Event Details

Dr Mike Greaney (Lancaster) and Matthew Dunlop (Lancaster) explore what it means to re-read Austen in 2022

Dr Mike Greaney (Lancaster) and Matthew Dunlop (Lancaster) explore what it means to re-read Austen in 2022.

Dr Greaney is Senior Lecturer in English at Lancaster. He will be talking about his new book, Jane Austen A-Z (Bloomsbury 2022). https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/az-of-jane-austen-9781350254206/. Using a lively A-Z structure, Greaney provides fresh angles on familiar Austen themes (D is for dance; M is for matchmaking), casts light on under-examined corners of her imagination (R is for risk; S is for servant), and shows how current social and cultural concerns are re-shaping our understanding of her work (Q is for queer; W is for West Indies). Through this approach, we learn how attention to the tiniest linguistic detail in Austen's work can yield rewarding new perspectives on the achievements of one of our most celebrated authors.

Matthew Dunlop is a PhD researcher at Lancaster working on Jane Austen and Queer Theory, with wider interests in contemporary television and film. He will be examining the idea of reproductive sameness in Persuasion, exploring this specifically through the recurrence of the word ‘same’ and the references to reflections both literal and metaphorical.