Jane Austen, Race, Characters Who Are POC, Colonialism and "Recognizing the Enduring Whiteness of Jane Austen"
With Sanditon about to air--a story featuring characters who are people of color--and with our next selections involving characters who are POC, I wanted to share this essay, "Recognizing the Enduring Whiteness of Jane Austen" from Marcos Gonsalez (@MarcosSGonsalez on Twitter).
This also ties in with our previous selection, "Unmarriageable," which was set in modern day Pakistan. I liked how Soniah Kamal brought in important discussions on colonialism, between the two main characters, while also bringing us her dazzling and humorous modern take on P&P.
I also told Marcos Gonzalez that I'd share his essay with the Boston Austen Book Club, and he was happy to hear! I asked if he had that old essay that was panned by his professor (see the essay), which has a take similar to Dr Helena Kelly's take on slavery and Mansfield Park, but sadly, he said, he destroyed his copy and couldn't find the electronic files.
You can read Gonzalez's essay at Lit Hub: https://lithub.com/recognizing-the-enduring-whiteness-of-jane-austen/