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.
Question 3: How does The Blue Lotus relate to what Said (1977) terms ‘Orientalism’?
ReplyDeleteEdward W. Said defines “Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring and having authority over the Orient” (1977). This political view on the term can be both argued and supported in regards to George Hemi’s [Herge] fifth book in his comic series, Tintin and The Blue Lotus.
The Blue Lotus was not only written to show the oppression the Chinese people were suffering under colonial rule, but also Herge’s effort to “atone for his sin” (Diab, 2015) - the “sin” being that in his previous books he portrayed other cultures in a prejudice light. It remains unclear whether Herge portrayed the Chinese in The Blue Lotus in a positive or negative light, but it is obvious he took every opportunity to display the Chinese in ways readers would sympathise (Jacob, n.d). In doing so, what Said says in terms of Orientalism is arguably confirmed. On pages 6 and 7, the Chinese man transporting Tintin to his destination, stumbles into a European man [Gibbons] who crosses the road without looking. Gibbons outraged by this begins to beat the “dirty little China-man” (pg.6), only to be stopped by Tintin who goes on to call Gibbons a “brute” (pg.7). Though Tintin, a Westerner, stands up to Gibbon’s, the Chinese man is notably absent from this confrontation. It is argued that Tintin’s show of common decency was in fact a portrayal of Western dominance, as the Chinese man’s need of saving from a European came from another European (Laser-Robinson, n.d).
How the Chinese were drawn in The Blue Lotus can also relate to Said’s take on Orientalism. The Chinese man Tintin first encounters (pg.3) could almost pass for a Westerner as he is dressed entirely in Western-styled clothing (Laser-Robinson, n.d). On page 7 a European man is drawn with the same clothing as this Chinese man, both wearing a brown suit with a blue tie and glasses. In addition, the Chinese man also wore a hat and carried a cane. This style of dress was the popular fashion for men in Europe at the time. This relates back to Said’s definition of Orientalism as the similarities of dress between the Chinese and European man can be depicted as Herge “restructuring the Orient” (1977) to fit a more Western perception by readers. By doing this the Chinese are given a more relatable but not accurate portrayal to readers. Said’s take on the term Orientalism heavily relates to the controversies within The Blue Lotus. Herge portrays the European culture with strength and dominance as his character Tintin is put in a whole series of relationships with the Orient but never loses the upper hand.
References:
Diab, K. (2015). How Tintin can teach us about the past. Retrieved on 26 July 2017 from https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/how-tintin-can-teach-us-about-the-past-1.81032.
Herge. (1935). Tintin and The Blue Lotus. The Adventures of Tintin. Casterman.
Jacob, T. (n.d). Great Snakes! The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus – An Analytical Reading. Retrieved on 26 July 2017 from http://www.tintinologist.org/articles/greatsnakes.html.
Laser-Robinson, A. (n.d). An Analysis of Herge’s Portrayal of Various Racial Groups in The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. Retrieved on 26 July 2017 from http://www.tintinologist.org/articles/analysis-bluelotus.pdf.
Said, E. W. (1977). Orientalism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
great work. good answer.
Delete1. Are comics just a children’s medium. What does Blue Lotus show us
ReplyDelete2. How does Farr (1991) jusify Tintin’s appeal to adults.
After world war two, the Blue Lotus has been recognized as the first book that European to use the artistic image to portray the sino-Japanese war. The Chinese signboards, placards, and banners are all created by a Chinese – Zhang Chong Ren (张充仁). He is a really good friend of Herge and he helped Herge to build Blue Lotus. That is why you can see a Chinese young boy in the comic named Chang Chong-Chen. (The name of Chong Ren (充仁) also appeared in frame14 in page 55 and frame 9 in page 45).
The Blue Lotus is a series that has a primary audience composed of children (Darren, 2011). The Blue Lotus could be a medium for children when it is simply an adventure for children to read. They might not sense the racist, the opium or political satire as adults do. They might just focus on Tintin’s intelligence, courage, sense of justice and how the evildoer was defeated or how the different culture being offered in the comic. I think Blue Lotus is more likely for young people and adults to read. This is like how Farr justify that the child can be gripped by the excitement of Tintin and comedy even farce. The adult will receive the political satire and parody, puns and prescience (Farr, 1991).
