TinTin in the Congo: An Analysis of Stereotype Racism in Childrens Books - Essay Example

TinTin in the Congo: An analysis of stereotype racism in children’s books According to the Longman Dictionary (2001), racism is defined as unfair treatment of people, or violence against them because they belong to a different race you’re your own. According to the Longman Dictionary (2001), stereotype can be defined as to decide, usually unfairly, that certain people have particular qualities or abilities because they belong to a particular race, sex or social class. Racism portrayal in children’s books and its effects in the society has been a research topic that has shown interest in this day and age. Children’s books published in the past and even some of today do portray some negative stereotype scenes and this has had adverse effects in how they deal with their peers in the society and people around them. The scope of this paper is to showcase how these books can impact the children negatively and some of the behaviours that they may acquire from the books. In addition to that, the paper seeks to reveal other books that also show the same trend in other countries, focus being on Germany. The paper will also show ways that can cause racial stereotypes and the counter ways to reduce and eliminate this trend in the society or the benefit of the younger generation. In addition to that, there will be an outline of some of the cases that have been taken to court and have not succeeded with focus on TinTin in the Congo. In conclusion of the essay, the paper will seek to prove that racial stereotyping is strongly evident in the society and focus will be on a writer who was racially discriminated because she was half Black and half German. As a result this paper will also conclude on how education empowerment, culture awareness and increased communication could steadily eliminate the stereotype behaviour. Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Investigation 4 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................16 Introduction Racism portrayal in children’s books and its effects in the society issue that needs urgent concern as stereotype comments and scenes in children’s book have been noted. This is the favourable choice of topic as awareness on the issue will lead to possible ways that can be implemented to as to counter the effects that have been already caused to our children. The approach to this guiding research topic is based on primary and secondary sources such as the children’s books and edited material that has already been researched on the topic respectively. TinTin in the Congo was a comic book that when it was first written in the 1930’s by Hergé, the author its goal was to showcase what Africans were like under the Belgium colonialism era in the Republic of Congo. The book itself has several instances where it has been evidenced to be racial towards the blacks in Congo. As a result Hergé was accused as portraying racism in comic books for children. Despite the revision of TinTin in the Congo in 1946, and the changing of wordings in the book, casts and the re-drawing of characters, not much can be changed because the original intention was already made and it has been engraved in the minds of the Congolese people. Investigation After the close of the 20th century and the beginning the 21st century, TinTin in the Congo came under criticism from the black culture as being a racist and stereotype book, especially with regard to the Congolese people where it portrayed that the peoples’ of the Republic of Congo are stupid (Cendrowicz, 2010). Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo commented on TIME that the book, "....Shows the Africans as childish imbeciles." He added, “It suggests blacks have not evolved." (Cendrowicz, 2010). When Hergé wrote the first copy of the comic book, it was black and white, and his intention was not to racially discriminate the blacks in Congo. The reason behind it was that he was persuaded into it by the government as a key initiative to pursue and encourage Belgians to secure commissions in the republic of Congo (Cendrowicz, 2010). Mbutu Mondondo, a congolese immigrant refuted that claim and commented that the book’s intention was to portray Belgiums colonialism in Congo. He added, "It twists history to suggest that everything was happy and fun", "In reality, it was a tragic, hurtful time" (Cendrowicz, 2010). Tintinologist, Harry Thompson argued TinTin in the Congo did not seek to portray a racial pose; its aim was to showcase how the European society was with regard to the age of the 1930s and 1940s. He added that Hergé did not write the book as a means to deliberately attack dark skinned people in Congo or as a means that was "deliberately racist". He added that the book sought to showcase the Belgian view of the Congolese people at that period in time (Thompson, 1991). Another supporter of the same notion was Jean-Marie Apostolidès who maintained that Hergé did not intentionally portray acts of racism in the book. He added that Hergé intention was to portray the Congolese as being playful like children, they were friendly people and naive in that matter and they were also cowards and lazy (Apostolidès, 2010). Black group associations in the country claimed the book portrayed a stereotype attribute. In addition to that, the book was being sold in children’s book stores and a petition was made to ban the book from bookshelves in the bookshops so as to