Jane Austen: The Secret Radical
Helena Kelly
Instructor
-
Helena KellyDr Helena Kelly is the author of The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens (due out November 2023) and Jane Austen the Secret Radical.
Categories
About the Course
Despite accusations that sometimes history is rewritten to fit modern agendas, the re-analysis of the past is important to our understanding. But how should re-examining be done with historic literary giants? And is this ever a politically neutral endeavour? Join literary investigator Helena Kelly, who has set Oxford University finals examinations, as she argues that much of what we think we know about Austen is wrong. Moreover, she uncovers an approach to finding new meaning in our classic tales, and, going beyond literature, explores how to conduct the hunt for the hidden stories of the past.
By the end of the course, you will have learned:
- Why revisiting and re-analysing historical narratives is important for a deeper understanding of the past.
- How modern perspectives can influence (or potentially distort) interpretations of historical figures and literary works.
- New insights into Jane Austen's life and literature, challenging commonly held beliefs about her.
- A methodology for uncovering hidden or overlooked meanings in classic literature.
- Broader strategies for investigating obscured or forgotten stories in history beyond literature.
IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.
About the Instructor
-
Helena Kelly
Dr Helena Kelly is the author of The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen the Secret Radical. She holds a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Oxford, where she has also taught from time to time, and continues to publish occasional scholarly articles. Her work combines a variety of methods ranging from close-reading and archival research to psychogeography, offering new angles on authors and the stories we tell about them.
Course Syllabus
-
Part 1: Jane Austen the radicalHow do we move the stereotypically romantic reading of Austen and uncover the political radical hidden underneath? What is the process by which this radical interpretation is uncovered, and how can we use it to think about other famous authors?
-
Part 2: Reading the World Around UsHow can we become literary detectives and uncover the hidden messages latent in the world around us? By using historical documents, understanding political context, and going beyond just literary investigation, we can find radical ideas in unexpected plac
Suggested Further Readings
Books by Helena Kelly:
- Kelly, H., Jane Austen: The Secret Radical (London: Icon Books, 2016)
On Jane Austen and Literary Criticism:
-
Byrne, P., The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things (London: HarperPress, 2013)
-
Sutherland, K., Jane Austen’s Textual Lives: From Aeschylus to Bollywood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
-
Deresiewicz, W., A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter (New York: Penguin Press, 2011)
On Historical Revisionism and Hidden Histories:
-
Trouillot, M.-R., Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1995)
-
Cobain, I., The History Thieves: Secrets, Lies and the Shaping of a Modern Nation (London: Portobello Books, 2016)
-
Rubenhold, H., The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (London: Doubleday, 2019)
-
Zinn, H., A People's History of the United States (New York: Harper Perennial, 2005)
On Rethinking Classics and Literary Canon:
-
Gilbert, S. M. and Gubar, S., The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979)
-
Prose, F., Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007)
-
Eagleton, T., How to Read Literature (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013)
