Nada Saadaoui analyses the geographical landscapes of Jane Austen’s fiction
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An article showcasing the research of University of Cumbria doctoral student, Nada Saadaoui, has been published in The Conversation. Nada’s research considers the significance of walking for Jane Austen’s heroines in specific geographical contexts, and the article explores how spatial contexts such as cities, seaside resorts, country estates and naval towns ‘structure the possibilities and limitations of her heroines’ lives’. Tracing Austen’s fictional geographies, from Bath’s promenades to Brighton’s dangers, Portsmouth’s naval streets and the expansive grounds of Pemberley, Nada reveals how these various locations affected women’s ‘freedoms, reputations and choices’. In the article Nada writes: ‘Austen’s mapped worlds remind us that geography is never neutral. It shapes choices, relationships and power. Her novels continue to resonate because they ask a question still urgent today: where, and how freely, can women move?’, a question which is particularly poignant as we mark the 250th anniversary of the author’s birth. Read the article in The Conversation: How Jane Austen’s landscapes mapped women’s lives Nada is a graduate of the University’s MA Literature, Romanticism, and the Lake District and is currently studying for a PhD: The Significance of Walking in Jane Austen’s Romantic Era English landscapes | University of Cumbria
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