prevent access to the book by young readers. For example, David Enright, a human rights lawyer came across the book in the children’s section of books while he was shopping with his black wife and two sons. In addition to that, WHSmith plc, a British retailer in England added that the book was sold on its website but with another label recommending age of viewers be 16 and over (BBC News, 2007). Several attempts were made so as to ban the book from bookshops, although Ann Widdecombe who was the Conservative Party political claimed that that was a very petty issue and the organisation was focusing on more important aspects than such (Beckford, 2007). Stereotypes in TinTin in the Congo and its evidence are based on a case in 2012, where a Brussels court rejected the bid to ban the book based on the fact that it was portraying a stereotype notion against the blacks in Congo. Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese immigrant commented saying that in the book, TinTin employed a little black helper who was seen as “stupid and without qualities”. He added, “It makes people think that blacks have not evolved”. In one scene, a black woman bows down before TinTin and says, “White man very great. White mister is big juju man” (France24 International News, 2012). This can be interpreted that the white skinned people in the Republic of Congo treated the black just like “little” people who did not have much sense in them other than to be ordered around. In addition to that, the comic book portrays the black as very naive because the woman showed loyalty to TinTin by bowing down. In 2011, Alain Amici, a lawyer commented on the book ban when she told the court that, “The negative stereotypes portrayed in this book are still read by a significant number of children. They have an impact on their behaviour.” As a counter, the judge turned down that notion by claiming that the book was pure “candid humour” (France24 International News, 2012). In a statement from the court, "It is clear that neither the story, nor the fact that it has been put on sale, has a goal to... create an intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating environment" (Brown, 2012). Behrang Miri who is in charge of the youth department in the library commented stating that, “The image the TinTin books give of Africans is Afro-phobic, for example. Africans are a bit dumb, while Arabs sit on flying carpets and Turks smoke water pipes” (Dagens Nyheter newspaper). With this evidence, when children read such kind of books they relate to the characters in the book with real life characters. Behrang Miri added that, “Children don’t read the fine print; they just get into the story immediately. The biased picture is stigmatizing. TinTin provides a caricature with a colonial perspective. Young children absorb the information uncritically” (Dagens Nyheter newspaper). TinTin in the land of the Soviets (1930), Hergé faced accusation that the idea behind the book was based on communism, poverty and terror and in addition to that, the comic book portrayed criticism of the Soviets regime (Rainey, 2011). TinTin in the Congo (1931) also showed stereotype when the cast was set to its graphics based on the slaughtering of animals. This is believed to portray acts of animal cruelty insensitivity and violence. Another scene is where TinTin killed an antelope (Rainey, 2011). The Blue Lotus (1936) was claimed to be anti-imperialist. This is because the Japanese in the cast are portrayed with little sympathy and their involvement in China is disapproved (Rainey, 2011). The Shooting Star (1942) is a story whose synopsis is that of a giant meteorite that approaches the earth; therefore it causes a heat wave that causes the asphalt on the streets to melt. The story focuses on the race by the Jews to find a meteorite in the Arctic. In addition to that, there were instances of racism when two Jewish debtors and Blumenstein, an American financier who was later renamed in the book as Bohlwinkel (Rainey, 2011). Land of Black Gold (1950) is set in Europe and there exists some unsettled matters due to the fact that oil is not sufficient. Therefore TinTin travels to the Middle East to uncover the reason why that shortage is existent. After that, the cast is set to Palestine where the involvement is Jewish terrorists led by a Rabbi. Later on, the cast changes when Hergé replaces the Jewish with Arab characters (Rainey, 2011). The Calculus Affair (1956) portrays sexism. This is because only one woman was portrayed in the cast and in that sense, she is perceived as dumb and naive of others’ reactions to her behaviour. Hergé was also accused of portraying a sexist notion of which he claimed that it was not his intention (Rainey, 2011). Britain’s Commission for Racial Equality commented saying that the book contained words and images that portray acts of racial prejudice. A few actions have been implemented by Hergé so as to make the situation better. These include, the forward on the British editions have explained that the authors’ depiction of the characters reflects the colonial era (US Slave, 2011). The picture below portrays a racist notion on the comic book of TinTin where the first part can be translated to, "Today Im going to tell you about your motherland.... Belgium!” There exists a revised edition where the scene of Belgium’s geographical location was changed to a simple math class. The revised copy of the same scene when translated says, "Were going to start with some simple