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Re: evolution and devolution

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 19:08:03 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

I'd add THE HUMBUG and especially ADVENTURES OF THE RAT FAMILY, whose
narrative is entirely predicated on a whimsical interpretation of Darwin.
Indeed, Verne is fully aware of evolution and all its implications, as I
discuss in the afterword to the translation of the latter published by
Oxford U Press in 1993.

Brian Taves
email: <btav~at~loc.gov>


Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.

On Sun, 6 Jun 2004, Art Evans wrote:

> Dear friends,
>
> Yes, there are many references to different kinds of
> evolution--geological, Darwinian, etc.--throughout Verne's works.
> Here are just a few: Axel's paleontological dream (as Walter
> mentions) in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (chap. 32), the
> millions of years needed to create coal in BLACK INDIES (chap. 3), the
> creation over centuries of a new continent in the Pacific from
> "infusoria" in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (chap. 21), Fergusson's discussion in
> FIVE WEEKS of thousands of years of human migrations from continent to
> continent in search of food and natural resources (chap. 16), and of
> course Verne's "anti-Darwin novel" featuring the Waggdis in VILLAGE IN
> THE TREETOPS (see esp. chaps. 13-17).
>
> But also interesting are those many portrayals of "devolution" in
> Verne's novels: Johausen's becoming an ape in VILLAGE, Ayrton
> becoming a savage in MYSTERIOUS, etc. Although Verne may have refused
> to accept Darwin's ideas about evolution, he obviously believed that,
> once apart from the civilizing influence of human society, our species
> could "devolve" very quickly indeed!
>
> Best,
> Art
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Walter J Miller
> To: Jules Verne Forum
> Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 8:00 AM
> Subject: Re: Verne and evoloution
>
>
>
> Dear Norm and all: Doesn't Aronnax tell Conseil that the theory of
> evolution could be reconciled with the six days of creation? I'll
> check "chapter and verse" later, but right now---away from my own
> books----I seem to remember that idea. Also, hasn't the boy's
> backward journey in JTTCOTE been seen as a sustained allusion to
> evolution? Again, I'm away....just a few questions/hints to raise the
> heat of the discussion. Cheers! Walter----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Norm Wolcott <nwolcott2~at~kreative.net>
>
> Date: Saturday, June 5, 2004 8:14 pm
>
> Subject: Verne and evoloution
>
>
> > We know that Verne was converant with the current science of the
> > day. Yet evoloution is strangely missing from any of his books. Is
> > it that it was only an "English" science which never was reported
> > in the French literature, under the catholic influence? Or since
> > it was a "subjective" science, did it simply not register witih
> > Verne's idea of "discovery" = "science". Certainly the strong
> > arguments in England must have had at least a few echoes across
> > the channel.
> >
> > nwolcott2~at~post.harvard.edu Friar Wolcott, Gutenberg Abbey,
> > Sherwood Forrest
Received on Thu 10 Jun 2004 - 02:13:46 IDT

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