Weeks 1 & 2 The Blue Lotus
Questions. Chose one or two questions to answer rather than all of them. Some questions might be combined in your answer. Remember to respond to other bloggers. Please answer in the comment section - do not create a new blog!
1) Are comics just a children's medium. What does Blue Lotus show us?
2) How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults?
3) How does The Blue Lotus relate to what Said (1997) terms 'Orientalism' ?
4) Is The Blue lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
5) Herge used the expression 'the wind and bone' to refer to his art work. What do you think he meant.
1) Are comics just a children's medium. What does Blue Lotus show us?
ReplyDelete2) How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults?
Comics are not just a medium exclusive for children. When you look at Marvel and DC Universe superhero comicbooks, there are a lot of mature ideas and themes that are explored. An example of a comic book on a beloved superhero by young children but was intended for more mature readers is the Alan Moore’s 1986 comic Batman: The Killing Joke. This comic does not fear portraying the dark side of humanity and with an adult theme that should never exist in a child’s perspective of the world. It tells the story of the Joker’s attempt to drive Commissioner Gordon insane by torturing him, raped and shot his daughter and committing murder (Crutcher, 2011). Although Tintin and the Blue Lotus does not go to that extreme, it is still set in a adult world. The Blue Lotus has themes of drug trafficking, drug use and mild violence and set in the second Sino-Japanese war. Despite these themes not being acknowledged by most young readers, they are still very mature and known to adults that these things happened in reality that adults often take part in. Comics aren’t just children’s mediums and are able to effectively explore mature themes however, in comics such as Tintin are capable of telling a story with a child’s perspective of the world.
Tintin’s appeal to adults is justified by Farr (1991) because adults are able to identify the political satire and parody in the Tintin adventure comics. Adults will also be able to understand the puns in the comics and will be able to predict certain events in advance compared to children. Farr also says that another reason for Tintin’s appeal to both children and adults is because readers have their own individual reasons on why they enjoy Tintin comics. The final justification by Farr is that these young readers who grew up reading the comics will continue to keep the comics alive by introducing the Tintin comics to their children when they become parents just like how the stories about J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan has been kept alive for multiple generations.
References
Crutcher, P. A. (2011). Complexity in the comic and graphic novel medium: Inquiry through bestselling Batman stories. The Journal of Popular Culture, 44(1), 53-72.
Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.
Hi Adam,
DeleteThese are excellent answers to both questions. Your argument is well written and clear.
Good job in addressing each aspect of the question as well. You could've used one specific reference from the Blue Lotus but that is not necessary.
Remember if you are using a direct quote to use the "" marks. Otherwise your referencing is great.
At first comics are mostly for children because of comic its the way to teach them how to read. Comic use story, character, setting, and color to attract young children like in Tintin. Later on, comic appeal to target adult readers with strong language and mature graphic. Its depending on who reading the book, young children will see Tintin as another fun comic book because they find its interesting and with the story line that can educate them. Adults will find its more humor and joke about politics which young children will never understand. Overall, comics are for everyone but its depend on the contents and languages that being use in the book.
ReplyDeleteYes it definitely does depend on the content of the comic itself, however I do not see it for mostly children. The comic as a medium is definitely effective for teaching kids to read but that is because it is easily digestible to look at. Newspapers in the United States had comic strips made for both children and adults to enjoy regardless of the content being child-friendly. Similar case for Tintin. Adults do enjoy stories for children as long as it is engaging.
ReplyDeleteYea, I for sure agree with you Adam, undoubtably, whether a comic book is for children on adults is based on the content, message and genre of the comic itself, but I think the question was more based on the general view of comic books, and whether they are for children specifically. In my research for the question, I was unable to find any well known, respectable comics aimed specifically at children. Those I found were, with all due respect to the authors, watered down stories, with poor quality illustrations, and basic themes and lessons, that don’t hold any real value. In broader terms however, I notice that all graphic novels and comic books, to some extent have some of adult theme in them. In fact, flipping through some manga at the library in the teenage section, I found a fare bit of nudity in some manga. I think in general, my overall argument is, that all quality comics are actually aimed more towards adults, rather than children.
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ReplyDelete3) How does The Blue Lotus relate to what Said (1977) terms 'Orientalism' ?
4) Is The Blue lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
In terms of The Blue Lotus being a racist text, it's interesting to look at how Herge portrays the Chinese – influenced by his friendship with Chang. By exploring the Western notion of China and deliberately addressing stereotypes, notably on page 43 – ie wearing pigtails, eating rotten eggs and binding feet, but also giving a Chinese character the ability to rebut these and also bring to light Chinese stereotypes of Western culture, Herge seems to be trying to break down negative prejudice between these two cultures, which could have arisen from the notion of the Orient (Said, 1977).
