Jane Austen in popular culture
Austen went out of favour in Japan during the militarist period in the early Showa era (1931-1945) when a xenophobic, ultra-nationalist mood prevailed, and the government discouraged people from reading foreign books. But during the period of the American occupation (1945–52), almost every Austen book was translated into Japanese except "Mansfield Park" (which was not translated until 1978), and Austen started to be widely taught in Japanese high schools. The translation of "Sense and Sensibility" in 1947, followed by a translation of "Pride and Prejudice" in 1950 were published by the prestigious publishing house Iwanami Shoten, and both books sold very well. The success of the Iwanami versions of "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" was the moment that Austen became respectable in Japan. In 1963, the critic Yamamoto Kenkichi, in his essay “The Smile of "Pride and Prejudice"” that proved to be influential, criticized Japanese literature for being overtly solemn and praised Austen for her “natural ease”, which led him to conclude: “Collins, Wickham, Mrs. Bennet, Lady Catherine, how she turns her laughter on these minor characters. They are observed with some malice, certainly, but in a pleasant, mischievous, irreverent manner which ultimately accords salvation to even these fools”. Austen has been regarded as a major writer in Japan since the 1950s, and in 2007, the Jane Austen Society of Japan was founded to provide a space for Japanese Janeites. In 2015-2016, "manga" versions of "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma", and "Sense and Sensibility" were published in Japan.
Jane Austen in popular culture
The global appeal of Austen today can be seen in that Bollywood regularly produces versions of Austen's books reset in modern India and adjusted to the style of Indian films, which forbid kissing and always include a number of musical numbers regardless of whether they have any connection to the plot. Austen's books often feature match-making parents, which gives her stories a particular resonance in India, where the majority of marriages are still arranged today. The British colony of India, which was ruled by the East India Company until 1858, and as a Crown colony from 1858 to 1947, came to include all of modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. English as an academic discipline began in 19th century India as British officials of the Raj set out to teach English to their Indian subjects, and as a result, any middle-class Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi from the time of the Raj until the present is familiar with Austen's books, giving her books the sort of "cultural capital" appeal in modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh similar to the United States. Austen's stories which feature "love marriages" as the heroine marries a man with whom she falls in love with, and gains the approval of her parents in the process, are very popular with women from middle-class Indian families, the vast majority of whom are in or are destined for arranged marriages set up by their parents to men that they generally don't know. In India, "Sense and Sensibility" has turned into the 2000 Tamil language film "Kandukondain Kandukondain" and the 2014 Hindi language soap opera "Kumkum Bhagya"; "Emma" has adopted as the 2010 film "Aisha"; and "Pride and Prejudice" into the 2004 film "Bride and Prejudice". In "Bride and Prejudice", Elizabeth Bennet becomes Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai), the daughter of a Sikh grandee living in a decaying mansion left over by the Raj in Amritsar; Mr. Darcy is an American billionaire visiting the Punjab to attend a wedding; Mr. Bingley becomes Mr. Balraj, a second generation Indo-British lawyer who has come to the Punjab in search of a traditional Sikh woman to marry; Lieutenant Wickham becomes Johnny Wickham, a British backpacker looking for the "real India"; and Mr. Collins becomes Mr. Kholi, a sanctimonious Sikh who has made a fortune in Silicon Valley.