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Tintin thesis - please help!

franceslikestintin
Member
#1 · Posted: 25 Jul 2007 17:45
Hi,
I'm in my final year of an animation degree and we have to write a thesis. I suggested for a laugh that I write mine about Tintin, but to my surprise the lecturer went for it. Thinking about it later though I realise it actually was a really rich subject for investigation. I decided to write about a couple of the Tintin books in relation to race and representation eg. 'Tintin in the Congo', and 'The Blue Lotus',and also maybe about how the books form a history of the twentieth century.
I was hoping someone might be able to suggest some academic books about tintin and herge I could look at. I have only been able to find french versions on the internet which is really frustrating cos they look interesting.
PLEASE HELP!
Thank you
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 25 Jul 2007 18:58
The first book that springs to mind is Tintin: The Complete Companion by Michael Farr. It's still in print and easy to find. You might be hard pushed to track down English language books that are truly academic though. If your university or school has access to the JSTOR online archive you might like to browse that. There are many academic papers available for study in their database.

Best of luck!
franceslikestintin
Member
#3 · Posted: 26 Jul 2007 11:03
Thanks for your quick reply.
My college does have access to a few online databases, but unfortunately I'm on my summer holidays right now so i can't get at them.
I have a copy of the Michael Farr book and it is good, but i still need something more in depth.
Have you heard of a book called 'Death to all Tyrants!: Tintin, Children and Politics' by Pierre Skilling? Is that good?
I'm also considering getting 'Tintin and the Secret of literature' by Tom McCarthy and 'Tintin chez le psychonalyste' by Serge Tisseron.
Do you know of any sites that sell books about Tintin?
SmartTintin
Member
#4 · Posted: 27 Jul 2007 09:22
Its good to know that you're writing a thesis on Tintin.

In any case you must get your hands on the book "Tintin - Herge and his Creation" by Harry Thompson. This is by far considered the best book about Herge and Tintin.

Some good books from in-print editions are "Tintin - A complete companion" by Michael Farr, and "Adventures of Tintin at Sea" by Michael Farr.

If you need any other information, feel free to post here. There are many great Tintinologists out here, always glad to help...

Best Luck!
labrador road 26
Member
#5 · Posted: 27 Jul 2007 13:47
You also might want to look into Red Sea Sharks which had some critics say have racial prejudice. Also the Land of Black Gold was earlier depicting jews and arabs and the american edition of Tintin in America and The Crab with Golden Claws have black people redrawn as white.
mondrian
Member
#6 · Posted: 27 Jul 2007 13:58
Congratulations on a great choose of subject!

Since it's an animation degree you're doing, you could possibly choose some of above-mentioned controversial subjects, and then compare how they are presented in books and films.

Maybe some controversies are toned down a bit in animation films?

That could be a fruitful viewpoint, if you have an interest in politics and socio-cultural aspects of Tintin.
franceslikestintin
Member
#7 · Posted: 27 Jul 2007 16:32
Thanks for the input everyone, keep it coming!
I'm particularly interested in the representation of other cultures in the tintin books, and the colonial views in the earlier volumes.
I was also planning on touching on imagined geographies as in Syldavia and Borduria, and how some of the storylines form parallels with certain historical events.
My main problem is finding research material, there seems to be a lot of stuff out there in French, but that would be a bit too challenging to translate.
Can anyone suggest a reading list?
:)
advnarayan
Member
#8 · Posted: 28 Jul 2007 03:10
u should also check out the Benoit Peeters World of Tintin
franceslikestintin
Member
#9 · Posted: 28 Jul 2007 11:59
Just tried to buy that Harry Thompson book on ebay, but somebody outbid me in the last seconds, i am sickened, and its awful expensive on amazon. Grrrr!

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