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Post by Doctor Q on Jul 13, 2024 12:52:36 GMT
looking for novels or bio info that suggest whether Verne was an environmentalist or not
my own study is very mixed
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berc
Administrator 
Posts: 44 
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Post by berc on Jul 13, 2024 14:07:04 GMT
looking for novels or bio info that suggest whether Verne was an environmentalist or not my own study is very mixed Hmm, that's a tough question. In "Two Years' Vacation," an exaggerated amount of plants and animals can be observed compared to an uninhabited island. We can experience a similar island in "The Mysterious Island" (The Lincoln Island). Verne is not traditionally classified as an environmentalist, particularly in the modern sense of the term. However, his writings exhibit a strong appreciation for nature and a thoughtful consideration of humanity's impact on the environment. I wouldn't say that he was an environmentalist, especially in the 19th century. |
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Post by farseer on Aug 21, 2024 15:19:09 GMT
Verne is not traditionally classified as an environmentalist, particularly in the modern sense of the term. However, his writings exhibit a strong appreciation for nature and a thoughtful consideration of humanity's impact on the environment. I wouldn't say that he was an environmentalist, especially in the 19th century. I agree. He wasn't an environmentalist in the sense of thinking that the natural environment needed to be protected from human activity. I may be wrong, but I think that's a way of thinking that wasn't prevalent at all before the 20th century, when the negative impact of humankind on nature became too obvious and serious to be ignored. Verne was aware that human activity changed the environment. For example he mentions that overhunting was making some species disappear from some places, but he doesn't take the next step in suggesting that human activity should be restricted. I don't think he was aware that humans could prove a threat to the overall environment of the Earth. At least he doesn't mention it in his fiction. |
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Post by phileasfogg on Aug 21, 2024 20:23:19 GMT
Yeah, I will agree with others in that he was not an environmentalist in the modern sense. I don't think the first scientific paper on climate change came out until the early 20th century or, at the very least, in the last decade of Verne's life. He did, however, write about common concerns at the time, one of which was explored in "The Mysterious Island" where (I forget which chapter this was) the characters talk about how the coal deposits will run out one day and how he believed we would use water as a near infinite energy source in the future. So I do think that some of his books have elements of modern environmentalism written into them, but from a 19th century lens as Verne was writing about the problems they were thinking about then.
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