Anca Mitroi
172
exceptions, the mountains, the green plateaux and the mining towns
can be easily recognized and their depictions rival those of geography
books.
This attention to detail may have contributed to the general
acclaim of the novel in Romania because, while it is true that the fictitious village of Werst – the place where most of the action supposedly
takes place – could not be located on any maps, the village’s fictionality did not diminish the enthusiasm it inspired in Romanian readers. In
her penetrating article “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, Roxana Verona
examines the reception of the novel, showing that most of the Romanian readers “constantly praised Verne’s ‘accurate’ depiction of the
‘real’ region, and they have done so since the novel’s first translation
in 1897”.
3 They were obviously able to overlook derogatory comments and, “when Romanian readers choose unconditionally to admire
The Castle, they implicitly agree to see their status as Europe’s
‘other’”.
4 Apparently, most of the Romanian readers were willing to
embrace a book that, in spite of its title, ended up erasing “the real
Transylvania’s cultural traditions as a province that, at the end of the
nineteenth century, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and as
such had rich contacts with Central and Western Europe”.
5 If we question what could motivate this reception, we may see that one of the
reasons is that, paradoxically, Le Château des Carpathes is less about
Transylvania than it appears. Verne’s geographical omissions and inaccuracies allowed the Romanian readers to reconstruct a political
puzzle that was not in Verne’s intent, but corresponded to their fin-desiècle political views.
The assertion that Le Château des Carpathes is not really
about Transylvania may surprise: the positive Romanian reaction
seems motivated precisely by the fact that readers were able to recognize their land and their customs to such an extent that they could ignore the critical comments about the country’s economic or cultural
backwardness. They could decode the landmarks in the realistic details borrowed – or copied – from Elisée Reclus and Auguste de
Gérando, and translate them into existing places, historical sites and
___________________________
3 Roxana M. Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, The Comparatist, 28 (2004),
135-50 (p. 136).
4 Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, p. 147.
5 Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, p. 146.
172
exceptions, the mountains, the green plateaux and the mining towns
can be easily recognized and their depictions rival those of geography
books.
This attention to detail may have contributed to the general
acclaim of the novel in Romania because, while it is true that the fictitious village of Werst – the place where most of the action supposedly
takes place – could not be located on any maps, the village’s fictionality did not diminish the enthusiasm it inspired in Romanian readers. In
her penetrating article “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, Roxana Verona
examines the reception of the novel, showing that most of the Romanian readers “constantly praised Verne’s ‘accurate’ depiction of the
‘real’ region, and they have done so since the novel’s first translation
in 1897”.
3 They were obviously able to overlook derogatory comments and, “when Romanian readers choose unconditionally to admire
The Castle, they implicitly agree to see their status as Europe’s
‘other’”.
4 Apparently, most of the Romanian readers were willing to
embrace a book that, in spite of its title, ended up erasing “the real
Transylvania’s cultural traditions as a province that, at the end of the
nineteenth century, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and as
such had rich contacts with Central and Western Europe”.
5 If we question what could motivate this reception, we may see that one of the
reasons is that, paradoxically, Le Château des Carpathes is less about
Transylvania than it appears. Verne’s geographical omissions and inaccuracies allowed the Romanian readers to reconstruct a political
puzzle that was not in Verne’s intent, but corresponded to their fin-desiècle political views.
The assertion that Le Château des Carpathes is not really
about Transylvania may surprise: the positive Romanian reaction
seems motivated precisely by the fact that readers were able to recognize their land and their customs to such an extent that they could ignore the critical comments about the country’s economic or cultural
backwardness. They could decode the landmarks in the realistic details borrowed – or copied – from Elisée Reclus and Auguste de
Gérando, and translate them into existing places, historical sites and
___________________________
3 Roxana M. Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, The Comparatist, 28 (2004),
135-50 (p. 136).
4 Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, p. 147.
5 Verona, “Jules Verne in Transylvania”, p. 146.