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Tintin in the Congo: Tintin Au Congo - 'By appointment only'

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Harrock n roll
Moderator
#1 · Posted: 20 Aug 2009 16:36
The ages-old 'Congo controversy' reared its head again this week following a report in the NY Times that a Brooklyn library had moved Tintin Au Congo to a back room where it can only be viewed by making an appointment. The back room banishment appears to have occurred back in 2007, presumably after Congo fell foul with the Commission for Racial Equality in the UK.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/a-librarys-approach-to-bo oks-that-offend/?hp
cigars of the beeper
Member
#2 · Posted: 20 Aug 2009 22:23
Interesting article, Harrock. Thanks for sending it our way.
number1fan
Member
#3 · Posted: 21 Aug 2009 08:49
There are a lot of cryer babies out there.Basically this story came out in the 30's a time where the world was in chaos The Great Depression,The Nazis getting in to power in Germany.This story was written in a time where everyone was ignorant of culture overseas.Herge depicted the characters in the story as he had been told and he researched.Herge never even wanted to do this story.Look at the way America treated certain types of ethnic group all the way through the 20The Century.This is a story of its time.Its a historical document.
Biglu
Member
#4 · Posted: 22 Aug 2009 00:00
http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/belgique/plainte-contre-tintin-au-2007- 08-07-543448.shtml

Greetings from Brussels !

Indeed the book has been recomended to be shown only in the adults department in England and USA.

To me it is only the reflection of a period of the history of my country and of the colonization of the Congo!

This was the way people were thinking back then! Hopefully many things have changed!
Biglu
Member
#5 · Posted: 22 Aug 2009 00:10
The Museum of Central Africa of Tervuren in the suburb of Brussels

Certainly a source of inspiration for Hergé!

http://www.africamuseum.be/
jock123
Moderator
#6 · Posted: 22 Aug 2009 11:56
The only time I ever managed to get all the way out to the museum, it was closed to the public for a big reception they were holding! Still, it’s in a lovely park, well worth the visit in its own right.

I’m not certain what the answer to the whole Tintin in the Congo issue is. Undoubtedly it is a work which suffers from both being a sad reflection on the social mores of the time, and it isn’t helped by being one of Hergé’s weaker efforts. Personally, I’m always uneasy that whilst Hergé was prepared to supress Soviets for most of his life because he wasn’t happy with it, he left Congo out there, even when he was prepared to admit its controversial nature. He could just as easily have withdrawn it too (to me Soviets is actually the better book anyway - the drawing is more vibrant, and the comedy, whilst broad, is funnier). One is left to wonder was it because it was a best-seller?

A solution to me would be for the book to remain in print, but with it being accompanied by an information section about the nature of the controversy, and explaining the changing attitudes to and problems of racism. Profits from the book could be donated to charitable activities in the Congo, or in anti-racism education. The fondation has worked with the Dalai Lama to promote the cause of Tibet: why not use Congo for good too?

Given that the book is neither being banned nor prohibited, it is entirely possible that having it in a “by appointment” section is a good compromise under the circumstances: if you want to read it, you have the option, if you don’t, you won’t come across it unwarned.
Rexmilou
Member
#7 · Posted: 22 Aug 2009 13:43
For me, there is something about the Tintin controversy that reminds me of other pictures that I have seen and stories that I have read about, of the suffering of the Congolese people ( with their hands cut off). There is a terrible history here of the treatment of the Congo people, and their exploitation. The Congo was the personal property of the King, and as badly as he treated them, he also kept all the profits. If modern editions of the book contains anything - an apology might be appropriate, and a concerted effort to do as much as possible to right the wrongs of the past in Africa and elsewhere.
Biglu
Member
#8 · Posted: 22 Aug 2009 23:39
http://www.belgiumview.com/belgiumview/tl3/view0001044.php4

The Congo was indeed the personal property of King Leopold II untill he sold it to the nation of Belgium in 1908.

When you click on the next link, and scroll-down, you will see some objects that inspired Hergé for "The Broken Ear" and others at the “Museum of Le Cinquantenaire", which was built to mark the anniversary of 50 years of Belgian independance, which was known as "Le Cinquantenaire".
luinivierge2010
Member
#9 · Posted: 3 Jul 2010 10:51
Interview with Daniel Couvreur - in French - concerning his new book on "Tintin au Congo", just out (in conjunction with a special offer from Le Soir - but it should later be available elsewhere).

http://archives.lesoir.be/bande-dessinee-%AB-tintin-au-congo-de-papa-% BB-vient-de_t-20100630-00Z44Y.html?query=tintin+au+congo&queryand=tint in+au+congo+couvreur&queryor=tintin+au+congo&firstHit=0&by=10&when=-1& sort=datedesc&pos=0&all=62&nav=1
mct16
Member
#10 · Posted: 3 Jul 2010 14:05
Interesting analysis. Basically it describes Tintin as a naive "little white man" - much like his creator is perceived as being at the time. Tintin may have a feeling of superiority over blacks (even in the present edition) but on the other hand he does share his camp fire with the African boy and allows him to sit in the front seat of his car: "which was unthinkable in the 1930s".

Barly Baruti, a leading figure in Congolese comics, is quoted as saying that "It is not a colonialist book. It is a paternalistic book, because paternalism was the attitude of the time. There is no reason to burn it."

The basic argument is that Herge and abbot Wallez, who was his employer at the time, saw the white man as a father-figure bringing civilisation to Africans who were "lazy and lacked foresight", to quote a contemporary Belgian reference book. Too bad it did not also mention the horrors perpetrated by the white man upon the colonies.

Hunting was just another sport: the article points out that "It's the period when Theodore Roosevelt, former American President and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, returned from a major safari expedition which he described in his African Game Trails. His expedition brought back 3,000 trophies! Compared to that, Tintin was clumsy, an amateur, a "little white man"."

"Tintin in the Congo is a reflection of the time. We must learn to reread it, not ban it."

If the publishers would include a foreword like this in the current edition - explaining the differences in attitudes between people at the time and the present - then maybe there would be less of a controversy.

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