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The Blue Lotus: Censorship in the Indonesian edition?

gnolles
Member
#1 · Posted: 17 Jun 2007 16:50
I have under my eyes the Lotus Biru (The Blue Lotus), copyright by Casterman, Paris, 1974, Teks Indonesia copyright 1984 by PT.Indira, Jakarta.
Translated from English by Gandung Bondowoso, cute hand-written text (!) by G.Widro.
5th edition, Augustus 1993.
Now: have a look at page 6 (Tintin in the rickshaw), page 26 (the check-point), page 45: (The Thom(p)son being laughed at), etc., etc.
No single Chinese character appears in the images: every sign in the pictures of the book is written in Roman letters.
Why so? During Suharto's dictatorship, the use of Chinese writing was strictly forbidden in Indonesia. One had to declare at the border that they had not a single line of Chinese in their affairs... Fright of communism, they said...
Well, now, I have 2 questions:
1. Did Casterman, and Moulinsart, know about this censorship?
2. If they did know, why did they allow it?
Thank you fellow members for helping me!
tintinspartan
Member
#2 · Posted: 17 Jun 2007 21:57
Well, I live in the South East Asia Region and familliar with Indonesia. I must say that I learned something from you and it's shocking. Why Chinese letters are not allowed. I bet that the translator edited the chinese letters used in Chang's letter in Tintin in Tibet.

P.S: The tittle there is a bit off.

Lotus Biru = Lotus Blue

The title could be:

Misteri Lotus Biru = The Mystery of The Blue Lotus

It's only a suggestion.
gnolles
Member
#3 · Posted: 18 Jun 2007 09:29
1. Could someone check Chang's letter in "Tintin di Tibet" in Indonesian to see if it is censored too? I don't have the book.
2. Could somebody else who reads Chinese see if, for instance on page 6, the changes are translations (which I doubt) or just inventions.
Here are, from top-left to bottom-right, what we can read:
Baru (new)
Nusantara (archipelago, another name of Indonesia)
Gratis
Obral Besar (big sale)
Obral (sale)
Juwita
Toko Mas (gold shop)
Omega (!)

and, on page 45 the street name is jl (jalan = street) Kwi-Nie and the vertical sign [Rum]ah Makan, which means restaurant.
Help! I need somebody...
PS for Tintinspartan: The original French title is LE LOTUS BLEU, no mystery!
yamilah
Member
#4 · Posted: 19 Jun 2007 13:48
gnolles
1.Could someone check Chang's letter in "Tintin di Tibet" in indonesian to see if it is censured, too.
The Chinese writing on Tchang's letter in Tintin di Tibet (p.3-D2) was neither 'censored' nor translated, contrary to 'Occidental Private Club' in Lotus Biru (p.7-B1), which was merely erased.

2.Could somebody else who reads chinese see if, for instance on page 6, the changes are translations (which I doubt) or just inventions.
To see the English renderings of the Blue Lotus' Chinese pictograms, you can just go to https://www.tintinologist.org/guides/books/05bluelotus.html
You'll see the Indonesian changes aren't connected with the original Chinese anti-imperialist mottos - they are 'invented' but likely less opaque for most Westerners, as their Roman characters make them kind of 'readable'.


Strangely, in the Indonesian editions, the 20 thumbnails from the back cover are mixed up for some obscure reason - their order doesn't even match the local chronology of publication by Indira:

Cigars ....... Black Island ... Ottokar's ... Crab ......... Broken Ear
Unicorn ..... Red Rackham .. Crystal ..... Prisoners .. Picaros
Black Gold ..Destination ..... Explorers .. Red Sea ... Shooting Star
Affair ........ Flight 714 ........ Emerald ... Tibet ......... America

The four missing thumbnails are thus:
Lotus, but the book does exist, as reported above.
Soviets
Congo
Alph-art

By the way, gnolles, does 'Tintin' or 'Chang' mean anything in your language?
gnolles
Member
#5 · Posted: 19 Jun 2007 16:00
But what is my language, dear Yamilah?
Thank you for all these details!
I have checked the original french version: in the indonesian one, not only chinese characters are changed to roman, but also some are just erased: the pictures are modified, "simplified"...
In the pirate "Tintin and the pustaha", which is tranlated into Batak (North Sumatra), Milou (Snowy) is called "Bule" which means albinos in indonesian. Westerners are called "bule" in this country. I have met a man from Papua and he told me he was called "Bule hitam" which means "Black albinos"...well, let's go back to the blue lotus!
yamilah
Member
#6 · Posted: 19 Jun 2007 18:07
gnolles
But what is my language, dear Yamilah?
I meant the tongue from Jakarta you seem to be quite able to translate for us.
Thanks for answering.
gnolles
Member
#7 · Posted: 24 Jun 2007 16:23
Sorry, Yamilah, neither Indonesian (nor Jakarta slang) are my native tonges!
I might be silent for a few weeks: I'm on my way to "Batakstan" and the shores of lake Toba..
By the way, I'm still waiting for answers for my two questions above (my message on june 17th, first message on this topic)! No one knows?
yamilah
Member
#8 · Posted: 25 Jun 2007 12:08
gnolles
Well, now, I have 2 questions:
1. Did Casterman, and Moulinsart, know about this censorship?
2. If they did know, why did they allow it?
Thank you fellow members for helping me!


The best would be to ask those people directly, but will they know, and will they answer?

As Suharto was in office as of 1967 (until 1998) and the Indonesian Tintin versions started to be published in 1974 -six years after well documented 'Flight 714', Herge himself (1907-1983) was probably aware of the local anti-Chinese politics.

Anyway censorship in Lotus Biru wasn't just aimed at Chinese signs, as already mentioned, and on top of it a green Chinese tablet was actually left intact in frame page 62-A2, likely the same as the one seen on pages 17-D2, 18-A1 & C1, that reads 膽欲大而心欲細 智欲圓而行欲方 , namely 'Aspire to be courageous, careful, accommodating/open-minded, and honourable'.
Can someone confirm it is the same text?

Rather baffling to see how a local anti-Chinese military* rule* can -in 1984, just after Hergé's demise- turn a rather hermetic writing into a more readable one with a different meaning, and thus somehow mirror Tintin's success in decoding the message on page 19, isn't it?

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