Awe in Austen: Annotated Bibliography

Thesis statement: While Jane Austen is little associated with the concepts of awe or wonder, despite her Romantic connections, I have found she uses three certain characteristics of awe in many of her novels: the Gothic sublime, surprise, and epiphany. These three concepts are linked to the theme of awe in many ways and by many theorists, however, one problem with Austen is deciphering where her use of awe is genuine and where it is satirical. This paper will explore Austen's use of these characteristics and whether her works merit acknowledgement as literature of awe.  

(I'm really struggling with my thesis. It isn't concise and I don't think it would make much sense to anyone not in our class. Any suggestions?)

Bibliography:

• Benedict, Barbara. "Reading by the Book in Northanger Abbey." Persuasions On-Line. 20.1. (1999): N.p. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This article discusses reading in Northanger Abbey. It talks about the Gothic literature Austen parodies and offers a thorough literary analysis of the text and the methods Austen uses for this parody. This article will be really helpful in my discussion on the Gothic in Northanger Abbey.

• Bodenheimer, Rosemarie. "Looking at the Landscape in Jane Austen."Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 21.4. (1981): 605-623. Print.

This is my source the links epiphany to nature. Bodenheimer doesn't discuss epiphany itself but she does discuss how nature in Austen's novels leads to awakening experiences for the characters. I will use this to support the idea that Austen was in part a Romantic author and she knew how to use the Romantic Nature to explore awe in her novels.

• Burke, Edmund. The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke. Vol. 1. N.p.: Project Gutenberg, 2005. N. pag. 12 vols. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

I will use Burke's discussion of beauty and the sublime to help define awe for my paper. Some of my sources make reference to Burke so I think this is a good theoretical source to tie in. His discussion of terror and the sublime will definitely help my section on the Gothic.

• Fisher, Philip. Wonder, the Rainbow, and the Aesthetics of Rare Experiences. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1998. Print.

I think this source is going to help me define awe and wonder for my paper. I need to look at it a lot more but Fisher appears to offer concise and clear definitions on wonder and awe. His discussion of awe is much more accessible than some of our other theoretical sources so it might make for good introductory material.

• Hale, John K. "Arrows (and arrowroot) in Jane Austen's Emma." Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal. 23. (2001): 219. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This is a really short essay that talks about an epiphany moment in Emma. I will probably use this moment as well as Hale's commentary in my section on epiphany.

• Hofkosh, Sonia. "The Illusionist: Northanger Abbey and Austen's Uses of Enchantment." A Companion to Jane Austen. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 101-11. Print.

This is one of my most important sources. Hofkosh writes a detailed essay that identified Austen as an illusionist and magician. Her discussion of enchantment has really helped me develop my thesis about awe in Austen. Additionally, Hofkosh uses many other critics that have been helpful. I will use this article in my surprise section and probably in my general discussion of awe.

• "Joyce's Epiphany." www.mrbauld.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This is a webpage that gives a detailed overview of literary epiphany. I am going to use this to preface my discussion of epiphany moments. It is a theoretical source that will ground my discussion in literary criticism and awe.

• Lewis, C. S. "A Note on Jane Austen." Selected Literary Essays. London: Cambridge U.P., 1969. 175-86. Print.

This is a miracle source that I only just found. Lewis' essay outlines four moments of "awakening" (or epiphany) for Austen's heroines and discusses why and how these moments occur. This is exactly what I had planned on doing in the epiphany section of my paper so I can use this source to back up all of my ideas.

• Miller, Christopher R. "Jane Austen's Aesthetics And Ethics Of Surprise." Narrative 13.3 (2005): 238-260. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This is a really important source because it is the only one that directly discusses awe in the context of Austen. Miller uses Burke's discussion of the sublime to preface his essay and then outlines the way Austen uses surprise in her novels. Closely linked to Hofkosh's article, this will be the other source I use in my surprise section.

• Mishra, Vijay. The Gothic Sublime. Albany: State University of New York, 1994. Print.

This book has a chapter dedicated to theory related to the gothic sublime. She uses a lot of the theorists we've talked about in class. I think this source will really help ground my discussion of the gothic in theory and literary criticism.

• Rodi, Robert. Bitch in a Bonnet. n.p. 28 Dec. 2009. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This is a blog (my citation is probably incorrect but I did my best) that is dedicated to "reclaiming Jane Austen from the stiffs, the snobs, the simps, and the saps." Rodi has made it his mission to recapture Austen as a satirist and all of his blog posts consist of very close readings of Austen's novels. I'm not sure if any of this will end up in my paper but this blog has definitely helped me iron out my thesis this semester.

Next Steps:

I think my next step is to start drafting. I have the sources I need to begin working through my discussion and I think it will be easier to see what I am missing once I have a working draft. I could most likely write a complete paper with what I have right now, so that's my goal. I foresee a lot of revision needing to happen so I want to get this done as soon as possible.