Author: rachellisabanks

Week Two – Tintin

4. What issues do his albums raise in terms of representation of ‘race’, and particularly ethnic and cultural stereotyping?

Tintin is an adventure, a traveler and a hero. Interestingly his stories often overlap with foreign cultures and are set on foreign lands. Most of these lands have been colonized by European nations who are in the process of civilizing the natives.

In studying the series of Tintin adventures there are numerous depictions of either an oversimplification of race or a blatant reinforcement of the cultural stereotypes already in existence. Moreover, Tintin’s adventures are from a Euro-centric point of view and leave him in the position of the white saviour with each heroic victory. Some of his depictions of the ‘other’ seem almost are unaware of the stereotypes Hergé is reinforcing, while other Tintin serials represent race in a blatantly racist way.

The most famous early works to cause racial offence is Hergé (1930-31) Tintin in the Congo. In this serial he depicts the indigenous population as being childlike, unintelligent, with features that closely resemble Gorillas.

Other problematic depictions are of Arab people, Indians, Chinese and Japanese. Each ethnicity or culture is usually depicted as either underestimated or as needing their European Colonizers or Allies to survive. Curiously the depiction of Japanese in “The Crab with Golden Claw” is one of mutual respect for a Japanese policeman who helps Tintin unveil an international drug smuggling ring.  Whereas, the depiction of Japanese in The Golden Lotus, show Japanese people as evil, manipulative and invaders of the Chinese. This is shown with the caricature of the Japanese appearance with large oversized teeth, extremely slanted eyes and an almost pig like nose.

This change in the physical appearance of race could signal a change in Herge’s political affiliations, his new found friendship with a Chinese student, or it could be used in the popular way that villains are depicted in fairy tales. These evil doers are often portrayed with ugly, oversized features. It is worth considering this as an option in this book. Although Chang’s warning, “be careful, they are not Chinese,” may point in the direction of racism.

His later works, The Black Island (1938), his villains are of German ethnicity. They are portrayed as calculating homicidal criminals. They are drawn with thin moustaches and pursued mouths. This serial coincides with a time in history leading into World War Two when anti-German sentiment is high amongst Belguim, France and other Allies such as the British. Tintin travels through these countries on his hunt for the German Dr Mueiller. He finally tracks him down in Scotland. While in Scotland Herge again reinforces the stereotypes of the Scottish with Tintin taking on the traditional Scottish costume, wearing a kilt. Inherently, the other Scottish people are not wearing kilts in the story.

The question I’m left with; Is Hergé racist, naive or does he create art based on the political climate of the times?

References:
Dunnett, O. (2009). Identity and geopolitics in Hergé’s adventures of Tintin. Social and Cultural Geography, 10(5), 583–598. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1080/14649360902974449

Frey, H. (2004). Contagious colonial diseases in Hergé’s The adventures of Tintin. Modern & Contemporary France, 12(2), 177–188. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/10.1080/09639480410001693043

Hergé (1930-31) Tintin in the Congo

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

Mukherjee, D. (2016). Domesticating the “Other”: An Analysis of the Appropriation of Non-Humans by Humanistic Discourse in Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 8(1), 214.

Racism in Children’s Books: Tintin in the Congo. (2007). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 56, 14.

Week 1, by Rachel Banks

  1. How has the academic reception of popular genres changes over time?

Traditional academic studies of culture have tended to focus on “high” culture subjects, such as Art, classical music and literature. This academic study was based on European and Western culture. Contributors to this kind of culture were predominantly White/European males with access to education and wealth. To create such cultural contributions the authors needed independent wealth or wealthy benefactors. This made it unlikely for the mass population to be able to contribute to culture in this way.

With the technological progression of printing presses rose a new form of cultural literature. These were often in the form of pamphlets, newspapers, short stories and novellas. Further technology rose to include coloured printing and the ability to print pictures in mass. These mass produced materials became popular with the less educated classes and were described by academics as being of “low taste” verses the “high taste” literature studied by the elite.

“Despite the popularity and critical impact of comics and graphic narrative, academics have been late to the examination of the field.” Freedman, A. (2011).

With the increased publications and creation of more than classic literature, telling stories, academics must accept that these forms of popular genres have a place in the study of society, McAlister, J. (2018). Popular genres, such as television, film, comic books, radio, fantasy and science fiction are also using subject material to give voices to those more marginalized members of society.

  1. What might the value be of studying them?

“The mixture of advocacy and analysis, fandom and critique, amateur and professional study, and artistic self-definition and critical examination characteristic of comics criticism poses challenges to the border between high art and popular culture and between word and image.” Freedman, A. (2011).

Popular genres offer another window into society’s popular culture. By studying these works we can ascertain more about societies political, social and religious beliefs. Popular genres often give voices to those not traditionally celebrated in classic literature or “high taste” culture. These included women, the working class, sexually diverse, gender diverse, culturally diverse and indigenous voices and those affected by post colonization.

Furthermore, popular genres are less constrained by classic literature. They can explore notions of magic, science fiction, the future, fantasy worlds etc. For example Tolkien (1954) Lord of the Rings Trilogy explores the notions of philosophical consequences, Mountfort, Paul (2020). Likewise, Hergé’s series of books give Tintin an opportunity weave in social and political discussion, as is shown in Hergé (1931)The Blue Lotus, where Japanese invade China.

References:
Freedman, A. (2011). Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Narrative: A Review. Literature Compass, 8(1), 28.

Hergé, (1931) The Blue Lotus

McAlister, J. (2018). Defining and Redefining Popular Genres: The Evolution of “New Adult” Fiction. Australian Literary Studies, 33(4), 1–19.

Mounfort, P (auth). (2020). ENGL602 popular genres. Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=96250_1&content_id=_5273101 1&mode=reset

Tolkien, J. R. R (writ). (1954). The lord of the rings. United Kingdom: George Allen & Co