Category: Week 2 Questions – Tintin

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

If the term ‘aged like milk’ has any accuracy, then the flavour of the older Tintin albums is at times remarkably sour. Over the long course of the series Hergé has built an impressive roster of cultural stereotypes that have been the cause of criticism in modern days. The first example appeared in the very first volume Land of the soviets where the Chinese are depicted with eyes so slanted, they are literally just lines on their faces, with pig tale haircuts that are about to torture Tintin. Arguably the most outrageous case comes in the second volume Tintin in the Congo. In this volume, African people are depicted with comically oversized rounded lips that are a bright red in colored versions, large eyes relative to other characters, speaking in broken english, wearing western clothing incorrectly, and having low intelligence. Tintin educates the natives about Belgium, a reference to the ‘Belgian Congo’, the Belgian colonial exploits of Congo, in which the natives were exploited and exposed to violence, while also given little in the way of healthcare and education. As Hergé explains it, The inclusion of this in the comic was meant to be a reflection of his paternalistic feelings in regard to the colony. This is the first example of Hergé’s misguided attempts at including race in his work. Not only is the profile of the natives in the comic highly stereotypical and degrading, but Tintin is also in the unfortunate role of the white man that fixes their problems and becomes their ‘master’. A year later in Cigars of the Pharaohs the artistic depictions of Africans still remain consistent. Hergé’s depiction of native Americans was a slight improvement, with the primary goal of his third entry Tintin in America being intended as a critique of American capitalism and treatment of Native Americans. The Native Americans in the comic are written to be sympathetic, but Hergé still depicts them as gullible and naive, as well as less intelligent than the white characters. With the fifth volume The Blue Lotus the visual depictions of the Chinese characters have toned down from their depictions in Land of the Soviets which may be due to the fact that Hergé’s view of the Chinese in this story was sympathetic unlike in Land of the soviets. This maybe explains why his depiction of the Japanese antagonistic force in The Blue Lotus was more questionable, with his visual depiction of the character Mitsuhirato being suspiciously similar to anti Japanese war propaganda. Whether Hergé chooses to view other races in a paternalistic or sympathetic manner, their depictions still are more often than not problematic. I do believe that Hergé is not a racist and that the messaging of his work is well meaning, but ultimately misguided in execution. This is best illustrated by Tintin himself, who educates the Congolese and solves their problems, because they need him to. Who nearly gets killed by Native Americans that were easily tricked and imposed on by the ‘bad whites’. Who saves a drowning Chinese boy, and treats him as someone he needs to protect. Hergé’s paternalistic and sympathetic views on other races resulted in depictions of these races that required a smart competent white man to help them, and that is why the early volumes have aged like milk all these years later.

Mountfort, Paul. (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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Lotus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_the_Land_of_the_Soviets      

Week 2 Questions – Tintin

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

Tintin in the Congo was an early work of Herges and depicts blatant, and racist caricatures of black people, it depicts the Congolese people as having exaggerated features like larger red lips contrasting their extremely black skin reminiscent of blackface, and more often than not these racist caricatures also show them of having little to no intelligence, by making them confused over western objects like guns. To the reader, they end up looking like complete idiots who would still be uncivilized “savages”, if not for the colonizers who introduce their own idea of education. This is further proven in the panels when Tintin enters into a classroom and begins to teach the class by saying, “talk to you about your country: Belgium!”, which pushes the idea of the colonizers being white saviours and the native Congolese as displaced in their own land, as it now belongs to Belgium. Herge had clear political views as he had a background in working for a rightwing magazine, and those ideals had remained with him long into his career on Tintin, as races other than white seemed to be boiled down to mere caricatures of themselves constantly playing out stereotypes, while the white golden boy Tintin goes around stumbling his way into success, and returns home to a big parade.

