Tintin Forums

My uncle has this really old version of Land of Black Gold which features Jews which were taken out and replaced (?) in later editions!

When I saw it I thought, 'Surely I don't remember this part of the book!' I don't have the modern one to hand, so I'm not sure who replaced them, and why?

Was it something like to be more politically correct and not appear anti-semitic? I don't remember Hergé's portrayal of them as being anything other than realistic.

Land of Black Gold was first published as an album in 1950. In that edition, the Speedol Star docks at Haifa, which was controlled by the British Mandate of Palestine. This version of the book also featured the Jewish organisation, the Irgun, who kidnap Tintin, mistaking him for a colleague of theirs.

These events were changed by request of Hergé's British publisher Methuen for the English edition of the book, since they thought it would be too outdated.

As far as I know, it wasn't due to anti-Semitism.

Oh so it's not to do with 'modern' or 'old,' but with the language of the edition.

That makes sense because my uncle's edition apart from being old is in Portuguese (Brazilian version).

Not quite, I should have mentioned that the British publishers requested the change and it was adopted for all editions. The same goes for The Black Island - the edition that is generally available today is an entirely redrawn version from 1965, because Methuen again thought the original one outdated.

Generally for Land of Black Gold, though, pre-1970s editions feature the original Jewish setting. It was redrawn in 1971, with pages 6-20 updated and general Arabic text throughout the book corrected. However, I'm not sure when foreign editions were changed, the English one was 1972.

Ah, that brings me to another thing. I'm looking for an original version of Black Island. I know there are no English versions, but does anyone have a version in Portuguese or Spanish they would like to sell to me? Also, Land of Black Gold.

Both books were republished in French as 'facsimiles', which are essentially copies of the original colour editions. You can get them from Amazon.fr - Land of Black Gold is here and The Black Island is here. Alternatively, if you're looking out for particularly Spanish or Portuguese editions, it might be worth trying eBay. There's also this thread here which may be worth following up.

Thanks a lot! I'll look into it.

I originally began reading Tintin relatively late in life. I was 21, had just joined the French Foreign Legion, and used Tintin and Asterix books to help me learn French.

21 years later, my son is beginning to learn Spanish at school. So to encourage him, I have bought several copies of Tintin in Spanish for him, including Pais del oro Negro & La Isla Negra.
I have bought some Spanish versions from Amazon.fr and some from the following website: http://www.casadellibro.com

I agree with others that it was not changed due to supposed anti-semitic tendencies.

I understood from Michael Farr's publication that the version with the Irgun and the Arabs was already published before october 1940 in Le Petit Vingtieme. In the British Mandate Palestina were already insurgencies before 1940. The idea of a Jewish Homeland was opposed by Arab groups. It was still actual in 1948, but was obviously regarded outdated in the Seventies. This is rather strange in my opinion, because the Chinese-Japanese conflict (the Blue Lotus)was never changed into a more actual or more indistinct conflict.

When Herge died in 1983, he made it clear that there were to be no new Tintin adventures. Tintin was his and his alone.

"Blue Lotus" was published in English that same year and because of Herge's instructions they could not update it or change its location.

Menthuen, the English publishers, may have preferred to have it reset in 1980s Hong Kong, with Tintin being in conflict with the Chinese Communists and British colonial authorities, but it was not to be - and not a bad thing either, really.