The Evolution of Mashup Literature: Identifying the Genre through Jane Austen’s Novels

The aim of this thesis is to define, categorise, and justify the genre of mashup literature by providing a framework for understanding what mashup literature is, and analysing what it has to offer. The project seeks to examine the development of mashup literature, both from its influences in music and film mashups, as well as from fan fiction and the supernatural and romance genres that are mashed into the new work. The purpose is to show that the bounds of mashup literature as a genre extend beyond the few works that bear the name ‘mashup literature’, and that these works have the capability to comment and critique the source material in the same way as any other adaptation. This thesis analyses the development of mashup literature as part of the larger mashup movement and specifically discusses the influence of music and film mashups on the construction and objectives of mashup literature. This thesis acknowledges that the conception of mashup literature is often quite narrow, but by categorising the genre as part of the mashup movement rather than as independently occurring, this thesis shows the greater breadth and depth that mashup literature has reached and that has thus far gone unacknowledged. This thesis also examines one specific subcategory of mashup literature, tracing its development and discussing specific case studies of its application. By stepping away from the Zombies¬-centric definition of mashup literature and instead viewing it according to the parameters of the mashup movement as a whole, this thesis seeks to provide a more complete understanding of what a mashup novel is, and the value and analysis these works can add to their source texts.