Jane Austen Literary Tourism

Abstract

This thesis focuses on Jane Austen literary tourism. I want to research if cities that have connections with Jane Austen seize upon the trend of literary tourism, by offering, for example, literary sites or literary activities. Therefore, I will look at two literary cities, Bath and Chawton, and how they use Jane Austen to attract literary tourists. I chose these cities, because Jane Austen lived and/or worked there. I will examine the link between Bath, Chawton and Jane Austen, what these literary cities offer to the public, how they offer this, so in which way they try to attract those tourists, whether the offer is focused on Jane Austen only or also on other tourist sites. Additionally, I will look which external facilities they offer, so I will look at the facilities and accessibility. Bath and Chawton will each be discussed in a separate chapter and in the conclusion they will be compared. My thesis will contribute to the scientific debate about literary tourism, because I will look at my two case studies in relation to the theories. Moreover, it will add to the existing research, because contrary to previous research, I will map everything Bath and Chawton offer, analyse it, compare Bath and Chawton and examine which strategies they use to attract tourists. This has all not been done before.