What does Blue Lotus show us? This is can be answered in many ways. If you asked me as a Chinese to read Blue Lotus, l will read it politically. I mainly receive the message of the political satire. As in the comic, the Japanese are portrayed as racist stereotypes. They are rude and unreasonable bullies to Chinese, as you can see how the Japanese treat the Chinese. They treat Chinese unequally. The Chinese said: “先生，得罪” when he is about to collide the Japanese (Frame 5 in page 6), but the Japanese just hit him and yelled at him. Here, “先生，得罪” means: “Sir, excuse me”. There are many examples of how Japanese being rude and racist to people. This is just the surface about how Herge against the Japanese invasion of mainland China. The sentence “打倒帝国主义” in the frame 5 of page 32 is Chong Ren’s aspiration, this means to against and fight the imperialism. This is to fight Japanese’s invasion. It is just like how Farr (1991) explains Tin Tin’s appeal to adults not just for the comedic aspects but for the political satire, the parody, puns, and prescience. We as adults receive the political satire, the parody, puns, and prescience but the child more likely to receive the comedic aspects. In the page 43, frame 7,8,9,10,11. When Tintin and Chang shared their point of view about what they thought about each other’s citizen. This is a way to tell we should not completely believe what we heard but also to clarify the wrong idea of people think of China and western country. People should accept the different culture and tolerate each other.
References:
Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.
Darren, n.d. (2011, Dec 3). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus (Review). The Movie Blog. Retrieved from
https://them0vieblog.com/2011/12/03/the-adventures-of-tintin-the-blue-lotus/
Herge. (1935). Tintin and The Blue Lotus. The Adventures of Tintin. Casterman.
great answer, good job. improving the clarity of your english would help lift the answer.
Delete4) Is The Blue lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
ReplyDeleteHerge’s (George Remi) artistic representation of the characters in Tintin The blue lotus (1990) could be interpreted as racist or an overexaggerated stereo types. The skilled art work, along with a creative narrative, depicts a plot that is “deeply rooted in real-world discourses and events” (Dunnett, 2009) creating a controversial graphic novel.
Herge’s Tintin The blue lotus is set in Shanghai 1931. This was a critical period for the Chinese people, as Japanese troops occupied Shanghai, along with Western colonial powers (Herge, 1990, Historical note). This caused poverty and corruption within Shanghai. Herge was largely unaware of the realities of 1931 Shanghai, operating on the preconceived ideas that perpetuated European society (Dunnett, 2009). His close friend Chang Chong-Jen exposed both the falsities of the stereotypes surrounding the Chinese people and the cultural misconceptions (Laser-Robinson, n.d). Herge’s reaction to these injustices was The blue lotus, this can be seen in his character portrayals, using both positive and negative identifying features (stereotypes). However, this was likely not intended to be racist (Assouline, 2009). For example, Herge uses features such as big teeth and glasses for the Japanese, characteristics linked to propaganda posters of that time (Laser-Robinson, n.d). This technique was used to relate to that perception of the Japanese people, using the readers subconscious as a tool (Silvia, 2010) rather than expressing racism. This method helps give a broader understanding to a situation through relation, rather than give a full back story.
There doesn’t appear to be a display of superiority over the Japanese or Europeans. There is however, typical archetypes present, good vs bad, light vs darkness. Also present are purposeful elements of racism within the comic, such as when Gibbons is talking about the superiority of “western society”, then bumps into a Chinese waiter. Gibbons proceeds to yell at the waiter, shouting “yellow scum! I’ll teach you respect for your betters!” (p. 7) This is not done as a show of superiority, rather to ridicule racial superiority and introduce the hypocrisy of it all (Laser-Robinson, n.d). The movie, Tintin The Blue Lotus (Filmuzayi, 2014), misses these vital lessons as they remove all dialogue that could be considered racist. Furthermore, Herge tries to remove racism and preconceived notions by including a scene where Chang and Tintin discussed these ideologies with one another ending with them in a fit of laughter as they share their misconstrued realities (p. 43).
Overall, I believe this text is not racist, rather, it uses tools such as stereotypes and preconceived notions not only to educate and relate to a target ordinance, but to also expose the truth about Shanghai 1931.
References:
Assouline, P. (2009). Herge: The man who created Tintin (C. Ruas, Trans.). New York, United States: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1996)
Dunnett, O. (2009). Identity and geopolitics in Herge's Adventures of Tintin. Social & Cultural Geography, 10(5), 583-598. doi:10.1080/14649360902974449
Filmuzayi. (2014, March 12). 03 – Tintin – The Blue Lotus [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bogqq_03-tintin-the-blue-lotus_tv
Herge. (1990). The adventures of Tintin: The blue lotus (L. Lonsdale-Cooper & M. Turner, Trans.). London, United Kingdom: Mammoth. (Original work published 1935)
Laser-Robinson, A. (n.d). An Analysis of Herge’s Portrayal of Various Racial Groups in The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. Retrieved on 26 July 2017 from http://www.tintinologist.org/articles/analysis-bluelotus.pdf
Silvia, A. (2010). Poe's "Theory of Omission" and Hemingway's "Unity of Effect". The Edgar Allan Poe Review, 11(2), 53-63.
great work, good answer, nicely concluded.