It is clear what Herges political affiliations were, and through the albums; Tintin in the land of the soviets, it was thinly veiled anti-communist propaganda, “…the first two Tintin albums are pure right-wing propaganda.” (Mountfort, 2016), and once again looking at Tintin in the Congo, its imperialist propaganda which seeks to demoralize the Congolese by making them seem lesser in intelligence and portraying them as “Savages”, who don’t know how to use basic technological advancements like gramophones. Herge also displayed multiple cases where he would depict different races as mere caricatures, for example; the depiction of  Chinese people as pigtailed torturers in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929), and native Americans, as people who are constantly begging for money in; “Tintin in America” (1930) also, his caricatures of black people in, “Tintin in the Congo”, “Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaohs”(1932), “The Red Sea Sharks (1956-8) “.  

Herge did, however, change many of his depictions of other races when being reprinted, For example; “Tintin in America”, the depiction of the Native American character was changed, taking away him begging and smoking a pipe. His views on Chinese pope were changed as well, in, “The Blue Lotus (1935-6) ”, where the Chinese are drawn normally, and Tintin even defends an Asian Rickshaw driver against a racist character who was shouting, “Dirty little China-man!…to barge into a White-man!”, with Tintin responding with, “Brute”, and “Your conduct is disgraceful sir!”. Despite this, he continued to portray a Japanese character; “Hergé’s representation of the Japanese villain Mitsuhirato as pig-snouted and therefore risibly subhuman”(Mountfort, 2012). and squinty eyes in the same album, which could mean he didnt actually grow as a person and realise his transgressions, and the only reason for better depiction of Chinese people is because of his student and friend; Zhang Chongren. 

Herge was known to be critical of the Nazi regime in the 1930s, as he took a hard stance against Japanese Imperialism, but when the Nazis took over Belgium, Herge continued to draw propaganda cartoons for the “Le Soir” newspaper. It is important to note that many other Belgian Newspapers refused to publish for the Nazis and preferred that they shut down. However, Herge was an outspoken critic of how Americans stole land from the already settled tribes and basically pushed them into alcohol addiction and homelessness, as shown in, “Bayonet diplomacy”, in “Tintin in America”, which depicts this. All in all, Herge was a complicated person with political and ideological views that were clearly conservative, he has shown grown in his depictions of some races but not others and his continued success despite the Nazi regime could mean he may have supported it to some extent. In my opinion, we should read Tintin and his adventures as just adventures, with the death of the author, and treat them as a reflection of what people were thinking in that time period. 

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_

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

1. 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

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

The adventures of Tintin were created by a cartoonist named George Remi also known as Herge on paper. This was created with a series of 24 bande dessinee albums resulting in success and becoming one of the most popular European comics of the 20^th century. However, these comics have become and been a big controversy due to the representation of race and other cultural stereotyping.

A few issues that I came across are listed below:

1.The drawings and representations of Jews were very stereotypical. Herge gave the Jewish characters large long noses, thick lips and presented them as overweight and in the need of classes. All of his Jewish characters were never the stars of the comic, they were much rather the scheming money lending type of characters.

2.Objectification is a very big problem, One picture shows Tintin supposedly finding or coming across a red Indian. “Look Snowy… A real Red Indian.” Tintin is well dressed, standing, holding a camera while looking down on the man sitting on the ground in a blanket outside. From this here we can tell that it’s a symbol of white supremacy. The old man resembles homeless people and from this it suggests that homeless people aren’t white but the natives and indigenous.

3. Tintin travels to the Congo as a colonist and teaches geography to the indigenous, however he describes the Congo as Belgian. Implying that their land is no theirs and that they cannot identify it their way.  On Tintins journey he ‘is in need of a boy’ this labels slavery and proves the hierarchy Europeans had over the non-Europeans. Tintin is worshipped like a deity, he instructs, demands and speaks down to the people while they reply in broken English and work hard. “me tired!” In the comic there are shrines of the Congo people bowing and worshipping Tintin, however the language used presents them to be unintelligent. “and if you not good, you never be like Tintin!” “Me never before see…..” These lines are degrading and don’t show any respect as it stereotypes that the Congo people are unable to speak the supposed ‘proper’ English.

