Yesterday one of my favorite reads, The Publics, posted a very interesting look into the resurfacing politics behind one of Tintin’s most exotic adventures, Tintin in the Congo. I won’t rehash everything written, as you should go and read the entry for yourself, but the gist is that as of late there has been resounding criticism directed towards this book due to its perceived colonial propagandizing, racist caricatures, and brutality towards animals. Tintin’s creator, Herge, was a Belgian loyalist, and as the nation was actively colonizing the Congo during this period, the implications of his words/imagery are hard to ignore. The image above is a part of a series done by South African artist Anton Kannemeyer for his Congo Parody series from 2008. Brutal and affecting, Kannemeyer pulls no punches in his interpretation of Herge’s work, and bluntly displays the racism inherent in the colonial system. Hit the jump for more from the parody, but be warned, the content isn’t for the faint of heart.
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as a very avid Tintin fan. I would firstly like to say that Tintin in the Congo is the second in the series the first being Tintin in the land of the soviets. both the first and second adventures are on a very different theme then the third issue (Tintin in America) and beyond. but even then you have to remember that these books come from a different time. there just was not the same liberal outrage with racial stereotypes . you could even look into the racial images that continue in the books i.e the “black lotus” and Asians, indigenous people in the “broken ear” or even Scottish people in “the black island”. They were written in 1929 you cant expect Herge to be racially sensitivity when he was only making a comic for a small white European demographic. so in closing lets stop the book burning and look into Tintin for the good (like classic mens fashion)
http://www.tintinfashion.blogspot.com/
WOW. Impactful work. Stevenson’s critique cuts like a knife for a kid who grew up loving Tintin.
Iain, I couldn’t disagree with you more, I don’t think there’s any book burning going on here, it’s just realizing that there’s often more at work in the shit we read than just simple, innocuous messages.
Doesn’t mean you can never read Tintin again, but holy shit.