The Talk in Jane Austen

Edited by Bruce Stovel & Lynn Weinlos
Categories: Literature & Language Studies, Literary Criticism
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Paperback : 9780888643742, 296 pages, December 2002

Table of contents

IX - Acknowledgements
XI - Notes on Contributors
XV - A Note on References
XVII - Introduction

Section One: Categories and Analysis

3 - Chapter 1
Silent Women, Shrews, and Bluestockings
Women and Speaking in Jane Austen
Jocelyn Harris

23 - Chapter 2
Asking Versus Telling
One Aspect of Jane Austen's Idea of Conversation
Bruce Stovel

41 - Chapter 3
Why Do They Talk So Much? How Can We Stand It?
John Thorpe and Miss Bates
Isobel Grundy

57 - Chapter 4
Word-Work, Word-Play, and hte Making of Intimacy in Pride and Prejudice
Kay Young

Section Two: Aggression and Power

73 - Chapter 5
Mrs. Elton and Other Verbal Aggressors
Juliet McMcaster

91 - Chapter 6
"Hands off my man!" or "Don't you wish you had one?"
Some Subtexts of Conversational Combat in Jane Austen
Lesley Willis Smith

103 - Chapter 7
The Power of Women's Language and Laughter
Jan Fergus

123 - Chapter 8
Jane Austen's Imagined Communities
Talk, Narration, and Founding the Modern State

Section Three: Subtexts and Ironies

141 - Chapter 9
Mishearing, Misreading, and the Language of Listening
Ronald Hall

149 - Chapter 10
Belonging to the Conversation in Persuasion
Linda Bree

167 - Chapter 11
"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more'
Direct Dialogue and Education in the Proposal Scenes
Sarah S.G. Frantz

183 - Chapter 12
Famous Last Words
Elizabeth Bennet Protests Too Much
Nora Foster Stovel

Section Four: Speculations and Possibilities
207 - Chapter 13
Words Not Spoken
Courtship and Seduction in Jane Austen's Novels
Elizabeth Newark

225 - Chapter 14
Making Room in the Middle
Mary in Pride and Prejudice
Steven D. Scott

237 - Chapter 15
The Idiolects of the Idiots
The Language and Conversation of Jane Austen's Less-Than-Savoury Suitors
Jeffrey Herrle

253 - Works Cited

261 - Index

Description

Jane Austen's novels have been widely read and discussed, but one topic that is rarely studied is her use of speech. In this volume, writers from around the world consider Austen's sometimes playful, always witty and significant use of dialogue. Features contributions from Juliet McMaster, Isobel Grundy, Linda Bree, Gary Kelly, Jan Fergus, Jocelyn Harris, Kay Young and others.

Reviews

".genuinely groundbreaking essays from always-dependable sources: Juliet McMaster on the precise linguistic techniques that comprise the conversational aggressiveness of Mrs. Elton in Emma, and Gary Kelly on the suggestive analogy between imperial rule and the novelistic narrator, whose style and voice provide a standard against which all other voices in the story are measured." D.L. Patey, CHOICE

"The Talk in Jane Austen should intrigue any 'lay' Austen reader, who wants to revisit the novels with fresh eyes, or simply join in 'conversation' with other passionate fans." Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal

"The Talk in Jane Austen is an imposing collection of articulate and insightful essays contributed by a variety of learned contributors, each of whom examines Jane Austen's memorable and classic novels....The Talk in Jane Austen is thoughtful and thought-provoking in its analysis....[V]ery highly recommended reading for Jane Austen enthusiasts." Library Bookwatch