There are many, many, many ways to unpack the issues within Tintin and with a deep analysis the problems that only seemed like a few pictures and words can become very controversial and an uproar in this modern-day society. The representation of race in Herges The adventures of Tintin does not represent that everyone is equal. It degrades and dehumanizes non-Europeans and it presents an obvious white supremacy and hierarchy.

Although some particular groups of people have controversial opinions towards Tintin (Bentahar, 2012). However, it remains to be a forerunner in several ways. At first, the original intention to creating Tintin collections is to promote the value of religion to Belgian children and then Hergé changed his intentions and incentives to create these collections especially after the album ‘the blue lotus’. 

In the album ‘‘The Blue Lotus’ (Hergé, 1936), Hergé challenges the stereotypes of orientalism and sinophobic by creating a friendship between the main character Tintin and a Chinese boy that Tintin meets in his adventure and shows the invader image of Japan in this album. Japanese government once required an apology due to its prevalence and impact of this album. In this album, Hergé tried to erase the stereotypes of Chinese from mainstream western cultures in 1936 and tried to avoid falling into the sinophobic stereotypes due to the friendship between he and Chang Chong-chen. Chang Chong-chen is Hergé’s friend that introduces Chinese line drawing, poetry and more importantly, the political situation to him. Thus, Herge’s attitude and viewpoints in this album toward China were significantly different from other western mainstream perspectives back that time. This contemporary literature reveals western countries a new view of other cultures by representing a new value and viewpoints to them. 

This album reveals a brave and sturdy hero image of Tintin and his Chinese friends that he saved in China and professor Feng from a Japanese drug dealer Yamato and help Didi to recover from the madness poison. More importantly, the invader image of the Japanese had been revealed in this album which was been denied before by the Japanese government. His friend Chang Chong-chen assists Hergé to describe and create this album from a more objective and comprehensive perspective and views and thus this album was a reality-based-on collection. 

References

Bentahar, Z. (2012). Tintin in the Arab World and Arabic in the World of Tintin. ALTERNATIVE FRANCOPHONE, 1(5), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.29173/af12250

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

Week 2 Questions – Tintin

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

The legal dispute began in 2007 when Congolese Belgian citizen Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo filed a lawsuit against the release of the comic book, claiming that the comic book is full of racial demeanor. Mbutu argues that “it makes people think that ‘black people are savage’.”

However, the law ruled, “It is clear that this cartoon came out in 1946, when colonial thinking prevailed, and it was not intended to create a threatening, hostile or contemptuous atmosphere in the plot.”

Mbutu’s lawyer said, “Mbutu will hold on to this case as far as possible,” and said he will appeal.

The first edition of the controversial book, <Tintin in the Congo> was published in 1946 when Congo was under Belgian colonial rule. Cartoons have explicit white supremacist views everywhere, with black natives lying flat behind Tintin and puppies, saying, “White people are very great and spiritual,” or riding on a palanquin. Tintin series portrays not only blacks but also Asian and Native Americans as a silly and barbaric image.

Hergé said in a media interview during his lifetime, “When I drew <Tintin in the Land of the Soviets> and the <Tintin in the Congo>. I was fed the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me, Africans were great big children andI drew cartoons based on that standard,” he once confessed.

Historical background

After the success of <Tintin in the Land of the Soviets>, Hergé wanted to send Tintin to the United States, but Norbert Wallez, the editor of the far right, instructed Hergé to draw a story that took place in Belgium’s ruled Congo. Wallez believed that Belgium’s colonial rule of the Congo at that time needed to be promoted, as Tintinist Michael Farr Pa pointed out. It was in 1928 when the memory of Belgian King Albert and Queen Elizabeth’s visit to the colony was still vivid. During Leopold’s reign, about 10 million Congolese died in brutal rule, such as cutting off their hands if they failed to meet their quotas. Hergé later sarcastically referred to the Congolese as “our beautiful colony that needs us very much.”

