Author: emilypickavance

Week 3 Question

What is Castafiore’s role in the Adventures?

Tintin has become an increasingly popular comic series from its inception to today’s era. One of the most notable things about Tintin, besides the loud racism, is the disappearance of femininity and females in general. Rather interestingly though, the main protagonist (Tintin) seems to scream androgynous, but he also has been referred to as appearing more feminine by many theorists. 

Madame Bianca Castafiore is a character within the Tintin universe that seems to be the only proper woman ever introduced to the young boy. Throughout time this has sparked both curiosity and annoyance within the community of popular genres because of the blatant misuse and slander towards women. Mountfort (2020), explains that the character of Castafirore may be female, but she is definitely not portrayed as the nice typical feminine beauty or even as a normal woman. In fact, she often gets in the way of Tintin and whenever she does make an appearance it is either at bad unwanted times, or she is invading the space of others around her. 

Mountfort (2020), discusses that women in the Tintin universe are more often either non-existent or far off background characters. This relates to the ideologies of Herge and his opinions on women. Herge once said that women strictly do not belong in Tintin’s world and that they are hardly ever characters in comics anyway (Mountfort, 2020). Taking all of this in, it is hard to digest that Herge blatantly refuses to draw women within his comics, but even harder to understand is when he does decide to depict a female they are bigheaded divas. 

The eighteenth volume of Tintin, The Calculus Affair, shows a softer side to Madame Castafiore as she actually helps Tintin by distracting the character Colonel Sponsz which aids the escape of both Tintin and Captain Haddock (Herge, 1992). This is, however, one of the only times she is presented as useful within the series. Any other times of representation, Castafiore’s personality is the dramatic diva that ruins the masculine atmosphere surrounding Tintin. Her physical appearance is no better. Herge has drawn Castafiore in such a way that quite resembles the boarish depiction of Viking woman. Undoubtedly she stands taller than most male characters, with a monstrous bust, large eagle nose, and a bigger body mass. 

Another point that has readers rather choked up with the portrayal of women is the blatant sexualization of Madame Castafiore with the twenty-first volume titled The Castafiore Emerald. If the title was not revealing enough, the comic goes on to correlate the emerald with Madame Castafiore’s clit and the idea of her “removing it from her box-” and “touching it” whilst singing “Ah, ahhhh”.   (Mountfort, 2020).

Herge. (1992). The Calculus Affair [Cartoon]. Spain: Methuen Children’s Books.

Mountfort, P. (2020) ‘Tintin, gender and desire’, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. doi: 10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829

Mountfort, P. (2020). ENGL602 Tintin and Gender Part 1 [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Mountfort, P. (2020). ENGL602 Tintin and Gender Part 2 [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Week 5 Question

What is the ‘shōjo’ and how does it often function in anime?

The “Shojo” is a popular Japanese term that translates into “girl or maiden” (Dollase, 2003). The term is often related to that of a young female character within both anime and manga and is aimed primarily at an audience of younger females. The Shojo is often portrayed in romanticised art styles with flowery language and feminine outlooks to attract the attention of young girls. 

The shojo first became popular throughout the late 19th century through manga and magazines that most Japanese girls would read (Thorn, 2001). Often, the shojo is depicted as the protagonist and heroine in the story, and many famous anime films created by the famous Studio Ghibli such as Spirited Away, Nausicaa, and Princess Mononoke show this character perfectly. Within anime, the shojo functions through the character of a girl, typically pre-teen, that embarks on otherworldly adventures to complete tasks that save either themselves or their entourage of friends, families, and people (Mountfort, 2020). Spirited Away stands as a perfectly famous anime film that represents the shojo because, through its wackiness, a young girl by the name of Chihiro must save herself and her parents from a curse by working within the realm of spirits in a typical Japanese bathhouse. Within the early stages, the shojo was presented originally through manga and became increasingly popular, not just because it empowered females, but because it showed a different style of setting and artistic style through friendship and quite commonly love (Prough, 2010). 

Dollase (2003), includes an example of the shojo through the famous Hanamonogatari book and explains that the stories are made particularly for school girls that wish to neglect expectations around them and focus on appreciating their ‘girlhoods’ for longer. Dollase (2003), also uses the words of others to bring in the idea that many stories that use the idea of the shojo are often a symbolic jail for girls to hide from freedom, and also seek safety and protection from the outside world that takes advantage of them. Young girls are deprived and frequently turn to their inner selves for discovery.

References

Dollase, H. T. (2003). Early twentieth-century Japanese girls’ magazine stories: examining shojo voice in Hanamonogatari (Flower tales). Journal of Popular Culture, 36(4), 724.

Mountfort, P. (2020). ENGL602 Pop Genres 2020 Week 5 Anime Part 2 [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Prough, J. (2010). Shojo manga in Japan and abroad. Manga: An anthology of global and cultural perspectives, 93-106.Thorn, M. (2001). Shōjo Manga—Something for Girls. Japan Quarterly, 48(3), 43-50.

Thorn, M. (2001). Shōjo Manga—Something for Girls. Japan Quarterly, 48(3), 43-50.