math. Who can tell me what two plus two equals?” Mbutu, a Congolese man who lives in Belgium said the, "little (black) helper" in Tintin in the Congo is seen as "stupid and without qualities" (BBC NEWS, 2010). He added, "It makes people think that blacks have not evolved" (FRANCE24 International News, 2010). Image posted on Flickr by "uni.dijo". The picture below portrays a racist notion on the comic book of TinTin where it can be translated to TinTin saying that, "White man good! Great magic man! He cures my husband!" Snowy: "We are heroes arent we" (FRANCE24 International News, 2010). Image from:http://observers.france24.com/content/20100512-tintin-guilty-racism-let-congolese-decide-herge-congo-hearing-belgium Tin in the Congo had more racist scenes as compared to the second volume. After Hergé sought to make the cast seem appealing and tried to make the TinTin character seem a less dominant factor by drafting an interracial friendship of TinTin and Cheng Chong-Chen, a Chinese student in the cast at Tibet. Other scenes of blacks and white villains were removed so as to enable children to not make distinctive comparisons between blacks and whites. Hergé claimed that when he was writing the second TinTin adventure series, his intention was not to create a racial fuss. It was merely a plain and simple reflection of his time that he was fixating using the characters in the book. He added that, his time was filled with racial stereotypes, for example in his books he said they have characters that are Jews, blacks, Indians, and Asians. As a result, several changes have been spear headed, for example, In Spielbergs film; there are n blacks or Jews characters in the set. In addition to that, a Japanese man who was a character in The Crab With the Golden Claws (1941) was also removed from its plot. This action by Hergé seeks to cool down matters relating to racism and stereotype in the comic book (USSlave, 2011). TinTin is just one of the books that have portrayed this kind of stereotype in children’s books. In an article by Arteaga and Champion (2011), they give the following description of children’s books that have racial scenes. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: where the Oompa Loompas come from Central Africa and thus are described as black pigmies. In addition to that, it led to a controversial change in skin colour of the Oompa Loompas from black to white. Another instance was the one of the character Willy Wonka who found an African tribe and forced them to work for chocolate as they were not paid. When this is compared to real situations it reflects colonial Europe where the whites enslaved the blacks with no good pay. Noddy: The plot of Noddy is based on a small wooden toy that lives in Toyland. The stipulated stereotype racism behind it is that the characters Mr. Tubby Bear (a Teddy bear), Dinah Doll (a china doll) and the Golliwogs family. The Golliwogs family is portrayed as deceitful as they trick Noddy to steal then later on they steal his car and clothes. After changes were made to the cast, the Golliwogs family characters were removed from the cast reason being that "the toys themselves are symbols of an ugly racist period in our history”. The Chronicles of Narnia: The plot of Narnia is based on Aslan, a lion posed as heroic with a Christ metaphor. This has clearly offended Christianity. The racism behind Narnia is that, there exists Calormenes, characters from the South who are dark skinned, live in the desert, have long beards, wear turbans and pointy slippers and are ruled by Tarkaans, who are characters from the Middle East whose religion focuses on a Tash, a Satanic figure who is offered to human sacrifices. In addition to that the Calormene was selling his adopted son to slavery which concludes that they are greedy and cruel. All this is liked to portray that Middle Eastern people are not for Christianity and they worship Tash, a demon and the Eastern people are more focused to Christianity. Sherlock Holmes: The plot is based behind this cast is that, Sherlock Holes finds himself around dark skinned people and he stipulates that the people throwing drinks in his face do not understand racial humour. The secret Garden: The plot of The Secret Garden is based on a girl, Mary whose parents died in India. After that, she was sent to her uncle in England. At her uncle’s house, she gets to interact with a boy who was sick and after being taken in, he gets better. The stereotype part is when Mary met a house help Martha. And when Martha met Mary, she told her that she thought she would be black, Mary, got angry and shouted that blacks are not people. In addition to that, Mary and Martha are in a scene where she asks Martha to remove her black clothes and put on white ones as she hates everything that is black. In relation to Africans, the comic book portrays that the republic of Congo is full of witch doctors, lazy natives who need to be put to work and over the top violence against animals (USSlave, 2011). The comic book is also a reflection of Congo in 1885 when it was Belgian Congo. This happened to be one of the cruelest colonial regimes in Congo. The comic book also seeks to show that Africans viewed the white man as a god. This is because, the local Congo people called TinTin master. In addition to that TinTin makes them work like slaves and the dog Snowy calls the Congolese “Bloody Skivers” (FRANCE24 International News, 2010). The comic book is a humorous book, but they made fun of what