136 - John Mullan

General

Visit John’s academic webpage for more information on his publications:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english/people/john-mullan

John’s book ‘What Matters in Jane Austen: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved’:
https://www.amazon.com/What-Matters-Jane-Austen-Crucial/dp/B00BNI1Z8Y

Jane Austen’s books:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/68

References

Iona’s Areo article ‘Writing Wrongs: Why Academics Write So Badly and How That Hurts Them’:
https://areomagazine.com/2020/07/06/writing-wrongs-why-academics-write-so-badly-and-how-that-hurts-them/

Timestamps

0:00 Opening and introduction, with some remarks on obscurity and lucidity in academic writing.

3:30 Austen as revolutionary literary stylist: Iona reads from John’s book on her.

8:15 Iona reads a passage from Austen’s ‘Persuasion’.

12:11 John discusses Austen’s techniques in this passage, particularly her innovation in creating free indirect style.

21:03 Iona reads the next couple of paragraphs of ‘Persuasion’; further discussion of Austen’s subtle techniques and themes follows.

30:20 The importance of male sexuality in Austen (“in want of a wife”).

38:46 Austen’s underrated comic genius.

47:00 More on Austen’s men: rakes, celibates, and premarital sex.

54:25 Marriage, sex, and finality in Austen (and marriage as permanent fate in literature more generally).

1:05:00 Idiolects and character in Austen (and the controversy over Austen on the ten pound note).

1:14:20 Austen’s writing is both very simple and richly complex.

1:18:31 The importance of “impossible!” in Austen.

1:19:21 John’s advice for re-reading Austen and some final reflections on her work.

1:23:11 Last words and outro.