Comments on: When Do Tintin’s Congo Worries End?

By: Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:33:58 +0000

The Blue Lotus (Le Lotus bleu) should be banned in Japan.
Tintin in America should be banned in the Us. etc etc…
The Shooting Star – (L’etoile mysterieuse) 1942 edition, Bad guys in it where “jews” and Americans. (this book like many others was rewrited in the 50’s
Herge was a fervent catholic, anti- communist and anti-nazi before the war, collaborationist (opportunist?) during the war, to end as a “gauchiste” (not like Obama but more like Mao) during the 70’s. Herge was just following the change of the belgian society in the 20th century.
“adult comic section” is a good idea, next to Mein kampf, Das Kapital and
the Bible.

By: Matt Harnick

Matt Harnick — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:14:40 +0000

The saddest thing about this debate is that nobody recognizes that as the series progressed, Sam Remi became more aware of the plights of the people aroud the world. Tintin’s circle of friends, though it might not have included anyone of African descent, still had Arabs (Prince Abdullah), Chinese (the young boy Chang) and others. Also, no one seems that upset about Tintin En Amérique, which portrayed Americans as either gangsters or tycoons (another kind of gangster). Also, it had a fairly stereotypical view of Native Americans, though a very sympathetic one. Is anyone complaining about this story?
There is also the fact that, starting with Cigars of the Pharaoh, Tintin actually fought against slavery and racism (I reference the scene in The Blue Lotus where he defends an abused rickshaw boy from a couple of ugly Americans). Such scenes are common in all the books which came after. If anything, the prejudice is against Americans. And in many cases it was the very real truth at the time.
To me is seems sad that we have to have this debate at all. Smart parents would use a book like ‘Tintin au Congo’ as a teaching moment. It’s certainly completely wrong to bury anything which is a part of history. The truth is that there is no easy answer.

By: Pe-ads

Pe-ads — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:01:22 +0000

In the Borders near me, they have merely placed Tintin in the Congo in the adult comic section. To me, this is the best answer. I mean, a lot of the comics in there have nudes and violence and stuff, so why not just class this as an ‘adult’ book, and sell it in a different section?

Pe-ads

By: Richenda

Richenda — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:42:26 +0000

I don’t think Bury It is a viable option these days. The Internet has changed the game significantly–once something is made digital, it never truly goes out of circulation. There are enough printed copies in existence that it won’t take long for someone … scratch that, I just ran a search and you can find the complete Tintin collection as an illegal download from multiple sources. Once the movie comes to wide attention, and rumors of Congo’s existence start to get around more, people will hop online to find it. And find it, they shall.

There isn’t a right answer here, but I think attempts to bury Congo will ultimately do more harm than good.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:38:56 +0000

Reijo – Thanks for the reference. I shall look that up.

By: Reijo

Reijo — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:51:32 +0000

In the British attack on Tintin au Congo was more about how “white” people were presented in comic. Albums coloured version was published in english first time 2005. Brits have long history with colonization, and earlier was thought that Tintin in Congo remainded too much how “white” were acting in that era.

I recommend to read Nancy Rose Hunt’s “Tintin and the Interruptions of Congolese Comics” in Landau & Kaspin (eds.). Images and Empires. University of California Press, 2002, 90-123. Hunt writes about how congolese have taken the album, and some western reactions on that. Part of text can be found on Google Books.