Jules Verne Rediscovered: Didacticism and the Scientific Novel

This brilliant study of Verne’s three cycles (1850-62, 1862-86, 1886-1916) analyzes the works from a biographical, sociohistorical, ideological, and narratological point of view. With a deep focus on Verne’s pedagogical slant, Evans demonstrates convincingly the parallels between the French author’s aim to “de-alienate’ science and his aim to valorize learning, knowledge, and reading (his heroes conquer more knowledge for themselves and for the world).

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This first modern American study of Jules Verne offers a wide-ranging reappraisal of a very familiar but often misunderstood author and his works. In spite of his status as one of the most translated novelists of all time, Verne and his Voyages Extraordinaires have long been neglected in American literary scholarship. This book seeks to reaffirm Verne’s significant contribution to the development of early science fiction through a detailed investigation of his romans scientifiques. Evans has focused his study on the didactic dimension of Verne’s narratives, which were originally intended to teach the rudements of science and morality to French youth through the medium of popular fiction.