Tintin Forums

Tintinologist.org Forums / Curious about Tintin? (Non-album specific) /

The world of Tintin in WWII

Page  Page 2 of 2:  « Previous  1  2 

thmthm
Member
#11 · Posted: 30 Dec 2004 23:46
Just to add to the confusion!
This is from the Tintin Pocket Essentials book:
"Syldavia (presumably) of King MuskarXII... (which decorated Tintin as a hero, and welcomed Calculus for the Moon project), is now portrayed as a criminal state, capable of threatening Tintin and violently kidnapping Calculus - as if he had to be forced to return to Syldavia! This sudden change in Syldavian methods and politics is unexplained..."
rastapopoulos
Member
#12 · Posted: 4 Jan 2005 12:46
This sudden change in Syldavian methods and politics is unexplained

I suppose we must guess that the communists have taken hold of Syldavia and is indeed behind the Iron curtain. In a way Tintin has come up against the commies again as he did in 'Land of the Soviets'.

With Hergé's attention to detail of political events (and real life political events and terrorist attacks - The Manchurian Railway), you would think that he would have liked to have kept closely to the reality of real world events in other adventures?

Moderator Note: As far as can be told, it was the exact opposite. Hergé sought to distance the books from real-world events, politics, and geography (going so far as to reduce the references to Brussels and its surroundings), to avoid the books becoming dated and rooted to a specific era with which his readers would be unfamiliar. He used the trappings and structure of politics as something to hang his stories on, but it is incidental, not central, to the plots, and merely a stage for adventure.
The skill with which he keeps the politics of Cold War Borduria and Syldavia completely undefined (Communist? Fascist? Who can say?) in The Calculus Affair is a primary example of his skill as a story teller.
Garuda
Member
#13 · Posted: 14 Jun 2019 02:43
Moderator Note: Moved from a separate thread

The post-World War 2 Bordurian government has all the signs of a Fascist government - like flags, soldier uniform etc., yet the Wikipedia article says that post-war Borduria is modelled after real life Eastern European nations, which were fascist at first but then became communist Eastern Bloc countries.

Now I'm kinda confused.
jock123
Moderator
#14 · Posted: 16 Jun 2019 14:52
Garuda:
Now I'm kinda confused.

Hi, Garuda - yes, it is confusing - but perhaps that was Hergé's point?

We've touched on this subject of Syldavian/ Bordurian politics, and the related politics of Alcazar and Tapioca, before, but as you put it in the context of WWII, your post has been moved to this thread, and you might find it interesting to read back.

Generally, I think it is taken that Hergé was adopting the position of an outside observer to suggest that the trappings of political ideologies - even those that we might see as opposed - often take the same form.

Were you to be an archeologist in the future, or an alien visiting from another planet, would it be possible to distinguish that the flags, uniforms, etc. of a Nuremberg rally, and a May Day parade through Red Square were not promoting the same thing? You could probably tell that a Red star, or hammer and sickle weren't the same as a swastika - but could you tell that they didn't promote the same ideals? I'm not sure that you could.

It's like the old joke: "It doesn't matter who you vote for - the government always gets in".
Hergé wants to say that the window-dressing may change, one party may get elected over another, one regime may overthrow another, but in the end it's the same - one group controlling another, one lot of politicians replacing another.

In the books it's probably best summed up in Picaros, where he shows the same scene in the slums twice: the uniforms of the soldiers change, but are broadly similar, and yet the population continue to live in slums, whichever leader is in office...

Page  Page 2 of 2:  « Previous  1  2 

Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the Forum Posting Guidelines.

Disclaimer: Tintinologist.org assumes no responsibility for any content you post to the forums/web site. Staff reserve the right to remove any submitted content which they deem in breach of Tintinologist.org's Terms of Use. If you spot anything on Tintinologist.org that you think is inappropriate, please alert the moderation team. Sometimes things slip through, but we will always act swiftly to remove unauthorised material.

Reply

 Forgot password
Please log in to post. No account? Create one!