Ideologies in Comics: A case study of the Tintin in the Congo Book

An Ideology can support the domination of one group over another. When one group becomes dominant, a crisis is never far away. The one who dominates the others has a different value system. This raised the issue of how a comic book can help readers to recognize the values in a society. In order to answer this question I looked at in details of Herge’s second adventure book called Tintin in the Congo. An important, and a major person in Herge’s life was the Abbot Wallez, a manager of a catholic newspaper. Abbot Wallez was a very political, fascist man who admired Hitler during the Second World War. In Belgium, the Church and Fascism coincided in a weird way. Wallez wanted to create a supplement for the young people, which at the same time would entertain the children, and guide them to his political ideas. Then, he discovered Herge, and he encouraged him to invent a young hero, a catholic reporter who would be devoted to defending the noblest causes throughout the world. It was the birth of Tintin in 1929. Just because of Tintin, the newspaper printed many more copies, in order to satisfy demand. It was a brilliant idea, and the newspaper was terribly successful.

Herge, (1960) stated at one of his interviews;

“I was an employee in a newspaper and there was a room above mine. There was a writer and above the writer, the reporter, he was the great traveller who travels the world and I wanted to make from Tintin, precisely a reporter for his first journey, the thing, which seemed to be the most important to me at the time…” Yes, until that moment, drawing the adventures of Tintin was a game, it was a joke, real little joke.”(http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ixjx_tintin-et-moi-2-8- french- english- su creation)

Tintin was in Congo to inspire his readers with colonial and missionary zeal. The publication of Tintin in the Congo reflected perfectly the spirit and mentality of the times. The young Herge reflects the society and colonial attitudes of the time. Much later, these adventures in Congo would be accused of racism, of which Herge tried to absolve himself in a letter to a reader. It was a period when it was the most natural thing, for a country to have colonies. In 1931, Herge was only 24, this period of colonising was called civilizing. Herge actually did not volunteer to create this book, but was told to do so by his editor, providing a story for Belgian children that would make them proud of Belgium’s role in the Congo. Every school studied the Congo child in Belgium (Pierre 2009, p. 26-27).

The relationship between the two countries was begun in 1908, by Leopold II, King of Belgium. Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State. When he turned the colony over to Belgium, he burned the archives of his ironically named Congo Free State to destroy the evidence of his crimes. Heran the Congo brutally, using a mercenary force for his own personal gain. Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo. His harsh regime was responsible for the death of an estimated 5 to 15 million Congolese and the Congo became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century, before eventually Leopold was ultimately forced to relinquish control of it to the government of Belgium. Native life in the Congo was considered of no value. The main reason for this was natural rubber, produced by trees in Congo. It was a great source of income for the nation. The prospering Congo colony, with happy blacks being grateful to Belgium is a myth, fabricated as part of a strategy to make money coming from the Congo seem clean, to unite the interests of Belgium and the Congo and above all, to deny and hide the past. This strategy was very successful both during and after the colonization. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpibEk3lUg0 (2004)

From the New York Times, September 1, 1998, BOOKS OF THE TIMES,

'King Leopold's Ghost': Genocide With Spin Control, by Michiko Kakutani

Herge created a new world for Tintin with a simplified but realistic representation. He filled the strip with his own sense of humor and created supporting characters such as Coco, allowing the reader to engage with them. Tintin in the Congo came under criticism for its depiction of Congolese people, with several campaigners and writers seeing the work as racist due to its stereotypical portrayal of the Congolese as lazy and ape-like as ignorant as well as stupid. When reading a comic as an ideological statement, a simple comic can offer such material open to interpretation. It is a quicker way to gain overall sense of the meaning of a comic by figuring out what the images are representing.

Figure 20. Tintin in the Congo book, page 36

Figure 21. Tintin in the Congo book, page 36

The comic strip can confirm that a train comes down the track and crashes into Tintin’s car. The train carrying the Congolese had been badly damaged when it struck the car on the railroad track thus injuring the Congolese. They are now dressed in European clothing in a funny way. Tintin apologizes to the passengers. “ I’m so very sorry!” A Congolese man says” Wicked white man!” for the damage and hurt Tintin has caused. An angry women says, “ See what you do to poor, little black boy,” pointing to the bump on his head, the only time the story blames a white person for harming a black. It was a superficial injury but the blame seems somewhat unfair because Tintin had already apologized for the accident. The Congolese passengers are too lazy and afraid of getting dirty to help to get the train back on to tracks. Tintin gets the blame, but persuades the Congolese to help put the train back onto the tracks.

The other example is the priest introducing him to their mission: “ That’s the hospital… And there, the farm school… And there in the middle is our chapel…When we arrived here a year ago this was all bush. …” Tintin’s dog Snowy responds, “ Missionaries are the tops!” This scene has given a strong suggestion that Belgian children should feel proud of their African Empire. The whites brought them the best education, justice system and true religion and so on.

The Human Right lawyer David Enright in UK opened a campaign about alleged racism Those who spoke out against ‘Tintin in the Congo’ accusing the Africans of resembling apes, slip back into the status of socially acceptable opinion. Defenders of the comic looked into the opposite direction, by asking whether this book would turn a child into someone whose words and actions would slip out as socially acceptable. We may face difficult questions related to history and politics and witness the recent international flap over Tintin in the Congo when criticized as racist by the British Commission for Racial Equality, and the comic was forced to be relocated by Borders from the children’s section to the adult section of bookstores in the United Kingdom and the United States. It is only by carefully analyzing the issues of history, politics, and representation that one can adequately grasp the meanings of French-language comics, including those in translation that are migrating and reaching new readers around the globe. (McKinney 2008, p.4)

After much debate, it was agreed to publish the 1931 version, in 1991, making it the last of the Tintin books to appear in English. The new edition was published for a subculture of adult comics fans. This outcome wrongly suggest to the general public, that there is nothing wrong with the ideas on which the work is based, while in fact these do require critical debate and analysis. An ideological analysis brings a clear understanding of how this comic participates in larger social conflicts. (Smiths & Duncan 2012, p. 224- 233)

Resources:

McKinney, M. (2008) History and politics in France Language Comics and Graphic Novels,[ Internet] (USA: The University Press of Mississippi) Available from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/arts/Doc?id=10425142&ppg=15 (Accessed 10th August 2012)

Stuart Landau P. (2002) Images and Empires Visually in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa, (USA:

University of California Press, Ltd.) Thompson, H. (1991) Tintin, Herge and his Creation, (London: Hodder & Stoughton)

McAllister, M.P., Sewell, Jr., E. H., & Gordon, I. (2001). Comics and Ideology (New York: Peter Lang)

Herge Interview,(1960),Tintin et Moi, [Internet] available from <http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ixjx_tintin-et-moi-2-8-french-english-su_creation> [Accessed 1st April 2012]

David Enright, (2011), Tintin in the Congo should not be sold to children, The Guardian, [Internet], available from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/04/tintin-in-the-congo?INTCMP=SRCH>, (Accessed 20th August 2012)

Smith M.J & Duncan R. (2012) Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods, (New York: Rutledge)