On a comparative note, a parody comic book with such racist characteristics has also been created. South African cartoonist Anton Kannemeyer (1967–) tackled the issue of racial relations and imperialism by using the style of <Tintin in the Congo>. He parodies this with Pappa in Afrika (2010), where Tintin is depicted as a white African resident, white liberal or racist, white imperialist. It satirizes the stereotype that whites are superior, knowledgeable and civilized, while whites are barbaric and stupid.

Reference

Independent Digital News and Media. Herge’s ‘racist’ adventures of Tintin? Not so, court decides. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/herges-racist-adventures-of-tintin-not-so-court-decides-6894770.html.

Vrielink, J. (2012, May 14). Effort to ban Tintin comic book fails in Belgium | Jogchum Vrielink. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/may/14/effort-ban-tintin-congo-fails.

Wikimedia Foundation. Norbert Wallez. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Wallez.

유럽 만화의 아버지 에르제. gabiadesign. (2019, June 3). http://design.gabia.com/wordpress/?p=33469.

화상. 에르제 [Hergé] – 벨기에 만화가. 필라테리아. http://m.blog.daum.net/philook/11247978?np_nil_b=1.

What is the alleged connection between Hergé’s early comics and propaganda?

The Oxford Dictionary (2020) defines propaganda a “ideas or statements that may be false or present only one side of an argument that are used in order to gain support for a political leader, party, etc”. Though Herge had earlier comics such as ‘Toror’ (1926) and ‘Le Pitit Vingtieme’ (1928), propaganda within his works were not fully realized until the release of his most well-known comic series; ‘Tintin’. The first comic, which was first released in 1929, was entitled ‘Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets’. Scorer (2008) describes the comic as “an unabashed piece of capitalist propaganda satirizing Soviet Russia”. It expresses Herge’s anti-Bolshevik point of view to his readers. For example, one of the panels depicts soviet citizens attending their election while at gunpoint (Herge, 1989). It is viewed by most as a work of anti-communist propaganda and has a strong opposing view against Russia.  In 1930, ‘Tintin In The Congo’ was the second of the series to be released, which also has been critically regarded as propaganda. It gives an extremely toned down version of the colonisation in the Congo, replacing the violence and death with comic panels of Tintin educating the native children on their new home country, Belgium (Mountfort, 2016). Though this series as a whole and its characters are beloved by publics to this day, it cannot be said that Tintin’s earliest comics were without right-wing undertones.

Another comic he published, roughly ten years later was ‘The Shooting Star’ (1941), in which the villain was a corrupt Jewish banker (Scorer, 2008). Stereotypes of the Jewish commonly used by Nazis and extreme right-wings were present in this comic (Frey, 2004). For example, Hergé featured a gag in which two Jews hear the prophetic news that the end of the world is near. They rub their hands together in eagerness, and one comments: “Did you hear, Isaac? The end of the world! What if it’s true?” The other responds: “Hey, hey, it vould be a gut ding, Solomon! I owe my suppliers 50,000 francs, and zis way I von’t haf to pay vem!”. This exchange implies that Jewish people are untrustworthy and greedy (Lofficier, Lofficier, 2002). This sort of work cast a negative lens on the Jewish people, and as a result, in 1954, this comic was altered, changing both the villains name and the location.

McCarthy (2006) says that Tintin’s political origins lie on the right, and that there is a good reason why Hergé and his legacy is accused of racism, stereotyping, propaganda and suspect politics. Herge has publicly stated that he was not spreading this propaganda unconsciously. The images and views he was expressing aligned with his right-wing political outlook (Frey, 2004). He had even been working as an illustrator for Léon Degrelle, the far-right leader in Belgium during the Nazi occupation of Belgium (Frey, 2004). These probably stemmed from his worries of retro-colonisation, which was common in this part of Europe at the time. To conclude, the links between Herge’s earlier comics and propaganda are obvious, however this has been mostly amended, with rewrites and reillustrations of his earlier works, and his growth of self-awareness meaning changes were not required for his later comics.