DeleteCan a text be subtly racist even if it intends not to be?
How are the Indians portrayed?
Thanks Mike,
DeleteI believe readers bring their own experiences to a text and often read with a purpose in mind. If a reader had racism in mind they will find it, much like they would in any other text or controversial issue. Tintin The blue lotus in the barest of form is a text about a boy trying to help the Chinese from invaders. There are going to be multiple cultural depictions and I believe that no matter how Herge drew them they would be considered racist, even if they were accurately drawn.
According to the oxford dictionary, the definition of race is:
Each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics.
And Racism is:
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
Herge uses these distinct physical characteristics as a tool, show don’t tell, rather than explaining who everyone is. He also uses history and images (propaganda posters) that he saw in his time. This was done to construct characters using readers prior knowledge to help associate with the type of character he was depicting. These were tools he used to create a background to his story and immediate understanding from the reader. Without these distinguishing features, we would not know who is who. If he did not show the oppression against the Chinese, as an outcry for help, there would be no story, no realisation of what was happening. Much like if his graphic novel displayed nation that was happy with everyone, Herge’s reason for the graphic novel would not be achieved. His reason being to shed light on the oppression the Chinese were experiencing at the time, the support that was required. He needed an example and he needed these examples to be relatable for immediate action.
From my point of view, I saw little to no racism, however, what I clearly could see was a class distinction, not race superiority. There was no race depicted as above another, no superiority but there was rich people treating poor people, or peasants badly. This can be seen when Gibbons hit the Chinese man and then when Tintin stops the altercation he turns his aggression onto Tintin, this had nothing to do with racial superiority but instead wealth. Gibbons Thought he was above everyone and could treat anyone as he wished, this can also be seen as he tries to exact revenge on Tintin (a white man) for embarrassing him.
All in all, I believe readers bring their own experiences and expectations to a novel, if racism is the readers intended purpose or mind frame, subtle racism will be found. I, however, believe Herge has cleverly used tools to create an understanding for characters, eliciting prior knowledge. This creating a story that people can relate to and hopefully create concern for the situation in China, resulting in affirmative action.
References:
Oxford dictionaries. (n.d). racism. Retrieved October 01, 2017 from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism.
Oxford dictionaries. (n.d). race. Retrieved October 01, 2017 from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/race.
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DeleteI would have to disagree with the opinion that people will find racism in a piece of text if they had racism in mind. There are many occurrences where parents have seen Herge's comics and discouraged their children from reading them because of Herge's subtle, and sometimes not subtle, use of stereotypical racism even if it is unintentional. They did not have racism in mind when seeing these comics, but rather are more informed and less innocent than children who may have not understood the stereotypes. For example, in Tintin in the Congo, Herge uses many racial stereotypes when depicting the Congolese. These comics almost always depict a certain race or opposing religion to be identical and lack individuality and we can see this clearly in Tintin and the Blue Lotus. The only characters I saw to have any individuality were the Europeans and Chang Chong Chen, who could pass of as a European cartoon in the Tintin world if it were not for his clothes and hair. We can also see instances of racial stereotyping in the beginning of the comic when Tintin is in India. There is a part of the comic where the Ramacharma is more comfortable sitting on spikes rather than on the couch and how they again, lack individuality. The only way to tell the difference between the Maharaja and his loyal servants are by the colour of their clothes. There are many forms of racism and this would classify as casual racism which the Australian Human Rights Commission describes as behaviour "involving negative stereotypes or prejudices about people on the basis of race, colour or ethnicity... Unlike overt and intentional acts of racism, casual racism isn’t often intended to cause offence or harm." (2017). Therefore, I believe that Tintin comics are indeed racist even if unintentional.
DeleteReference:
Casual Racism. (2017). Itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au. Retrieved from https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/what-can-you-do/speak/casual-racism
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ReplyDeleteQ: 1) Are comics just a children's medium. What does Blue Lotus show us?
ReplyDeleteNo, comics are not just for children, but they could also be adult's medium. Take the Blue Lotus as an example, it can appeal to "all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven" (Farr, 1991, p.9). However, which type of comics suitable for children still needs to be considered carefully because Zorbaugh (1949) concludes that some comics are too violent and dangerous for children's character and psychological health and they are also undesirable effects on children's cultural development. Except for those inappropriate content of comics, comics could help children have an interest in reading and creative work with text, which can revert contemporary children generation back to reading (Wiegerová & Navrátilová, 2017). For instance, children choose to read and then enjoy the Blue Lotus because of its excitement of the adventure and exoticism which likes a tiny window and landscape to help children know another world (Farr, 1991& Horricks, 2004).
