Undermining Body and Mind? The Impact of the Underground 195
toujours été dérangé” (p. 297). What actually caused his madness, his
degeneration, is never firmly established, but it seems clear that the
underground environment is not responsible, especially given the robust physical and mental health of the other miners.
In both Les Indes Noires and The Princess and the Goblin, the
underground is not only dwelling place but also workplace. In MacDonald’s text, the goblins live in close proximity to the miners – including Curdie and his father, Peter – working alongside. The young
hero’s work is shown to be uncomfortable and cramped, undertaken in
horribly warm conditions and exposed to the dangers of flooding in
particular. Yet despite these factors, mining is explicitly described as
being “not particularly unpleasant” (p. 48). Working in the “low and
rather dreary earth” (p. 93) has had an impact upon Curdie’s physical
condition since the lack of light and air below ground has left his face
“almost too pale”, just as the eyes of Nycteris are almost too large (p.
36). Yet he is nevertheless “a very nice-looking boy” (p. 35) and, although somewhat limited in his imaginative and spiritual capacities at
the start of the text, is certainly not in any way degenerate, like the
goblin population against whom he is pitted.
Mining is also at the very heart of Les Indes Noires, yet Verne
makes virtually no mention of the work undertaken in the underground. Coal City is much more a tourist destination, leisure park and
housing estate than it is a workplace. As Marel observes: “On ne voit
[…] jamais un groupe de mineurs ‘haver’ dans une taille. Dans cette
immense fourmilière, tout semble se faire dans la facilité.”
20 When the
mining process is briefly described at the beginning of Chapter Nineteen, active human subjects are almost entirely eradicated through the
use of the passive and of impersonal pronouns, as well as the focus on
the mechanical:
Ce jour-là, dans la Nouvelle-Aberfoyle, les travaux s’accomplissaient d’une
façon régulière. On entendait au loin le fracas des cartouches de dynamite,
faisant éclater le filon carbonifère. Ici, c’étaient les coups de pic et de pince qui
provoquaient l’abattage du charbon; là, le grincement des perforatrices, dont les
fleurets trouaient les failles de grès ou de schiste. Il se faisait de longs bruits
caverneux. L’air aspiré par les machines fusait à travers les galeries d’aération.
___________________________
20 Henri Marel, “Jules Verne, Zola et la mine”, Les Cahiers Naturalistes, 54 (1980),
187-200 (p. 196). This is one of the reasons why Marel concludes that “bien que
l’action se déroule sous terre au milieu de la houille”, Les Indes Noires does not
constitute “un roman de la mine” (pp. 187, 198).
toujours été dérangé” (p. 297). What actually caused his madness, his
degeneration, is never firmly established, but it seems clear that the
underground environment is not responsible, especially given the robust physical and mental health of the other miners.
In both Les Indes Noires and The Princess and the Goblin, the
underground is not only dwelling place but also workplace. In MacDonald’s text, the goblins live in close proximity to the miners – including Curdie and his father, Peter – working alongside. The young
hero’s work is shown to be uncomfortable and cramped, undertaken in
horribly warm conditions and exposed to the dangers of flooding in
particular. Yet despite these factors, mining is explicitly described as
being “not particularly unpleasant” (p. 48). Working in the “low and
rather dreary earth” (p. 93) has had an impact upon Curdie’s physical
condition since the lack of light and air below ground has left his face
“almost too pale”, just as the eyes of Nycteris are almost too large (p.
36). Yet he is nevertheless “a very nice-looking boy” (p. 35) and, although somewhat limited in his imaginative and spiritual capacities at
the start of the text, is certainly not in any way degenerate, like the
goblin population against whom he is pitted.
Mining is also at the very heart of Les Indes Noires, yet Verne
makes virtually no mention of the work undertaken in the underground. Coal City is much more a tourist destination, leisure park and
housing estate than it is a workplace. As Marel observes: “On ne voit
[…] jamais un groupe de mineurs ‘haver’ dans une taille. Dans cette
immense fourmilière, tout semble se faire dans la facilité.”
20 When the
mining process is briefly described at the beginning of Chapter Nineteen, active human subjects are almost entirely eradicated through the
use of the passive and of impersonal pronouns, as well as the focus on
the mechanical:
Ce jour-là, dans la Nouvelle-Aberfoyle, les travaux s’accomplissaient d’une
façon régulière. On entendait au loin le fracas des cartouches de dynamite,
faisant éclater le filon carbonifère. Ici, c’étaient les coups de pic et de pince qui
provoquaient l’abattage du charbon; là, le grincement des perforatrices, dont les
fleurets trouaient les failles de grès ou de schiste. Il se faisait de longs bruits
caverneux. L’air aspiré par les machines fusait à travers les galeries d’aération.
___________________________
20 Henri Marel, “Jules Verne, Zola et la mine”, Les Cahiers Naturalistes, 54 (1980),
187-200 (p. 196). This is one of the reasons why Marel concludes that “bien que
l’action se déroule sous terre au milieu de la houille”, Les Indes Noires does not
constitute “un roman de la mine” (pp. 187, 198).