December 16 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen and the writer’s fans went ahead to celebrate her anniversary throughout 2025, in a huge number of events, parties and conferences. It is that unlike other classics of literature, Austen’s work has an astonishing validity and still serves as inspiration for films, series, novels and plays today..
Jane, who lived in England between 1775 and 1817, during the reigns of George III and George IV, reflected like no one else the love relationships of his timewithin the framework of a class society, where economic interests used to prevail over feelings. Although she never married, her heroines devoted the greatest effort to achieving suitable marriages for themselves and their friends. Because although the six novels that Austen completed during her life tell love stories, they are not dramatic or passionate. There is plenty of humor, irony and pragmatism in them, although some intellectuals have preferred to read their books as simple romantic literature.
It is assumed that Austen’s was the first “fandom” in history and, to this day, it is one of the most fervent. On the other hand, the effects of his work can still be read, on the one hand, in thousands of academic essays, and on the other, in versions of “fan fiction” and in plots inspired by his novels (from “Bridget Jones’s Diary” to “Pride, Prejudice and Zombies”).
Some film versions have also become true classics, such as “Pride and Prejudice” directed by Joe Wright in 2006, with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as the incomparable “Mr. Darcy” (although some prefer the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth as Darcy) or “Sense and feelings”starring Emma Thompson, Huge Grant and Kate Winslet.
“Janeites” or “Austenites”, that is what her followers are called, true experts in her work and also in the customs and history of the Regency, the historical time in which Jane Austen lived. And that fanaticism does not distinguish between ages or level of education. For her fans, this 250th anniversary is the best opportunity to share and celebrate their love for the writer.
Forever Jane
Maybe because she was baptized Juana or because books were her best antidote to boredom or because one day she discovered a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” and another of “Emma” at Shummy’s house, her second favorite aunt; Journalist Juana Libedinsky is a true Jane Austen fan. Her own love story with her husband began with a line from one of the films based on Austen. She has lived in New York for 25 years and delights the readers of La Nación or El País de Montevideo every week with her columns about the life and customs of the cultural capital of the United States. Now, almost at the end of 2025, has just published “We love Jane so much” (Seix Barral) where she compiles the chronicles she made during the year regarding the English writer’s anniversary. On her tour she visited conferences and festivals, attended a grand ball in period costume at Winchester Cathedral, where Austen’s remains rest, and visited all the monuments and museums that tell of Jane’s time on earth.
“Jane Austen is celebrated every year, all the time. This particular year it was celebrated, as the Americans would say, on steroids -Libedinsky told NEWS-. A few weeks ago I was in Baltimore, which is an industrial city. At a downtown Marriott, there were 1,000 people dressed in period clothing. It was the big meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America. An event that mixes the super-commercial with the incredibly canonical of English literature. There were great academics from the most famous universities and also people who didn’t read the novels but saw the movies. Or they like clothes. An incredibly democratic situation that is very difficult to occur with any other author.”
The situation of dances and picnics is very common to celebrate Austen. And everyone who attends wears typical costumes from the Regency period.. Very light dresses, with a cut below the bust, a high neckline and small sleeves, decorated with bows and bows. To complete the picture, the dances of the time are danced, those complex choreographies that are seen in the movies where the dancers make lines and rounds with their partners.
Libedinsky, who has her own costume and enthusiastically joined all kinds of celebrations during 2025, also recounts in the book the meetings with artists and researchers who take Austen very seriously and discover through her little-visited aspects of 18th century society.
“In Jane Austen’s time there were many variables that we have to consider. The Napoleonic Wars, for example. A large number of men died at the front and that meant fewer chances of marriage for women who, on the other hand, could not inherit. Job opportunities were extremely limited. And the issue of marriage was a complicated equation. It is very easy for us to look at all this with a certain superiority. When researching the book I met an Indian independent film director who asked me. ‘How many people do you know who get married today for the ‘green card’?’ In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Austen tells you how much money the candidate had in the first paragraph,” he explains.
Another aspect that Libedinsky rescues is the popular elaboration of Austen’s themes, in current novels or films and in genres in which the writer left an indelible mark. “You can trace many themes back to Jane Austen. For example, some of the narrative arcs that are reinvented. She was the one who established the ‘enemies-lovers’ canon. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is about ‘enemies-lovers’. ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, ‘Twilight’ and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ too. The movie ‘Clueless’ is directly based on ‘Emma’. There the narrative arc is of ‘friends-lovers’ as in ‘When Harry Met Sally’.”
It also explains the persistence of “fan fiction” in the scarcity of Austen’s works and even the lack of personal information about the writer, due to her sister Cassandra’s decision to burn her correspondence. “Austen only left six novels, so for all of us who adore her it is a kind of necessity. You don’t want to abandon an old friend. She is a mirror in which to reflect ourselves and find what we like or what we lack or what we want.”
The book’s chronicles also cover Argentina and the active fandom of our country (see box). Or the testimonies of readers who look for (and sometimes find) Mr. Darcy as an absolute model of a man.
“The title of the book is inspired by a story by Cortazar, ‘We love Glenda so much’ -concludes the journalist-. There, with Glenda Jackson’s fans, everything ends in violence. The opposite happens with the ‘janeites’. “It was wonderful to discover that sense of community that is so hard to find today.”
Austenites from Argentina
The group Jane Austen Argentina (@janeaustenargentina) was founded by Yerimen Iglesias as a discussion group of the writer’s works. “In 2015 we had our first historical dance, with Regency-era clothing and then we organized period picnics, accompanied by activities such as croquet, dances and historical games. In 2021 we organized our first festival in the Children’s Republic, inspired by the famous Bath festival,” says Iglesias.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary in July, they organized a talk on topics related to both Austen’s work and the Regency era. “Soon we will have a picnic that will be announced on our networks. And we will have our ‘Jane Austen Day’ celebration for the 250th anniversary, a day that is celebrated all over the world. Since 2014, we have celebrated that date in a tea house in San Telmo between debates and games.”
A Literary Day
On Sunday, November 30, at the Tree House (Avenida Córdoba 5217), a meeting of writers, journalists and editors will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. to share experiences and readings of Jane Austen, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth. Admission is free.
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