In 2021, then cameraman Jasper Fforde (e.g. James Bond, Goldeneye) published his first novel, The Eyre Affair, a very peculiar appropriation of Charlotte Brontë's classic Jane Eyre,
which is set in an alternative England, where literature is so
important that literary detectices make sure no harm is done to literary
storyworlds - which exist as alternative, accessible universes. As the
novel was quite a success, Fforde continued writing novels and has since
produced several sequels of alternative-universe fantasy/mystery
novels, all of them brimming with allusions to literature and popular
culture, so that avid readers cannot only enjoy reading the humorous,
entertaining stories but also identifying the many echoes reverberating
through that echo chamber.
Our seminar is going to begin with a few sessions on intertextuality and
adaptation, in order to establish a theoretical frame through which we
are then going to assess a selection of Fforde's novels. This selection
will include:
a) The Eyre Affair - in which
literary detective Thursday Next discovers that one can actually enter
literature, while her attempt to stop an evil mastermind from
interfering with Brontë's storyworld has an unexpected impact on
literary history.
b) The Last Dragonslayer - set in the Ununited
Kingdoms, where orphan Jennifer Strange works as an assistant for
wizards, whose magic is gradually subsiding, until she is pushed into
... well becoming what the novel's title says.
c) Shades of Grey - yes, the title is correct,
and no, it is just that and not about plastic binders and ...
whatever... This is a very chaste dystopia that builds on human beings
distinguished by their abilities of colour perception.
- Dozent/in: Anja Müller