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RE: JV and China

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003 18:45:53 -0500 (EST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Dear Angel Lui,

I agree with your comments, and those of Ralf and Garmt. Verne is above
all of his time in his attitudes toward race and colonialism; but he is
also in many ways ahead of his time, particularly on the latter subject.

Verne seems to have had the typical Western attitudes toward China, as a
locus of "exoticism." In 80 Days, it is one of many stops along the way
in distinct parts of the world. More significant certainly is Les
Tributions d'un Chinois en Chine. I recently reread this, and was quite
honestly disappointed in it both as a work of literature (particularly
as a failed comedy) and for its emphasis on Asian "otherness." (On the
other hand I'm also open to being persuaded to the contrary on this
point.)

Yet lest we accuse Verne of racism here, I think we also have to recognize
that the plot formula he invokes in Tribulations, the arranged suicide
theme, is one that has been used by others in many different contexts.

A colleague here at the Library who had studied Lu Xun (forgive me if my
spelling is incorrect) mentioned he had enormous interest in Verne, and
suspected after a discussion of him that it was because of Verne's 19th
century attitudes toward colonialism--that is, somewhat in advance of what
was typical for his time.

It would be interesting to know about translations of Verne into
Chinese; when was he first translated? is he read in China today? Was
Verne read in Taiwan during the Mao era but not on the mainland? I am
assuming that Verne had a certain popularity in Hong Kong because of the
British presence. All of these are interesting questions.

Brian Taves
Kluge Staff Fellow
Office of Scholarly Programs
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540
Telephone: 202-707-0187; 202-707-3595 (fax)
Email: btav~at~loc.gov
                                                              
                                                              
Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.


On Sun, 5 Jan 2003, angel lui wrote:

> Hi Biao,
>
> Thanks for your reply. While I think you make some interesting points, I
> cannot agree with two of the thrusts of your arguments.
>
> First, the English translation you cite is inaccurate: for instance, it
> omits "Victoria Harbour" (the very name is, of course, a sign of British
> colonialism). I would agree that "Nankin" would be inappropriate in a
> modern translation. But Jules Verne can hardly be blamed for an
> unauthorised 19th C. English translation which does not conform to 21st
> C. usage! Incidentally, the "Canton River" was a normal usage in the 19th
> C. See for example "Tai-Wang-Kow" on
> http://www.oldprints.co.uk/prints/cn/images/cn107.htm.
>
> I think it is essential to refer to the French texts, or at least a good
> English or Chinese translation (I suspect the Chinese ones are not so
> accurate, but am willing to stand corrected).
>
> I also think it is simplistic to say that in his works "all colonists
> appeared brave and benevolent, not did he shed a single word about the
> misery that colonism brought to the native people". If you wish I can
> quote chapter and verse about Verne on his perception of the evils of
> colonialism in general and British colonialism in particular. 
>
> Thanks again for the opportunity to air these issues.
>
> Angel
>
> ; BIAO_LEI~at~NYMC.EDU
>
> >From: LEI BIAO
> >Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum
> >To: "'Jules Verne Forum'"
> >Subject: RE: JV and China
> >Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 11:53:18 -0500
> >
> >Hi, Angel,
> >Thanks for bringing up such an interesting topic.
> >Here is just a paragraph from Around the World in 80 Days, Chapter 19,
> about
> >Hong Kong,
> >Hong Kong is an island which came into the possession of the English by
> the
> >Treaty of Nankin, after the war of 1842; and the colonising genius of
> the
> >English has created upon it an important city and an excellent port. The
> >island is situated at the mouth of the Canton River, and is separated by
> >about sixty miles from the Portuguese town of Macao, on the opposite
> coast.
> >Hong Kong has beaten Macao in the struggle for the Chinese trade, and
> now
> >the greater part of the transportation of Chinese goods finds its depot
> at
> >the former place. Docks, hospitals, wharves, a Gothic cathedral, a
> >government house, macadamised streets, give to Hong Kong the appearance
> of a
> >town in Kent or Surrey transferred by some strange magic to the
> antipodes.
> >You may find more in this chapter.Clearly his knowledge was far from
> >accurate from our points of view now. First, the river is called the
> Pearl
> >River, not the Canton River. The war happened during 1839~1842, which
> was
> >called the First Opium War because the British sale of opium into China
> >through Canton. The Nanking (not Nankin) Treaty was signed in 1842 after
> >China was defeated.
> >Amazingly Verne was calling the English "colonising genius". He seemed
> to be
> >positive about that. The British Opium War and the sieze of Hong Kong
> was
> >the beginning of the dark age in Chinese history when the western powers
> >including Japan lauched series of shameless robbery of China. May I
> quote
> >part of the Nanking Treaty as follows:
> >This treaty between Britain and China ended the first opium war, fought
> >between 1839 and 1842. The occasion for the war was the destruction in
> May
> >1839 by the Chinese emperor's 'drug tsar', Lin Zexu, of thousands of
> casks
> >of Indian opium, without compensation, that were destined to be sold by
> the
> >private British traders operating in Canton harbor to Chinese dealers in
> >defiance of a ban placed on the illegal substance by the Chinese
> government.
> >Despite the ban, the British government supported the traders on the
> >specious grounds that suppression of the drug was China's responsibility
> >only and that it should not proceed by an assault on the property (i.e.,
> >opium) of British subjects.
> >http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob24.html
> >
> >What a justification for the blatant colonists! This is just saying " I
> have
> >the right to sell WHATEVER in your country becausse I'm stronger than
> you!"
> >Actually through many of his works I had the feeling, that even though a
> >great writer, Verne was a racist. He was positive about colonism
> everywhere,
> >all colonists appeared brave and benevolent, not did he shed a single
> word
> >about the misery that colonism brought to the native people.
> >I'm glad the dark age of colonism is gone, and China is strong and
> nobody
> >dares to bully us!
> >Biao
Received on Wed 08 Jan 2003 - 01:47:00 IST

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