The
Chronicle of Higher Education recently published an article detailing how
the study habits of students have been changing under the influence of the
phenomenon known to us all as the www—the worldwide web.
Many college campuses these days are hard-wired for the web, making
internet research available to students in their dorm rooms. It has always given
me great pleasure to imagine students all over the world plugging into Jane
Austen studies on the dark and stormy nights when, perhaps, they should be
facing up to their math problems or chemistry reports. But,
of course, students are not the only fans of Jane Austen who use online
resources. Adults, too, check
facts, keep in touch with friends, do their shopping-without-dropping, and check
in with the JASNA website. It is
indeed a changed world. When
we began publication of Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line in 1998, we
knew we were responding to the needs of the public, and we felt that we wanted
to use the online journal to expand our readership, to offer unusual essays or
collections of essays, and to supplement the number of articles we could offer
in the hard copy of the journal. In
this issue of Persuasions On-Line, we are pleased to present to you Occasional
Paper #4, a special extended essay on “Jane Austen and Her Men.”
Professor Ivor Morris, whose books on Shakespeare and on Jane Austen are
known to readers across the globe, has graciously allowed us to publish his
essay on our favorite author and one of our favorite topics.
The web allows us to bring you the essay in full.
We hope you enjoy this work. Since
our aim is to keep scholars and readers up to date on research, we are also
including here the “Jane Austen, Works and Studies 2000,” which has been
prepared by Professor Barry Roth. *
* * The
Editor, Editorial Board, Webmasters, and staff of Persuasions would like to
acknowledge the great debt we owe Joan Austen-Leigh, one of the Founders of
JASNA and the Founder and former Editor of Persuasions. A
brilliant lady, frequent contributor to Persuasions, and good friend whose
spirit guides our work on this journal, Doctor Joan Austen-Leigh will be sorely
missed by all of us. We dedicate this issue of Persuasions On-Line to her memory,
and we know that she would find particular pleasure in Professor Morris’s
article.
Laurie Kaplan |
