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In this blog, I will be discussing Herge’s early comics’ alleged connection to propaganda. In this, I will be mentioning Tintin.

Propaganda according to the Merriam- webster dictionary refers to propaganda as “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. Or ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause,” (Merriam- Webster dictionary, 2020). It is no secret that the man behind the name Herge, Georges Prosper Remi, held a conservative right-wing point of view (Mountfort, 2020) with him even in his later years refusing to accept the reading of Tintin as a possible member of the LGBT community (Mountfort, 2020). However, the question is whether he as Herge brought these beliefs and in some cases prejudices into his comics? If that is the case was it in a deliberate manner in order further early conservative and far right-leaning groups or to damage opposing causes to the far right?

In regards to Herge bringing his personal beliefs into his early work one does not have to look far, unfortunately, to find Tintin in the Congo a comic that played into many racist motif’s such as the depiction of the Congolese characters as having the large red lips as well as the depiction of Tintin, the white character, taking on a role of teacher to the uneducated natives(Herge, 1991). In regards to Herge stance on the political movement at the time one can look at the comic Tintin in the land of the soviets one could only describe this comic as Herge’s expressing his anti-Bolshevik point of view with his readers which would be putting it lightly with one of the panels depicting the soviet citizens attending their election while at gunpoint(Herge, 1989).

The question now becomes whether these examples were Herge’s deliberate attempt to spread the message of the far right-wing conservatives who then evolved into a fascist movement and the anti-Bolshevik movement. In regards to Tintin in the Congo, one notes the one-dimensional discussion of the realities of the Congolese people and the Belgian colonisation Tintin in the Congo gives a sanitised version of the horrifying reality in the Congo replacing those facts with a nice comic panel of Tintin educating the native Congolese children on their home country Belgium (Mountfort, 2020) and there is a chance Herge version of the story could have been effective in spreading the pro colonisation ideas however one can’t be too clear on whether it was deliberate or not. However, in regard to Herge spreading the anti-Bolshevik movement deliberately there is no doubt in it as Herge himself has admitted to this himself (Mountfort, 2012).

Tintin being a franchise that expands over multimedia and many decades has touched so many lives mine included. As someone who read graphic novels, comic books and anime the Tintin franchise was one of the first of its kind that I came across in the side of the kiddie of the library. I loved these adventures, in particular, Explorers on the moon (Herge, 1959) as I went through a period in which I was obsessed with anything relating to space. But just because I enjoy these comics and hold nostalgic feelings towards it doesn’t mean I am unable to separate my enjoyment from the blatant propaganda and racism within Herge work. Is Tintin enjoyable yes is the connection between these texts and propaganda also yes.

References

Herge(creat). (1991). Adventures of tintin in the congo. Brussels, Belgium: Casterman, Egmont.

Herge (creat). (1959). Explorers on the moon. London, England: Methuen.

Herge(creat). (1989). Tintin in the land of the soviets. Not available: Sundancer.

Mounfort, P (auth). (2020). Tintin: the franchise and hergé’s the blue lotus (1983; 1936). Retrieved from https://blackboard.aut.ac.nzwebapps/blackboard/content/ listContent.jsp?course_id=96250_1&content_id=_5273101_1&mode=reset

Mountfort, P. (2012). ‘Yellow skin, black hair … careful, tintin’: hergé and orientalism. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 33 – 49. Retrieved from https://black board.aut.ac.nz/webapps/b lackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_96250_1&content_id=_5273101_1&mode=reset

Not available. (Accessed August 2020).”Propaganda.” merriam-webster dictonary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda

What gaps are there in Hergé’s representations of women?

The Adventures have been criticised for not only the notable absence of women but the lack of positive or liberating representation of the female figures that do appear throughout the albums. Even where there are some exceptions, such as Bianca Castafiore and Peggy Alcazar, the overarching this-is-a-man’s-world mindset still prevails passively in their depiction.

Hergé’s claim to “like women far too much to caricature them” can also be read as not liking women enough to support their liberation. Women shown throughout the Adventures are consistently depicted as silent and domicile, and exclusively assigned roles in the domestic and maternal sphere: mother, maid, homemakers, caregivers – “[they] are visually and narratively backgrounded…mere figures in the crowd” (Mountfort, 2020). It is also blatant that there are no female speaking characters in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, and in Tintin in the Congo where a few women did have dialogue, they were only brief expressions of anger or annoyance, further instilling the image of women as irritants (Mountfort, 2020). Although some may regard Tintin as a product of prominent ideologies of the time – as this is how he justified his crude representations of Congolese in Tintin in the Congo – it remains problematic because he ignored challenges to women’s subordination despite the waves of feminism that occurred throughout his life (Mountfort, 2020). The resistance of female liberation does not completely if at all excuse this, especially in considering the many ‘barrier breakers’ that emerged during this period – female aviators, intellectuals, writers and artists to name some (Mountfort, 2020). It is also ironic in understanding that the second wave of feminism focused on issues of equality and discrimination, with an emphasis on dismantling the role of women in the family and home (Burkett & Brunell, 2020). The issue here is not the expectation that Hergé should have feminist leanings, but with an awareness of the second wave of feminism being well underway in the 60s and 70s, we can see this prevailing, reductive depiction of women as Hergé “passively reinscribing gender dominants” (Mountfort, 2020).