References

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

Lofficier, J, Lofficier, R (2002) The Pocket Essential Tintin. Pocket Eseentials.

McCarthy, Tom. (2006). Tintin And The Secret Of Literature. Granta.

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

Oxford Dictionary (n.a) Propaganda. Retrieved from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/propaganda?q=propaganda

Scorer, James. (2008). Imitating Incas and becoming llama – Tintin in Latin  America – or the Latin Americanin Tintin? SAGE Publications.
https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/doi/pdf/10.1177/1367877908089261?

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

As with many narratives created in the 1930s, the Tintin comics are products of their time. They feature many examples of representations we would now consider to be unacceptable to be seen in any type of fictional media. One that stands out, in particular, is Herge’s representation of race in the Tintin comics.

In the comic Tintin Au Congo or Tintin in the Congo (Herge, 1930-31) in English, Tintin visits the Belgian African colony of the Congo. This comic’s representation of the African people who lived there is a gross caricature of African stereotypes and has come under much scrutiny and controversy. It is not just the way that they are drawn that is considered racist but also the way that the character’s act compared to Tintin and the other white characters. The physical representation shows people with black skin and black hair, large noses, and large lips. All of the African characters also speak pidgin English, unlike Tintin who speaks “proper” English. There are multiple instances throughout the comic that are used to show how the native people of the congo are unintelligent or cowardly and are greatly helped by the presence of the Belgians. In her book, A Metamorphosis of Tintin (2010) Jean-Marie Apostolides discusses how in the comic the Africans are represented as children while the Belgian’s are the ‘adults’. The African’s are shown to be unintelligent, cowardly, and immature. Thus, the more mature and able Europeans must set the example and impose their rules and beliefs on the Africans. Much like a parent would do to their child. This type of caricature is a way of justifying the Belgian presence, as it says to the reader that the Africans would be hopeless without the Europeans to guide them.

There is the argument to be made of whether or not Herge could have known the negative implications of this caricature and pro-colonialist stance. It was the common belief at the time, and without a large enough anti-colonialist audience to challenge those beliefs it is understandable that Herge may have not realised that this was wrong. However, the existence of Tintin in America challenges this argument. Herge’s depiction of the treatment of Native American’s by the colonists is very critical. Herge uses “explicit representation of American Indians as victims of colonial and ongoing oppression at the hands of capital, backed by the US army.” Mountford, 2012. This is a stark contrast to the way that the colonisation of the Congo is treated. In the Congo Tintin was the ‘white saviour’ of the immature African’s whom he saved from a life of savagery and stupidity. The archetype of the ‘white saviour’ is one that is described by Seekford (2017, p.3) as being a white character who “bring the issues and concerns of black characters to the fore and consequently serve as their advocates (and) make black characters palatable or sympathetic to a white audience.” In the case of Tintin in America he also plays the white saviour as he advocates for the Native Americans against the English colonisers.

Because of this critique being used so soon after the publication of Tintin in the Congo it can not be argued that Herge’s beliefs were a product of the time. It is clear that he simply turns a blind eye to the same issues when they are caused by Francophone colonisers. Herge’s critique of the treatment of Native Americans is more of a critique of England than a firm anti-colonisation stance.

Reference List:

Apostolidès, J. M. (2010). The Metamorphoses of Tintin, Or, Tintin for Adults. Stanford University Press.

Hergé (1931-32) Tintin in America

Hergé (1930-31) Tintin in the Congo

Mountfort, P. (2011). ‘Yellow skin, black hair… Careful, Tintin’: Hergé and Orientalism. Australasian Journal of popular culture, 1(1), 33-49.Mountfort, P. (2020).

Seekford, B. (2017). ‘To Kill a Mockingbird, The Help, and the Regendering of the White Savior.’ James Madison University Journal

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/