goes on in Africa especially Congo. The book depicts what happens to African in a humorous way. This is totally offensive because what happened to Africans in Congo was cruel and not funny at all. For that instance, I wouldn’t like people making fun of the dark and sorrowful past for Africans just as they way for example I would not like people making fun of the Japanese invading China. This book will affect the view of different age group readers because little kids may not fully understand the meaning of this book because they wouldn’t know the past, but for readers who know the past they would think that this book is hideous. In addition to this, the society that we are living in is filled with people of colour. So if a young reader was to see a white character moralizing blacks in a comic book, they would practice that in reality and even try to emulate what they see in the comic book and think that it is humorous to practice the wrong that they are doing. There are various reasons that cause racial stereotypes. These include; the fact that there exist cultural differences as people has different cultural backgrounds. Discrimination: This causes a lot of stereotypes behaviour because the dominant culture or race that has been thought of since the age of colonialism is the lighter skinned people. Thus discrimination is portrayed in this manner. In the comic book of TinTin, discrimination is viewed when TinTin asks the Congolese men to work despite the fact that they are going to get dirty, adding to that, Snowy calls the Congolese “Bloody Skivers” (FRANCE24 International News, 2010). Lack of communication and understanding: This causes a lot of stereotype behaviour when lack of a formal way of communication leads to no understanding. For example, when different racial groups have less contact, there is a high probability that they will reject each other due to lack of common traits, experiences and this will create fears in the races involved. Thus the lack o communication is a major factor that leads to categorisation of people thus stereotype behaviour. With relation to the comic book by Hergé, the first version was purely black and white and it truly depicted the difference between dark skinned and light skinned people. This over the years caused a lot of problems as people were categorically classified among those lines. In addition to that, the dark skinned and light skinned people were clearly defined by the readers. After much speculation about the comic and how it portrayed a stereotype figure in the society, Hergé changed the second version in 1946 and he incorporated colour into the book. Hergé also changed some of the scenes in the book to more appealing ones. For example the scene where TinTin was going to teach the Congolese about their motherland Belgium was changed to a math lesson. For readers who were immersed into the comic book, the strategy that Hergé took was prone to change the mentality of the readers and dilute the mentality that they had picked from the firs Comic book of the 1930’s. TinTin in the Congo sought to reduce the stereotype behavior when Hergé redrew much of the characters and scenes so as to change the perception of the message being portrayed. This was a move by Hergé to tone down and censor the racist parts in the book. Education improvement: Empowerment is the key to a sustainable future. I the society was to implement and follow up on anti-stereotype policies. Then a lot would have been done so as to eliminate it from the society. In addition to that, if an individual was to observe any forms of racist behaviour they out to stand up for equality and even report the matter to the anti-stereotype societies. Educational support goes hand in hand with offering support to those individuals who have been racially harassed. Increase communication and interaction: In the society, people should learn the art of communication and realising that we are all the same and there is no difference in us except the skin colour. Culture awareness on the issue: If there were more culture awareness talks, then people in the society would realise that culture brings us together rather than away from each other. This racist stereotype behaviour would be eliminated. In addition to that, despite coming from different cultural background respect should be a key element in each and every one of us. According to the comic by TinTin, this was a scene that was not implemented on. Conclusion The book had shown stereotypes of black people or Congolese that they are poor, they can’t speak English properly and the book had formed class division, where black people are in the lower class whereas white people are in the higher class and the black people have to worship the white people. Bad stereotyping has also caused psychological problems to individuals who grew up being racially discriminated. Dialika Neufeld, a reporter with SPIEGEL underwent racial discrimination when called a Nigger. Her mother was from Germany and her father was Senegalese. She commented, “I was called this often as a child. Thats how it was in the northern German city of Kiel in the early 1990s, when I was in elementary school. A boy at the playground might tug at his mothers sleeve, point at me and say, "Look, Mom, a nigger!" When a child had a birthday party, the parents served marshmallow-filled chocolates known as "Negerküsse," or "Nigger kisses." When I dove into the swimming pool and the water beaded off my curls, someone was bound