] almost a brand name" (Wiltshire 7) and there will probably always be new publications as long as there is such a keen and vast market. The recent "Austen Project", published by Harper Collins, sees six bestselling authors adapting Jane Austen's novels and transposing them into the twenty-first century. Economically, it profits not only from Austen's fan base but also from the faithful readers of popular writers such as Val McDermid, who adapted Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. This retelling is the latest publication of the Austen Project and seems particularly interesting since Northanger Abbey is chiefly concerned with the mocking of Gothic fiction and the vindication of reading. It deals with bestsellers from the early nineteenth century and thus appears to be firmly rooted in its time. Due to these intriguing particularities, the paper at hand is based on Va