- What issues do his albums raise in terms of representation of ‘race’, and particularly ethnic and cultural stereotyping?
There’s no such thing as a positive stereotype. Even the ones that seem harmless or even complimentary, such as all Canadians are kind, Asians are intelligent, women are kinder, etc, can actually support a toxic mindset, and the damage that stereotypes do can sometimes be irreversible.
Personally, I was told at a young age that all Muslims are terrorists (must’ve been around four or five), and it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learnt that Muslims were actually a part of the Islam religion rather than a terrorist organization. Now, I was lucky that all this information actually came to me at a young age, not quite aware of the impact that 9/11 had nor had any chance to meet someone of the Islam faith attending a Christian school, or I likely would’ve hurt someone terribly.
Hergé promoted the idea that those of colour were less intelligent than white people to an insulting degree. That those who did not follow western customs were uncivilised ‘jungle-folk’ who needed guidance. Whether Hergé intended to do so or not, it likely would’ve grown the racial divide that already exists. To this day, people will say that black people are not smart enough to lead their own lives, that skin colour dictates our intelligence and that is why white people are the superior race.
Stereotypes like these reinforce past conceived notions that those of colour were savages, despite evidence to the contrary. For example, Native Americans were quite advanced in their inventions, so much so that Europeans were in awe and tried to explain away their skill by believing them to be descendants of Phoenician traders. They are credited with the invention of the kayak but they also made syringes made of hollow bird bones, and oral contraceptives that Western practices wouldn’t pick up until the 1960s. In spite of these facts, to this day, people only see Native Americans as those savage Indians Christopher Columbus discovered and aided (he didn’t).
Hergé was certainly a product of his time, while he held no ill will to those around him, his ignorance was his sharpest weapon. Unwilling to accept fault, and only changing for the sake of saving face rather than accepting responsibility.
References:
Kiger, P. J. (2019, November 14). 10 Native American inventions commonly used today. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/native-american-inventions
Mountfort, P. (2011). ‘Yellow skin, Black hair … careful, Tintin’: Hergé and orientalism. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajpc.1.1.33_1
Mountfort. (2016). Tintin as spectacle: The Backstory of a popular franchise and late capital. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, 1(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.5325/jasiapacipopcult.1.1.0037
Zawisza, M. (2018, August 28). The terrifying power of stereotypes – and how to deal with them. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/the-terrifying-power-of-stereotypes-and-how-to-deal-with-them-101904
Pop Genres 2020 