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RE: Verne: invented citations in the VE?

From: wbutcher <wbutcher~at~netvigator.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 09:59:36 +0800
To: "'Jules Verne Forum'" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Terry,

Such a move would, I think, be contrary to both the educational mission
dictated by Hetzel and Verne's extreme literal-mindedness. French
critics often speculate that such and such a passage is invented, eg the
erotic description of Aouda, but it usually just means they haven't
tried to look for the source.
 
Nevertheless, a couple of attempts:

The whole of Hatteras, as you say, and indeed other novels, tries to
present itself as authentic, complete with a published account of events
There's also Arne Saknussemm, based on a historical figure, but whose
main claim to fame is invented and may have taken in a few readers

Bill

1/F, 46A lung Mei Village, Taipo, Hong Kong wbutcher~at~netvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il [mailto:owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il] On Behalf
Of Terry Harpold
Sent: 01 July 2003 08:55
To: Jules Verne Forum
Subject: Verne: invented citations in the VE?

Hi all,

Verne's innumerable minings of literary and scientific precursors (noted
in footnotes and, more often in narration and dialogue) are well known.
These interpolations are crucial, of course, to the sanctioning of the
"realism" of the %roman scientifique% -- Clawbonny repeats the history
of Arctic exploraration so that we can see that Hatteras is following in
the footsteps of noble precursors; Fergusson reports the tragic fates of
earlier European explorers of Africa to demonstrate the wisdom of a
transit by balloon; Aronnax and Conseil draw on the resources of Nemo's
library to identify and classify the flora and fauna they encounter,
etc.

But: are there examples in the _Voyages extraordinaires_ of Verne
*inventing out of whole cloth* an apparently historical or scientific
source, cited by his narrator or a character in such a way that the
reader will necessarily assume that it is "legitimate" -- i.e.,
nonfictional?

(I leave out of this special case those novels which claim to be written
by a character, or those instances in one of the novels in which a
(fictional) event of one novel is reported as fact in another -- for
example, Nemo being credited with attaining the South Pole in _Le Sphinx
des glaces_ -- or those examples in which it seems that Verne may have
fudged a bit on the spelling of someone's name or a date: the catalog of
African explorers at the opening of _Cinq Semaines_.)

Regards,

TH

--------------------------------
Terry Harpold
Assistant Professor
Department of English
University of Florida

tharpold~at~acm.org
tharpold~at~english.ufl.edu
http://www.nwe.ufl.edu/~tharpold
Received on Tue 01 Jul 2003 - 05:01:17 IDT

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