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Chronology--Who cares?

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:49:22 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Much thinking and time has gone into the chronological discussions.

I'd suggest that one factor weighed more heavily than any other, for which
Verne felt, "consistency be damned." No event startled European racism
and colonial complacency than what was then labeled the "Sepoy Mutiny"
(and we would more appropriately today label the Revolt of 1857). For a
nation under imperial subjugation to almost overthrow the rule of the most
powerful nation on Earth, England, was a shock to Europeans.

To link Nemo with that very revolt not only precluded any European
identity for his character, and the European/American claim to hegemony
over the power of science, but placed Nemo nationally and ideologically
with those striving to overcome colonialism. And that was simply more
important than preserving any internal timelines within the fiction.


Brian Taves
Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692
Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
Email: btav~at~loc.gov


Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
Received on Thu 15 Jun 2006 - 00:49:31 IDT

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