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48 two “In the Novel Way, There Is No Danger” Transmodal Adaptations and Transtextuality in Evelina Z Z Z Therefore I think I am most safe—& know I am most easy—in resting a quiet spectator. —Frances Burney, Early Journals and Letters, 28 October 1779 Frances Burney’s literary career was framed by two episodes that can be considered emblematic both of her poetics and of her life. In 1767, at fifteen, she destroyed all of her manuscripts in a bonfire, afraid that her father would discover she had been writing; sixty-four years later, as she prepared to write her father’s biography, she burned a substantial portion of his manuscript materials, which had been entrusted to her after his death. Outwardly identical, but of opposite significance, the two episodes reveal much about Burney’s complex attitude toward writing and professional authorship. Women’s writing in the eighteenth century was subject to ideological constraints that required careful acts of negotiation within an intricate network of personal and social relationships. In Burney’s case, these ideological constraints were reflected in her relationship with her father, Charles, the renowned musicologist, critic, and man of letters. Understanding how Burney constructed her relationship with her father is therefore crucial to understanding how she negotiated her position not only within the family but also within the patriarchal structure that impinged on all women’s writing. Although Charles Burney came from a humble background, his remarkable musical talent led to his employment, at seventeen, in the household of Fulke Greville, a wealthy aristocrat who was glad to secure the services and companionship of a promising young music master endowed with “mind and cultivation, as well as finger and ear.”¹ At Wilbury House, their country Transmodal Adaptations and Transtextuality 49 estate, the Grevilles held a salon frequented by the most elegant and refined members of the beau monde, some of whom became Charles Burney’s lifelong friends. Samuel Crisp, for example, later became so close to the Burney family that he earned the nickname “Daddy Crisp.” In 1749, Charles Burney left his position with Greville to marry Esther Sleepe, and in the next few years he gradually worked his way into London society,becoming one of the best-paid music masters in the city.His remarkable musical abilities and indefatigable work habits led to a doctorate from Oxford University in 1769, and his rising professional standing—and wellchosen friendships—allowed him to turn his London home into a highly sought-after musical salon. The Burney children reaped the benefits of this lively cultural environment, often enjoying the company of prominent public figures and artists, among them David Garrick and Joshua Reynolds. As the ambitious Charles Burney was well aware, it was his literary aspirations that held the key to his social advancement. No matter how highly paid, the position of a music master remained socially and financially subordinate ; the status of a critic and man of letters was far more respectable and prestigious, and Burney began to build his reputation by publishing two successful musical travel accounts, The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771) and The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Provinces (1773). Both works were praised by critics, including Samuel Johnson. His next publication was a four-volume magnum opus, A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1776–89), for which he is still remembered today.² Charles Burney did not effect this refashioning of his identity alone. After his first wife’s death in 1762, he was assisted by his second wife, Elizabeth Allen, whom he had married in 1764, and by his children—especially his daughters—who felt the deepest respect and admiration for him. After his first-born, Esther, married in 1770, the arduous task of transcribing his voluminous manuscripts and preparing them for the press fell to Frances, whose role as amanuensis created a strong bond of mutual dependence between father and daughter. It was at this time, and in her father’s shadow, that Frances Burney began to nurture a desire to write. It is no accident that Frances Burney’s literary career was symbolically bounded by the two bonfires mentioned at the start of this chapter.They can be said to represent opposite, but crucial, moments in her lifelong dialogue with her father. Throughout Frances Burney’s life as a writer, Dr. Burney remained her main (although often implicit) interlocutor. The influence he exerted both on...

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