There are a handful of female characters who appear to be deviations from these representations, which may signify Hergé finally waking up to women’s liberation. Hergé’s acknowledgement however is expressed in a parodied way (Mountfort, 2020). For example, Peggy Alcazar is depicted as the bossy woman of the house, often depicted barking orders, with curlers in her hair (ibid., 2020). We also have Castafiore who surpasses the female servitude motif but although she is the most developed female in the albums for extending beyond the maternal, domestic sphere, it is problematic that her she is portrayed as a nuisance. It is worth noting that the feature of the medium Madame Yamilah and other female roles we see that are outside of the realm of the home and family such as flight attendants and nurses, are problematic because they are nameless for the most part, and these are commonly hypersexualized and hyperfeminized “fantasy fixtures of the male gaze” – Madame Yamilah represents the mystical oriental trope, and roles such as the flight attendant and nurse are still constricted to the idea of servitude.

References

Burkett, E., & Brunell, L. (2020). Feminism. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism

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

What gaps are there in Hergé’s representations of women?

Throughout The Adventures of Tintin, there persist numerous issues with Hergé’s representation of women and the roles that they occupy within each respective story. Hergé often relegates female characters to either extremely simplistic or inactive roles, with little to no character depth or development. Mountfort (2020) elaborates that throughout the Tintin series, women are almost solely confined to either background, domestic or quotidian roles. Evidence of which has been present within the Tintin series since the very first volume, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1930).

In this adventure, there is a distinct absence of meaningful female characters. The only females present are demoted to merely background props in crowds with no lines of dialogue. This nonexistence of female characters continues in later volumes of Tintin. Throughout both Explorers on the Moon (1954) and The Shooting Star (1942), females make exceptionally few appearances and contribute very little to each respective adventure.

In addition to the few appearances female characters do make in the Tintin series, they are also very limited in the roles which they play. Most of the female characters are assigned stereotypical domestic or maternalistic roles, evident in the numerous housewife and nursing characters spread throughout the series. Furthermore, in later volumes of Tintin, while more impactful female characters are introduced, such as Peggy Alcazar in Tintin and the Picaros (1975), they typically tend to serve as either comedic relief or a nuisance to the main characters.

This poor representation of women in Tintin suggests to the reader that such adventures are not suitable for women. Which is a dangerous message to send, considering the global success and influence of the Tintin series.

Hergé has attempted to justify his poor representation of women by stating that ‘women have nothing to do in a world like Tintin’s. I like women far too much to caricature them. And, besides, pretty or not, young or not, women are rarely comic characters’ (Sadoul, 1989, p. 93, as cited in Mountfort, 2020). Despite being aware of his poor representation of women within the Tintin series, Hergé does very little to remedy these issues in later volumes.

References.

Hergé (1930). Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.

Hergé (1942). The Shooting Star.

Hergé (1954). Explorers on the Moon.

Hergé (1975). Tintin and the Picaros.

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

Mountfort, P. (2020). Tintin and gender part 1 [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

How decisively did Hergé address this issue from The Blue Lotus on, and in what ways did it remain problematic?

The Blue Lotus (1935) is regarded as the most ethnographically, historically and politically rooted of all the Tintin adventures, however, ongoing analysis of his works have in turn raised some questions and confusion around genuineness and intention. Hergés wavering position historically can be contested on a number of contradicting elements throughout the albums especially in regards to ethnic stereotyping.

Hergés introduction to and the subsequent friendship with student Chang Chong-chen resulted in a shift in Hergés portrayal of othered peoples and places. He strived to achieve a greater degree of realism and displayed an awareness of the political and economic situation of the time, under the guidance of Chang (Mountfort 2012). This was in great contrast to previous albums such as Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo where racist caricatures were used to illustrate African people. The Blue Lotus is thus “a turning point in Herge’s evocation of the Other” and challenges sinophobic stereotypes by advocating a Chinese view of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (Mountfort 2012).

Even with the sympathetic position Hergé takes in The Blue Lotus, it is contested that the series is still unable to completely rid of an Orientalist gaze (Mountfort 2012). It can also be questioned as to whether Hergés new approach may have actually caused more misunderstanding in that he has attempted to “make the Other more palatable to a European audience by stripping it of elements that are too powerfully Other” (Mountfort, 2012). For example, part of the sympathetic portrayal of the Chinese is that they are depicted by using neutral, European features to make them look less ‘alien’ and therefore less confronting – in juxtaposition, reductive and racist iconography is used to depict the Japanese, such as slit eyes, a ‘pig-snouted’ nose and other exaggeratedly Asian features – Hergé has attempted to humanize one by dehumanizing another (Mountfort 2012). Whether or not Hergé was conscious of the influence this would have globally, the deasianization of Chinese and the hyperasianization of Japanese in The Blue Lotus were problematic in large due to the very nature of the media form itself. These images were seen worldwide, thus simultaneously contributing to the process of further othering Japanese while also reducing Chinese to an oriental ally. It is also important to note that The Adventures were propagandistic to begin with, designed to sell ideologies rapidly (Mountfort, 2016).

Hergé raises more questions in albums published after The Blue Lotus, such as Tintin in Tibet, where he maintains a much more apolitical stance despite the wildly underway Tibetan uprising. The series is based on the rescue of Chang by Tintin, who had a dream that Chang was stranded in the Himalayan mountains. This can be understood as Hergé reinscribing the white paternalistic hero motif (Mountfort, 2012), insinuating in the same scope that non-white Europeans need to be saved, and that white Europeans will save you out of the goodness of their hearts. Hergé also does not give the same level of criticism as he did with the Japanese in The Blue Lotus – he seems to abandon what appeared to be a growing understanding of Asia in The Blue Lotus, in favour of depicting the white hero motif in an exotic land.

References

Hergé, 1935. Tintin: The Blue Lotus.

Mountfort, P. (2016). Tintin as Spectacle: The Backstory of a Popular Franchise and Late Capital. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, 1(1), 37-56.

Mountfort, P. (2012). ‘Yellow skin, black hair… Careful, Tintin’: Hergé and Orientalism. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 33-49.