Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in Cyberspace: Fan Fiction and Cognitive Narratology

I examine how the storyworld of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is re-presented in fan fiction from the Derbyshire Writers’ Guild (Dwiggie.com). I argue that, unlike Austen, the members of this fan community tend to prioritise the individual experiences of characters and their readership. I examine this corpus through the lens of cognitive narrative theories. These theories provide a conceptual toolbox that makes it easier to discuss fan fiction, related reader comments, and other meta-texts in a literary analysis. I aim to make a contribution to the fields of fan fiction studies and Austen studies. On the one hand, my research makes it easier to perform close readings of fan fiction texts, which are still rare in fan fiction studies. On the other hand, it shows how Austen’s works are received online, complementing recent reception studies of Austen’s work.