Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History

Comment on "Forecasts of Warfare in Fiction"Author(s): Martin SchwarzSource: Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Oct., 1967), p. 26Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/177586 .

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COMMENT ON "FORECASTS OF WARFARE IN FICTION"

In his "Forecasts of Warfare in Fiction: 1803-1914", I. F. Clarke considers for the greatest part English books and articles, with only a few references to the French fictional output on future wars in the nineteenth century. The most prominent place is given to Captain Danrit and his trilogy. Not a single well known French author is mentioned in the article, with the exception of Victor Hugo, who does not fit into the category of writings which interest Professor Clarke. The reason for this seemingly strange omission is simple: to the best of my knowledge no well-known artist of the nineteenth century dealt with this topic in French letters. This article presents the French scholar with a most interesting question: why weren't there any French authors of renown who forecast warfare, why can France not boast of having produced an H. G. Wells? I can only advance an hypothesis. The so-called Romantics were much more interested in presenting their personal visions of a golden age in their prose works, than in forecasting wars which would hinder the evolution of society towards a better future, and thus shatter their dreams. The so-called realists, on the other hand, were satisfied to describe events which had already taken place, and which for the most, they them- selves had witnessed. Hence there are some major battle scenes in French literature, as well as many short tales illustrating the horrors of war, but no forecasting. This kind of fiction was taken up by military men, like Captain Danrit, who could boast of greater achievements on the battle field than in the belles lettres, and with one or two notable exceptions, this seems to be true also for the British. No work of excellence emerged from the many plays, articles and novels which forecast warfare. The reason for this should be taken up by literary scholars. Their findings would supplement 1. F. Clarke's thorough study.

MARTIN SCHWARZ

University of Michigan

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