J.-H. Rosny aîné
| J.-H. Rosny aîné | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Henri Honoré Boex 17 February 1856 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 11 February 1940 (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Nationality | Belgian, French |
| Occupation | author |
| Known for | science fiction |
J.-H. Rosny was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (17 February 1856 – 11 February 1940), a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he wrote in the French language, together with his younger brother Séraphin Justin François Boex under the pen name J.-H. Rosny until 1909. After they ended their collaboration Joseph Boex continued to write under the name "Rosny aîné" (Rosny the Elder) while his brother used J.-H. Rosny jeune (Rosny the Younger).
Rosny aîné was very much like H. G. Wells or Olaf Stapledon in his concepts and his way of dealing with them in his novels. He was the second most important figure after Jules Verne in the history of modern French science fiction.
Because his writing was not translated into English before after his death, and his readers did not always understand his science fiction novels, his impact on the early evolution of the genre was limited.
Rosny’s first science fiction tale was the short story Les Xipéhuz [The Shapes] (1887), in which primitive humans (the story takes place a thousand years before Babylonian times) encounter inorganic aliens, with whom all forms of communication prove impossible. Men eventually drive away the invaders, but the hero mourns the loss of another life. This was the first time that science fiction had abandoned its usual anthropomorphic approach in the description of alien life.
The story "Un Autre Monde" ["Another World"] (1895) establishes that humans share the Earth with the land-bound Moedigen (Dutch for 'brave ones') and the air-borne Vuren ('fires'), two infinitely flat and invisible species who cohabit with us. Only a mutant whose vision is superior to that of ordinary men can see them. In Le Cataclysme [The Cataclysm] (1896), an entire region of France sees the physical laws of nature change, as a result of the arrival of a mysterious electro-magnetic entity from outer space.
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