to say, "Niggers dont even get their hair wet, do they?”” (Neufeld, 2013). Despite the countless books mentioned that have racist stereotypes in them, young children are just reading the books for fun and to gain understanding of what went on ages ago, for example children in Belgium now understand that TinTin the character was in Congo with the Blacks. Some of the children do not understand what racism is until they are made to understand what it entails. Books like Sherlock Holmes, The secret Garden, Noddy, Chronicles of Narnia and the likes just seek to create a distinguishing factor to children so that they can understand the difference between the characters and not as an intention to make the children racists while they are young. If the clear distinction was not revealed in these books, then nothing good could have come out of the books. Again the books are termed as Comic books, which mean they are prone to be for entertainment and not a way to justify ethnic differences. In addition to that, comic books give children the benefit of creativity in their work, it presents a colourful perspective of the characters involved, some comics are inspirational like TinTin in Congo, they help children practice linguistics and some are even educational like Captain America, and some basically portray cultural and social aspects of the society. In this case, TinTin in Congo suits well here too. Finally they enhance the readers to have a sense of relaxation. Despite what these books portray, it’s the initiative of parent to be the role models of their children and make them understand what right and wrong, to help their children realise that the books are not the real thing that happens in the society and guide children’s the choice of books to read. Works cited Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2001. 3rd e.d. with new words supplement, Longman: Pearson Education Limited. Cendrowicz, Leo., 4 May 2010. TIME: Tintin: Heroic Boy Reporter or Sinister Racist? . Web. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1986416,00.html. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Thompson, Harry., 1991. Tintin: Hergé and his Creation. London: Hodder and Stoughton.. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Apostolidès, Jean-Marie., 2010. The Metamorphoses of Tintin, or Tintin for Adults. Stanford: Stanford University Press. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] BBC News, 12 July 200. "Bid to ban racist Tintin book". Web. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6294670.stm [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Beckford, Martin., 12 July 2007. The Telegraph: Ban racist Tintin book, says CRE. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1557233/Ban-racist-Tintin-book-says-CRE.html. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] FRANCE24 International News, 12 July 2012. Tintin in the Congo’ not racist, Belgian court rules . Web. Retrieved from : http://www.france24.com/en/20121206-tintin-congo-not-racist-belgian-court-rules. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] The Local, 25 September 2012. TinTin comics too racist for Stockholm library. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.thelocal.se/43428/20120925/#.UUAXOL3n9dh. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Rainey, Sarah., 03 Nov 2011. The Telegraph: TinTin: list of racist complaints. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8866997/Tintin-list-of-racist-complaints.html. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] FRANCE24 International News, 12 May 2010. Belgium - democratic republic of Congo: TinTin guilty of racism? Let the Congolese decide. Web. Retrieved from:http://observers.france24.com/content/20100512-tintin-guilty-racism-let-congolese-decide-herge-congo-hearing-belgium BBC News, 28 April 2010. Belgian bid to ban racist Tintin in the Congo. Web. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8648031.stm. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] The Atlantic, 22 December 2011. How Spielberg Handles the Racial Problems of the Tintin Books. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/12/how-spielberg-handles-the-racial-problems-of-the-tintin-books/250382/. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] USSlave, 7 July 2011. TinTin:Sinister Racist Propaganda. Web. Retrieved from: http://usslave.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/tintin-sinister-racist-propaganda.html. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Arteaga, Juan & Champion, John., December 19, 2011. The Six Most Secretly Racist Classic Children’s Books. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.cracked.com/article_19610_the-6-most-secretly-racist-classic-childrens-books_p2.html. [Accessed: 11 March 2013] Brown, J., 14 February 2012. THE INDEPENDENT. Herges racist adventures of Tintin? Not so, court decides. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/herges-racist-adventures-of-tintin-not-so-court-decides-6894770.html Capon, F., 4 February 2013. The Telegraph. Racist language in childrens books: In or out? Web. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9842757/Racist-language-in-childrens-books-In-or-out.html Dialika, Neufeld., 25 January 2013. SPIEGEL ONLINE. Take Out the N-Word: Its Time to Remove Racism from Childrens Books. Web. Retrieved from:http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/why-racism-should-be-removed-from-books-for-children-a-879628.html Read More