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Re: JV and China

From: Ralf Tauchmann <ralf.tauchmann~at~t-online.de>
Date: 06 Jan 2003 12:58 GMT
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

<Skravitz~at~aol.com> schrieb:
> The question of Verne's social prejudices surfaces for discussion in this
> Forum at regular intervals and sort of peters out with the opinion that he
> was a reflection of the society in which he lived. What I would like to know
> is whether French authors contemporary to Verne were more or less
> "enlightened" than he was. Can forum members with critical knowledge of
> French literature give us their opinions?

Dear Sid,

There are several questions coming up at regular intervals, regarding
the misogyn, nationalist, antisemitic... views in some of Verne's books.
These questions are asked with today's knowledge of recent history, but
cannot be answered from today's point of view. That is why I simplified
saying Verne is a mirror (or reflection) of his time, but I referred to
the "standard way of thinking" of Verne's time, especially because he
adopted stereotype views and characters -- and this is in contrast with
other authors like Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Zola, Hugo... Today,
I can read LES MISÉRABLES by Victor Hugo (to take a Romantic author)
and enjoy every single phrase. When reading Verne, I will have to turn
a blind eye from time to time ( e.g. when he draws conclusions on
personal attitudes from physiognomy, nationality, social origin... )
Or let's take the large absence of women in the novels.

I wouldn't say that other authors are more "enlightened" than Verne.
But it certainly is difficult to read Verne word by word today.
How he has "his" domestics treated just for a laugh in ROBUR and
LES TRIBULATIONS D'UN CHINOIS EN CHINE. How he mixes antisemitism
and nationalism in Hector Servadac (for the rest one of my favourite
books -- just for information: the post-war German translations left
out the discriminating contents). Personally, I believe that much
of this is unreflected reflection of his time. Whereas Zola
describes the poverty of the masses in GERMINAL, Verne imagines
an underground city in a coal mine (LES INDES NOIRES) as a place
of people wanting to remain in the place where they worked...
The dream of JV is human harmony with both technology/industry
and nature.

One could consider adding such a topic to the FAQ page because
of the recurrent questions. But I am far from being convinced
of what I said. It is just an opinion to explain my personal
unability to fully enjoy Verne. But I continue taking him as
he is and as his books are, I just feel sorry about certain
points and the questions show that I am not the only one to
"reflect" this.

Best wishes to all of you,

Ralf Tauchmann
---------------------------------
mailto:ralf.tauchmann~at~t-online.de
tel/fax: +49-351-8308998
http://www.ratau.de
---------------------------------
Received on Mon 06 Jan 2003 - 15:00:13 IST

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