Tintin Forums

Later this year there will be a new publication for English-speaking Tintin fans: The Tintinologist will be a periodical containing essays, articles and reviews. It is hoped to be able to produce a new volume at least once every year, or even more frequently if demand is sufficient.

The idea is to publish something as close as possible to an ‘academic journal’ of Tintinology - rich in ideas, debate and originality, but a world away from pretension, sloppy scholarship and the same tired old arguments.

We need your submissions to make it work, so this is a general ‘call for papers’. If you have an idea for an article, send a synopsis to edcharlesadams[at]hotmail[dot]com and I would be very pleased to look over your idea. You could get the chance to appear in print, and add to the valuable body of scholarship dedicated to all things Hergé.

And if you need inspiration to get started, here are some of the topics that the journal will cover:

Life of Hergé
- Episodes in his life
- Defining events
- Studios Hergé & collaborators

Artwork
- ‘ligne claire’ style
- artists that inspired Hergé
- artists whom Hergé inspired

Analysis
- a frame, sequence or page
- a character
- themes common to several books
- controversial issues – a defence of?...

History of the series
- serialisation
- translations
- different versions and editions

Real-life inspirations
- personalities
- historical events
- transport
- objects

Reviews
- films
- books
- plays/musicals

Collectables
- rare books
- memorabilia and collectable objects

News and recent events
- recent news stories
- obituaries

Miscellanea
- anything else relevant

This is by no means exhaustive, and it would be good to suggest new topics and expand the scope of the journal.

Final submissions can be anything up to about 15,000 words, though between 2000 and 5000 are typical. Authors will receive a free copy of the volume in which their submission is published.

I look forward to hearing from you and am happy to answer any questions. Further information will appear in this thread.

Ed

Great plan, and good luck with the project!

I'm not quite sure if I have the time required or ability to contribute, but I'll consider. And anyways I'm keen to see the final product. Meanwhile, few questions:

-Timetable is not confirmed I suppose, but can you make an educated guess about the deadline?
-"Academic journal" sets the target quite high. While I do agree that some articles contain the downsides you mention, the fact is that getting your article published in one (especially peer-reviewed ones) takes a great effort and talent. Could you tell us a bit more about the required quality?
-What kind of support you can offer for authors? Grammar check would definitely be useful, and any editing and/or comments for early version might be helpful.
-Is it possible to use posts (own ones obviously) on this site as a starting point, or do you only want original material first published in the journal? Quite a few people have written excellent posts on these forums, which could be expanded into articles. And quite a few threads could be concluded into coherent articles by a good writer (with footnotes, obviously).

I'll definitely write some articles! This is a great idea!

Synopses in as soon as possible; articles probably by the end of August / early September I think - though this could be a little flexible.


'Academic journal' is more an idea of the layout and scope of the project, rather than the level of language. I certainly wouldn't expect PhD theses! What I envisage is a publication in which authors can pool ideas, theories, criticisms, opinions etc in a reasonably rigorous and scholarly manner - and of course, have the right to reply in the next volume. It's a rather slow and archaic way of exchanging ideas in these Internet-savvy times, but I think there's still something to be said for it.


Everything would be thoroughly copy-edited and proofread, with all the grammar, spelling and punctuation checks that implies - though of course the better you can make your first draft the less likely it will be for any errors to slip through. But I don't forsee many of those. Comments would be returned to the author at first draft stage; and any edits would be mutually approved.


Since you own the copyright on your own forum posts, you are entitled to do with them as you wish. And I should say at this point that for any articles submitted, the copyright remains entirely with you. This would allow you to even re-use your work in another publication later on, should you wish to. If you wish to expand on someone else's ideas, the usual conventions apply: seek their permission, and give them the proper credit.

Ed

Wow!!! The moment I've been waiting for! Thanks, Ed!

Copyright wasn't my main concern, as that obviously isn't a problem. But if you're willing to accept articles based on already published material, I have few ideas that I can look into.

There are also few topics I'd like to read about, but have no knowledge or ability to study them.

I think the fan culture definitely deserves a mention. Why are so many people fascinated about Tintin?

Secondly, I think it would be interesting to look into the series in the context of popular culture aimed at the same audience. What kind of competition Tintin had? Was Tintin part of a larger adventure-genre, which included books, movies etc? Moon-adventure could be a special case of it's own, as there had been plenty of scifi-literature and movies before Tintin explored the moon. Countless possibilities, English audience would probably be interested in reading about the market in UK during the first Tintin editions?

I'm off to holidays today, and I'm planning to stay away from computers for a few weeks. So unfortunately it will be early july before I can get back to you, but meanwhile I'll consider if I have something to offer.

I may want to send in an idea here.

I am interested in writing an article about Tintin's relevance to trains since it is reflected in some scences in a few books like Tintin In America, The Black Island, Blue Lotus and a few others. And I'm interested to write up a review for a few memorbilla items that are rare to be found in Europe.

Material question: is this going to be a magazine or a Web publication? Also, how is this related to Moulinsart? Do they condone it, support it, tolerate it--even know about it?
I'm envisioning regular departments: From the Forums, Herge' and Tintin, Tintin: 8(x) Years--for a history section--etc.
Another question: how did this get started?
PS. What are you thinking of as a price for one copy?

Thank you all for the very encouraging responses, both on this thread and in my email inbox!

I'll try to address your questions in turn...


Yes, to a point. As I said before, I'd be looking to publish original analysis, theories and conclusions. That's definitely not to say that you can't use scholarship that has already been written, but we don't want a simple re-hash of what's gone before - with nothing original to make it stand out. Your ideas sound very promising!


It will be a printed publication, but more of a book/periodical than a magazine.


As yet, it is an unofficial publication, with a view to working alongside Moulinsart once - or if - it has become established and can support itself. There is money at stake here so I need to make sure it is established on a firm footing. From the outset, there will be no infringement of copyright, licensing laws, or any of Moulinsart's guidelines. You as contributors don't need to worry about this, but I will!


No particular reason: I just thought it was about time!


It will depend on the format, size and extent - and this will depend on the amount of material that is submitted. At the moment though, as a rough guide, I'm thinking of aiming for a 224-page book priced at £11.99.

mondrian, tintinspartan and anyone else: I'd be very glad to discuss your ideas through email at the above address. Let's keep some surprises for publication day!

The ideas for articles are coming in thick and fast now, so do submit yours as soon as possible.

Ed

If you will be selling it, you will really need to please Moulinsart. Will contributors share the profits?