ABSTRACT
Whether adored or ignored Jane Austen’s ironic narrative voice poses a challenge, at times amounting to a stumbling block, in the history of her reception. The present essay will discuss some selected samples of this voice and how it is interpreted in translations as well as film and television. The material for this discussion consists of two novels, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, their altogether seven screen adaptations, as well as five Norwegian translations of the first. This constellation will show that receivers of Austen’s texts struggle with similar challenges in grasping or rendering her ironic commentary, whether in a new language or a new medium.
