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Re: 145th anniversary

From: boutin <boutin~at~versailles.inra.fr>
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 10:37:03 +0200
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Very interesting Yan, I am thinking about two other possible reasons
for the preference of Verne for Scots over English. One branch of the
Verne’s family, the Allot branch, was, as far as I remember, of
Scottish origin and his own feeling to belong to the Brittany community
were an expression such as "maudits anglais" for English people was
very common. Is it correct?
Jean-Pierre

Le jeudi, 2 sep 2004, à 22:13 Europe/Paris, ithompson~at~geog.gla.ac.uk a
écrit :

> Bill,
> You raise two points...does Verne accord a priviledged treatment to
> Scotland and the Scots, and secondly does his first visit to Scotland
> influence his fiction ?. I am far from being a literary critic nor
> have I read all of Verne's work but I think that the answer to both
> questions is yes.
> 1. His reverence for Scotland seems to be almost uncritical and
> contrasts sharply with his distaste for the English. Specifically he
> admires the bourgeois of Edinburgh,aristocratic "lairds" and the
> stereotypical Highlander. Glasgow impressesd him less and it is
> strange that he doesn't mention that by the time of his 1859 visit
> over 25% of the population was Irish making Glasgow a very atypical
> Scottish city. Nevertheless, Glasgow features much more in his novels
> than Edinburgh and I have theories why this should be so.His only
> criticisms of Scotland concern the food and the weather...sentiments
> I share!
> 2.When we consider the impact of his first Scottish visit on his
> later fiction then the logical place to look is in his first novel
> afterwards...Cinq semaines en ballon. Here we find a hero in Dick
> Kennedy, a strong, brave Scot who hunts in the Highlands. Moreover,
> like Verne, he travels on the overnight train to London.In les
> Enfants du Capitaine Grant, Lady Helena Glenarvan seems to be a
> reflection of Amelia, who he met in Edinburgh, as does Helena
> Campbell in le Rayon Vert. However, I think that more important than
> characterisation of Scots was the fact that to Verne, his first visit
> to Scotland was an adventure - his first extended sea voyage, his
> first foreign travel and the excitement of visiting an "exotic"
> destination idealised by the Romantic Movement. I feel sure that this
> was a seminal experience and gave him a template for the Voyages.
> Finally, I feel that the significance of Scotland is that he has
> given such a precise indication of his own travels and those of his
> fictional characters that it is possible to follow exactly in his
> steps today. Whereas few of us could visit the Orinoco, and even less
> go to the moon, neither of which Verne achieved, in Scotland, by
> combining fieldwork and archival analysis we can literally stand in
> his shoes and share his experience.
> Regards,
> Ian.
>
>
Received on Fri 03 Sep 2004 - 11:57:11 IDT

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