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Sarah, Eric and Pamela are all at the Jane Austen Society of North America 2008 Annual General Meeting in Chicago this weekend. They, along with Eloisa James/Mary Bly, were speaking on Saturday evening about "Romance Fiction in the Wake of Austen": Contemporary critics and phrase-makers may link romance fiction with terms like "Post-Austen, post-Regency, post-modern, and perhaps even post-romantic", but never Post-Passion. Four experts on romance in life and literature bring us up to date on the where's and why's of romance since Austen's time.A good indication of the level of interest there was in this session is that it "had standing room only in a room that seated at least 200."
The illustration is a "watercolour sketch of Jane Austen by her sister Cassandra (c. 1804)" and I got it from Wikipedia.
Did you see Jane there?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ausfotoj.jpg
Tal, that must be a very old photo of Jane. You can tell because it's such a large mobile phone that she's using.
ReplyDelete200 people for a regular panel? they are rock stars!
ReplyDeleteLaura, if you look carefully you'll see that it's a cordless phone, not a mobile.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, she wouldn't give out her cell number to just anyone, but everyone would know that she's staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
I apologise, Tal, for my shocking ignorance of Regency telephone etiquette.
ReplyDeleteJane wouldn't talk to YOU anyway. She'd have her people call your people.
ReplyDelete--tal, one of your people
Laura, I just got a call from Miss Bates asking if you would take a meeting with Jane!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tal, I'd love to. It's so kind of you to take over the role of my social secretary. By the way, will we need to replenish our stock of calling cards? I also think I need a little coaching on the etiquette of using them.
ReplyDeleteYou came to the right decayed gentlewoman! In my youth, spent in officers' country on various military bases, we actually did use calling cards. In fact, the way I knew that I was now considered an adult was when my mothers' friends left cards for me as well as for her. But I think they were only used for PPC calls. (Incidentally, that transition took place when I graduated from high school.)
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of etiquette, I went to a small party a few weeks ago at which everyone else was probably at least 20 years older than I am. When I came in, the room was a little crowded, so I stayed standing up near the door. It was only later that someone pointed out to me that the two men present had stood up when I entered, and then hadn't been sure when they could sit down again. It hadn't even crossed my mind that that might be why they were standing up because (a) I was never taught about it and (b) as far as I know, none of the men I know of my own age would do this. It was a curious reminder of how quickly etiquette has changed in recent decades.
ReplyDeleteI remember my English tutor telling me that a Victorian gentleman of course would stand if a lady entered the room; but he would never commit the impropriety of offering her his chair--after all, he'd warmed it!
ReplyDeleteLaura, I called Miss Bates back to try to schedule your meeting with Jane, but I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Sorry.
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