- What gaps are there in Hergé’s representations of women?
The adventures of Tintin created by Hergé are predominantly from a masculine perspective. This is shown repeatedly throughout his works as female characters are frequently in the position of mother, caretaker, housekeep, nurse and wife. The only exception to this is the character of Bianca Castafiore, who is an opera singer and makes cameos through many of Tintin’s stories.
Therefore there are numerous gaps in the representation of women throughout Hergé’s texts. In public settings there is a distinct lack of female presence. Although women make up 50% of the population they make up less than a quarter of the people in group settings. Furthermore these women are usually attached to a man or a child. The independent women are missing from Tintin’s adventures.
There are no female protagonists or antagonists in the story arcs. The times that women are present they are depicted as emotional, nurturers, dramatic or bossy. They also have have very little dialogue and when they do it is relation to male characters in the story. For example, in The Black Island, Tintin is recovering in a hospital where a kind nurse says “he’s a lucky young man.” Furthermore another lady on a train admonishes the German villians for being rude. She says, “I beg your pardon! Never a proper hello. Never an excuse me. Never a polite goodbye.” To this Tintin responds with “Hello Ma’am, excuse me, goodbye.” This depiction of women is in line with that of a school matriarch.
Within the markets in the Arabic lands of “The Crab with Golden Claws” there are no women at all. Furthermore, the children depicted in the streets are boys. The only woman to make appearance in this story is the House keeper who screams when a man is kidnapped outside of Tintin’s home.
The women within Tintin’s adventures are often portrayed as lacking strength, physical, mental and emotional. Their dialogue is lacking in importance to the story, except when pointing out distressing situations. This is reinforced in “The Blue Lotus” with the mother wailing of her son’s predicament, whereby he is afflicted by poison to make him insane. At the end of the story while celebrations are underway as Tintin has saved the day she says “and to my son for getting well.” Analyse of Hergé’s work and the lack of agency in the female characters did little to gain change in the author.
“Hergé apparently ignores and arguably resists the challenges to women’s subordination which were being staged in various feminist ‘waves’ throughout the period of his life and work.” Mountfort, Paul (2020) pg 2.
Furthermore the author reinforced his position by suggesting that there was no place for women in Tintin’s world.
References:
Hergé, (1931) The Blue Lotus
Hergé (1938) The Adventures of Tintin – The Black Island
Hergé (1941) The Adventures of Tintin -The Crab with Golden Claw
Mountfort, P. (n.d.). ‘Tintin, gender and desire.’ Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829
Pop Genres 2020 