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Re: RE: JV and China

From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 06:32:16 -0800
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc: wjm2~at~nyu.edu

Dear Garmt and All: I think that in both the Intro, the Notes, and the text of THE MIGHTY ORINOCO (due out from Wesleyan U Press any day now!) you'll find that Verne did shed a tear or two for the victims of colonialism. Like most intellectuals of his time, he was in conflict about the relations between colonialism-and-"progress". Walter James Miller

----- Original Message -----
From: Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>
Date: Sunday, January 5, 2003 11:58 pm
Subject: RE: JV and China

> > 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.
>
> Didn't he?
>
> Read for example "La Maison a Vapeur". The Sepoy leader Nana Sahib
> is the
> bad guy here, but Verne also decribes the atrocities committed by the
> English.
>
> Read "Mistress Branican", an unfortunately little known novel, the
> secondpart of which is set in Australia. Verne makes a strong
> point about how
> the aboriginals will be exterminated by English colonialism.
>
> Read "Le village aerien", which ends with a slightly sarcastic remark
> about the 'colonisation competition' between Western countries.
>
> I am not saying that Jules Verne always stood up for the victims of
> colonisation, but to say that "he was positive about colonism
> everywhere"is a bit too strong.
>
> Best regards,
> Garmt.
>
Received on Fri 17 Jan 2003 - 16:33:31 IST

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