In comparison, however, Herge's representation of the Japanese as the villianeous race in the graphic novel poses the race in a harsh light, with no chance to rebut stereotypes they are clearly shown as an extremely cruel race (Farr, 1991). Herge depicts them visually with angry frown lines and mean expressions, and with having no reservations when it comes to violence and silencing Tintin.
The vast difference in the depictions of these two cultures ultimately shows us where Herge's preference lies, although the negative depiction of the Japanese was not uncommon within British and American society in the 1930's.
This ties into what Said (1977) states about 'The Orient' - used by Western society to define the differences between the East and the West, often used by corporate institutions to try 'teach' others about the East and make statements about their culture and society. Initially, this was a way Western culture tried to understand Asia, but is definitely a Western notion that perpetuated stereotypes and misunderstandings between the cultures, creating an "us and them" relationship.
However, there are certainly points of racism in the graphic novel that seem to have no relevance to the storyline – for example on page 2, Tintin is introduced to Ramacharma who before reading Tintin's future, performs some acrobatics for entertainment. Depicted as a dark skinned fellow dressed in a loincloth, he proceeds to sit on a cushion after his act, but leaps up in pain, saying he has sensitive skin. He then proceeds to sit on a bed of nails quite comfortably before beginning his fortune telling. It is perhaps this somewhat unnecessary addition into the story more than any other that suggests to me that the Blue Lotus certainly contains racist stereotypes. While Herge attempts to conquer Western stereotypes about Chinese culture, he uses and encourages Western stereotypes of the Japanese and the Ramacharma.
Farr, M. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.
Herge. (2005; 1935). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen.
Said, E. (1977). Orientalism. In Ashcroft, B. Griffiths, G. & Tiffin, H. (Ed.), The Post-colonial Studies reader (pp.87-91). London: Routledge
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ReplyDelete3) How does The Blue Lotus relate to what Said (1997) terms 'Orientalism' ?
ReplyDelete4) Is The Blue lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
Edward Said lists one of Orientalism's possible definitions as the "Western style for dominating, restructuring and having authroity over the Orient." He proposes the idea that Orientalism more describes the West's attitude to the East, rather than describing any of Eastern countries themselves, and this idea is certainly mirrored by The Blue Lotus.
Herge makes a point of showing his revised attitude towards Japan, including scenes such as the one with Gibbons. Gibbons, depicted as a upper-class white man, bumps into Tintin's rickshaw driver and immediately begins to shout at him, blaming him for the upset. Tintin interrupts and tells him that his "conduct is disgraceful, sir!" While this scene does serve to show Gibbons personality to the reader, Gibbons has very little involvement in the plot and could easily have been excluded from the narrative. It is much more likely that Herge included him as a caricature of Western racial attitudes, to contrast Tintin's behaviour and better show Tintin's friendliness towards Chinese characters. However, this is undermined by Tintin's conversation with Chang, where he describes what Europeans falsely believe about China, including things that are actually a part of Chinese culture - namely 'rotten eggs' (better known as Pidan, or the century egg) and swallows nests. While I am a fan of Tintin and Herge's work, and have been since I was very young, these forced scenes only serve to display Herge's arrogance and are incredibly frustrating to read.
While Herge was likely attempting to be more aware of Chinese culture and revise his attitudes towards the East, he inevitably to come off as racist regardless due to his tendency to reduce these characters to racial stereotypes. Chang has very little in the way of personality, and has very little relevance to the plot, only serving to act as a mirror to reflect Tintin's consideration and inclusiveness. Said mirrors this in his description of Orientalism as an attitude of superiority, which 'puts the Westerner in a series of possible relationships... without him ever losing the upper hand.' This relates to Tintin's scenes in The Blue Lotus also, as even in acknowledging the flaws in European beliefs about the East, he remains superior to every Chinese character depicted in The Blue Lotus, with even respected members of the community (such as Wang Chen-yee) bowing to Tintin and sending his own son to protect him.
All of this only describes Herge's attempts at writing about Chinese characters. His descriptions of Japanese characters are worse still, and the beginning scene with the Maharaja and Ramacharma is not only incredibly insensitive but unnecessary. There have, in recent times, even been petitions to get the Tintin comics banned from libraries and bookstores for its racist depictions - not only The Blue Lotus, but others such as Tintin in the Congo, The Shooting Star, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, and Tintin in the Land of Black Gold. Herge's opinions and perception of the world around him do begin to evolve with each comic, showing his growth as a person and his attempts to understand other cultures. However, despite The Blue Lotus' status as a turning point in Herge's depictions of cultures and foreign countries, it's racist scenes drag down the comic as a whole and ruin Herge's attempts at sensitivity.
