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Franc Schuerewegen

Bio: Franc Schuerewegen is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 4 citations.

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TL;DR: Verne does not like shepherds, a group that clearly annoys him and gets under his skin this article, and he immediately proceeds to criticize the leading names in the bucolic genre, accusing them of idealism and of a lack of realism, something George Sand had done before him in her preface to François le Champi.
Abstract: Are there any shepherds left in America? I suppose you have replaced them with computers or robots. It’s less expensive and cleaner. Jules Verne would have liked to live in your country—he was generous with his invectives against the race of sheepherders in his novel Le Château des Carpathes (1892). You know the book, and I’m sure you recall a passage that I personally find very striking. At first, the tone is rather flattering: “If we approach a shepherd on his idealistic side, he might easily be imagined a dreamy, contemplative being: he converses with the planets, he consults the stars, he reads the skies” (9). The next sentence undoes this portrait. The shepherd is not like that, Jules Verne adds, he is less than that, and one must set the record straight: “In reality he is generally a stupid ignorant brute” (9). In the style of hitting the enemy where it hurts, it would be hard to do better. Jules Verne does not like shepherds, a group that clearly annoys him and gets under his skin. He immediately proceeds to criticize the leading names in the bucolic genre, accusing them of idealism and of a lack of realism, something George Sand had done before him in her preface to François le Champi (1864).1 But this makes his remarks no less violent. One must add, of course, that the majority of shepherds were illiterate at the end of the nineteenth century. They did not therefore constitute for the author of the Voyages extraordinaires what we would call today a reading public… But let’s not linger on this point. Things hardly get better when we meet the shepherd Frik on the same page. He is not a particularly pleasant individual—in fact, and I choose my words carefully, he is nothing short of monstrous. In describing this character, Jules Verne repeats Victor Hugo’s sentence parodying Virgil in the title of a chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris: “Immanis pecoris custos immanior ipse,” “of a monstrous flock a herder even more monstrous.” This is an allusion to the famous verse of the fifth eclogue: “Formosi pectoris custos formosior ipse,” “of a handsome flock a shepherd

2 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a mechanical figure representing Madame Patti in life-size form [en grandeur naturelle] was presented, and an electrical device was used to automatically reproduce the diva's particular gestures, smile and muscular facial movements.
Abstract: a mechanical figure representing Madame Patti in life-size form [en grandeur naturelle]. An electrical device will automatically reproduce the diva’s particular gestures, smile and muscular facial movements. Hidden inside the figure, there will be a phonograph equipped with previously recorded clips of the singer’s voice. Visitors to the exposition will therefore be able to hear Madame Patti at any time of day. (“Tablettes” 4)1

8 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Verne does not like shepherds, a group that clearly annoys him and gets under his skin this article, and he immediately proceeds to criticize the leading names in the bucolic genre, accusing them of idealism and of a lack of realism, something George Sand had done before him in her preface to François le Champi.
Abstract: Are there any shepherds left in America? I suppose you have replaced them with computers or robots. It’s less expensive and cleaner. Jules Verne would have liked to live in your country—he was generous with his invectives against the race of sheepherders in his novel Le Château des Carpathes (1892). You know the book, and I’m sure you recall a passage that I personally find very striking. At first, the tone is rather flattering: “If we approach a shepherd on his idealistic side, he might easily be imagined a dreamy, contemplative being: he converses with the planets, he consults the stars, he reads the skies” (9). The next sentence undoes this portrait. The shepherd is not like that, Jules Verne adds, he is less than that, and one must set the record straight: “In reality he is generally a stupid ignorant brute” (9). In the style of hitting the enemy where it hurts, it would be hard to do better. Jules Verne does not like shepherds, a group that clearly annoys him and gets under his skin. He immediately proceeds to criticize the leading names in the bucolic genre, accusing them of idealism and of a lack of realism, something George Sand had done before him in her preface to François le Champi (1864).1 But this makes his remarks no less violent. One must add, of course, that the majority of shepherds were illiterate at the end of the nineteenth century. They did not therefore constitute for the author of the Voyages extraordinaires what we would call today a reading public… But let’s not linger on this point. Things hardly get better when we meet the shepherd Frik on the same page. He is not a particularly pleasant individual—in fact, and I choose my words carefully, he is nothing short of monstrous. In describing this character, Jules Verne repeats Victor Hugo’s sentence parodying Virgil in the title of a chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris: “Immanis pecoris custos immanior ipse,” “of a monstrous flock a herder even more monstrous.” This is an allusion to the famous verse of the fifth eclogue: “Formosi pectoris custos formosior ipse,” “of a handsome flock a shepherd

2 citations