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Conclusion

Sanditon’s Shorthand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2020

Anne Toner
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

The conclusion to this book reflects on how compression and concision may have been fundamental to Austen’s drafting process, especially as revealed in the manuscript to her unfinished novel, Sanditon, written in the year of her death. By the time that Austen was writing Emma, at least, she was drafting strikingly elliptical prose, as in the strawberry-picking episode at Donwell Abbey. The often similarly fragmented sentences of Sanditon are not jottings or shorthand to be expanded later, as they were once thought to be. Rather, Austen’s manuscripts suggest that she channelled the contingencies of the drafting process into some of her most forward-reaching stylistic developments, as she sought to capture the spontaneity of the human voice.

Type
Chapter
Information
Jane Austen's Style
Narrative Economy and the Novel's Growth
, pp. 185 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Conclusion
  • Anne Toner, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Jane Austen's Style
  • Online publication: 18 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108539838.005
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  • Conclusion
  • Anne Toner, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Jane Austen's Style
  • Online publication: 18 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108539838.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Anne Toner, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Jane Austen's Style
  • Online publication: 18 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108539838.005
Available formats
×