Rainey, S. (2011, Nov 3). Tintin: list of 'racist' complaints. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8866997/Tintin-list-of-racist-complaints.html
Said, E. (1997). Orientalism. In Ashcroft, B. Griffiths, G. & Tiffin, H. (Ed.), THe Post-colonial Studies Reader (pp87-91). London: Routledge.
This is a great post Nicky, covering all the elements of the story. I agree with you completely. One of the things that I thought was funny when reading Farr's Tintin companion was, that Herge said something along the lines of how he didn't mean to be racist ever, and how he would properly do research from then onwards, or something along those lines, and I found it hilarious reading the comic and noticing that it was still so incredibly racist and unnecessary at some points.
DeleteIf I had been Chinese, or Japanese reading these comics, or viewing it's pictures, I would have been deeply offended.
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Delete1) Are comics just a children's medium. What does Blue Lotus show us?
ReplyDelete2) How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults?
The argument of comic books being a medium directly aimed at children, is one that has a dear amounts of evidence against it’s statement, although I do acknowledge that it is subjective based on context, content, genre and general message. However, from Marvel comics of the West like The Hulk, Spiderman or Thor, to Japanese manga, like Hajime no Ippo and Riman Gambler Mouse, and even Chinese manhua like 19 Days, or Shen Yi Di Nu, its clear that adult themes and issues are ever present in the plot and stories of these comic books. Each graphic novel explores themes of romance, civil rights, sex, violence, good and evil, as well as politics, as highlighted in The Blue Lotus itself, and although while most of these themes may not be as transparent to children, it’s easy to conclude that generally speaking most comics produced in current time, are aimed more towards an adult audience, rather than children, unless specifically notable. In my research, the most well respected, and popular comics that I found, all have some sort of underlying adult theme in them, themes that are arguably too complicated or mature for a child to grasp and comprehend. Specifically, focussing on The Blue Lotus itself, the themes of drug use, violence and war are present, themes that only adults would pick up on as they are overlooked by children.
One of the main reasons for the cause of the argument as to whether comic books are aimed specifically at children, may have risen due to the West’s views on comic books in general. Varnum & Gibbons, 2001 research in “The Language of Comics: word and image” establish that the West generally viewed comics as “lowbrow mediums” or as “cheap, disposable kiddie fares,” (p. 2). In their paper, they highlight that many people, like psychologist Fredric Wertham, view comic books as a lazy medium, that requires no real brain power to comprehend, thus being deemed as a children’s medium. Wertham argued that because comic books have more images and less words, they encourage laziness and lead to "under developed reading skills in children,” (p. 4). In the same paper, on the other hand, Scott McCloud (as cited in Varnum & Gibbons, 2001), highlights his anti-argument, in clearly establishing the several ways in which the composition of words and pictures work together in order to provide further depth of understanding to a plot for the reader. Arguable perhaps that only an adult then, would be able to comprehend how words and pictures together convey the full plot of the story. A child, I would personally argue, would not have the depth or intelligence to put together word and picture, and fill in the missing gaps. In the Blue Lotus, for example, illustrations of the Japanese characters are depicted as having pig snouts, V-shaped brows, and teeth glaring, perhaps this is done to demonstrate that these characters are evil and conniving. This is a complex tactic, which again, as mentioned, children will overlook.
Herge himself stated that his Tintin comics are for anyone aged seven, to seventy seven, (Farr, 2001). Farr suggests that this is true, as each individual audience, understands and appreciates the comics, based on their own interpretation, suggesting that people of all ages are drawn to the Tintin comics, as it serves a different purpose for each individual based on their needs. He suggests that children are drawn to the TinTin comics due to the pictures and the comedy, as well as the excitement and anticipation of what Tintin’s next adventure is going to be, and what is going to happen to him. Similarly, the adult audiences are drawn to the Tintin comics, because they will understand the “political satires, parody and puns” (p.2), that the comics include. Farr, establishes that the Tintin stories were based on a lot of relevant topics, issues and world events at the time, with Herge spending a good portion of his time researching events and accurate detail so that they could be included in the comics. Thus, for a lot of adults, because the comics “mirrored the world” it is perhaps interesting to view the world situations and events from a entertaining point of view.
DeleteReferences:
Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: The complete companion. London: John Murray.
Herge. (2005; 1935). The Adventures of Tintin:The Blue Lotus. London:Methuen.
Varnum, R.& Gibbons, C. (Ed.). (2001). The Language of Comics: word and image. Jackson: U Press of Mississippi.