How decisively did Hergé address this issue (of representation) from The Blue Lotus on, and in what ways did it remain problematic?
As detailed by Mountfort (2012), It would be difficult to argue that The Blue Lotus didn’t symbolise a change in direction for Hergé and the Tintin Series. In this text Hergé actively challenges many of the racist ideals that were present in his earlier texts. Harmful and sinophobic caricatures of Chinese nationals as cartoonish torturers and executioners were replaced with much more respectful and complex representation. Ideas of paternal imperialism that were prevalent in his earlier works are openly mocked in this text, as are similar notions of western supremacy and orientalism. For the most part Hergé’s portrayal of China is complex and politically empathetic towards the country’s long standing struggles against colonialist forces, both western and eastern. After The Blue Lotus, it appeared as if Hergé moved away from the overt racist themes and depictions present in earlier texts, however as many academics such as Mountfort and Dunnett (2009) identify, this ideological shift was likely a reduction in degree opposed to a complete political heel turn. Mountfort highlights that the Tintin comics continued to receive criticism on occasion for a series of unflattering caricatures, including representation of Japanese within The Blue Lotus itself, who were drawn as ‘pig-nosed’ and ‘slit-eyed’. This problematic depiction of the other, showcased Hergé was still capable of harmful characterisation either due to naiveté or his embedded catholic and conservative roots. Depictions of Africans as naive and requiring a white saviour in The Red Sea Sharks, and of Jewish people as an antagonistic force in The Shooting Star which published during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Belgium, are both examples of Hergé’s lasting struggle with respectful representation.
Similar criticisms further highlight potential remnants of Hergé’s conservative worldview and need to present an antagonised other via his construction of fictitious Balkan states of Borduria and Syldavia which present an almost orientalist and reductive view of the eastern European world, while idealising certain forms of European monarchy in the process. Dunnett also observed that the concepts of European predominance that characterised the themes of paternalistic imperialism in Hergé’s early works still remained throughout the later instalments of the series to a lesser degree. Tintin often participates in foreign conflicts as a mediator, providing ‘European expertise’ to various communities that are implicitly less capable at resolving the current contentions themselves (Dunnett, 2009), and western science is repeatedly used by Tintin to resolve the issues of supposedly less developed communities (Mountfort, 2012). The Adventures of Tintin’s Pervasive anti-Americanism, although presented as a critique of rampant and unfettered capitalism, is argued by Dunnett as having the same ideological origin – the supremacy of traditional European values.
Despite these criticisms of lasting problematic notions, there can be no doubt that a significant improvement occurred during and after the creation of The Blue Lotus. Although Hergé slipped up infrequently with a harmful notion or characterization in his later comics, many readers remember the Tintin series not for these occasional errors, but for the consistent encouragement of “timeless values” (Calamur, 2016) such as collaboration, tolerance, loyalty and protection of the vulnerable. The series’ transformation from a glamorized conservative propaganda piece to one that denounced Colonialism, dictatorship, exploitation and prejudice was an admirable and decisive shift in the right direction from Hergé. The core identity of the Tintin comics has been argued by some less critical academics as always having revolved around peaceful negotiation of political conflict, even in its more problematic years, and the development of Hergé’s understanding of the world has merely better allowed him to communicate this underlying egalitarian message in a more respectful manner (Rösch, 2014). With increasing awareness of coded narratives and social justice, it is however important to question whether this transformation was enough to overcome the prevailing problematic elements of the series that continue to exist to some degree even in the most modern of Tintin comics. Popular media, especially that consumed in childhood, defines in many ways how we see the world, making it increasingly important that its messaging promotes racial tolerance, understanding and fairness – In this regard Hergé’s creation has consistently succeeding in some regards, and tragically failed in others.
References
Mountfort, P. (2012). ‘Yellow skin, black hair … Careful, Tintin’: Hergé and Orientalism. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 34-49. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajpc.1.1.33_1
Dunnett, O. (2009). Identity and geopolitics in Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin. Social & Cultural Geography, 10(5), 583-589. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360902974449
Rösch, F. (2014). ‘Hooray! Hooray! the End of the World has been Postponed!’ Politics of Peace in the Adventures of Tintin?. Politics, 34(3), 225-236. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1111/1467-9256.12024
Calamur, K. (2016). Coming to Terms With Tintin. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/tintin/485501/
Pop Genres 2020 