For adults, they could learn more different things from comics, such as politics, images and history. Adults read the Blue Lotus and love reading it because they are interested in its politics and real settings of streets in Shanghai, which makes the narrative and its author more trusted and convincing (Farr, 1991). In two of the early Tintin adventures, Herge had fallen into the stereotype of China that all Chinese were very cruel, ate swallows' nests, wore pigtails and threw children into rivers, but thanks to Chang Chong-chan, he let Herge understand more about China, especially Chinese culture, politic and historical events as well as real settings on the streets of Shanghai (Farr, 1991). Farr (1991) also notes that the narrative Blue Lotus accurately portrayed the distant politics of Asia, Japan's naked imperialist ambitions with unfair treaties with the Chinese government, Chinese settings and decoration and even street names and signs, offering much to delight any adult of Mandarin or who is interested in Chinese culture. At the time, Japanese troops were occupying parts of the Chinese mainland. Therefore, the Blue Lotus is a trusted and convincing example of political correctness to set against the accusations of collaboration with the occupying power (Farr, 1991). In addition, the Blue Lotus brought emotion and tragedy which is likely to be another two factors adults would understand. According to Farr (1991), when Tintin faced Didi's madness before his parents, he felt very upset and distressed. This was the first time of Tintin showing his emotion. "Poor poor Ms Wang…" (Herge, 2015;1935, p.29), he says, weeping along with Snowy.
To sum up, comics are not only children's medium, but they are also for adults because they have a different point of view to understand comics. In other words, children may pay more attention to its excitement of the adventure like in the Blue Lotus, while adults seem to care more about its accuracy and appropriateness of politics, images and history, particularly when they read the Blue Lotus, for example.
References:
Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.
Herge. (2005;1935). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen.
Horricks, D. (2004). The Perfect Planet: Comics, games and world-building. In Williams, M. (Ed.), Writing at the Edge of the Universe. Christchurch: U of Canterbury Press.
Wiegerová, A., & Navrátilová, H. (2017). Lets Not Be Scared of Comics (Researching Possibilities of Using Conceptual Comics in Teaching Nature Study in Kindergarden). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,237, 1576-1581. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2017.02.248
Zorbaugh, H. (1949). What Adults Think of Comics as Reading for Children. Journal of Educational Sociology,23(4). doi:10.2307/2264558
I totally agree. Not only children, even for me I more intend to focus on the excitement of the adventure of the comics. I am a big fan of comics, but sometimes I might miss some implying message in the comics. As in the Blue lotus, I missed some of the implying Chinese political message such as one Chinese sentence in the frame 5 of page 32. Because I really want to know what is going to happen in the next page so I read it real quickly. I think this will happen to children as well, they can't wait to find out more about the story and next adventure so they might missed the message that author wants to say.
Deletegood work, nice close analysis of the text.
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ReplyDeleteIs The Blue lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
ReplyDeleteA definition made by Oxford Living Dictionaries (2017) is that racism is "The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races." This is certainly applicable to Tintin and the Blue Lotus.
Hergé had not actually gone to China and the Blue Lotus was solely based on his friendship between him and a Chinese man by the name of Zhang Chongren, also known as Chang Chong-Jen, whom he met in Brussels (Laser-Robinson, n.d.). This friendship is what inspired Hergé's sympathy for the Chinese as well as influenced Hergé's depiction of them. While Hergé did not intend to show racism towards the Chinese, he is certainly prejudice against the Japanese and Western Society. Harry Thompson criticised the Blue Lotus, noting that some people believed that Hergé's depiction of the Japanese was racist. "He nevertheless thought that these accusations "stupidly" missed "the point of the story", which was to counter widespread racist attitudes toward East Asians among Belgians." ("The Blue Lotus", 2017).
"Critics have complained that The Blue Lotus, set in China in the early 1930s, is anti-imperialist. The Japanese are portrayed with little sympathy in the book, and Japanese and Western involvement in China is marked with disapproval. However, Hergé also made clear attempts to discourage ignorant or racist remarks about the Chinese." (Rainey, 2011).
Laser-Robinson (n.d.) says that if racism is defined by recognising and separating groups of people, we can see the "deasianization" of the Chinese and the "hyperasianization" of the Japanese. Using Tintin as a neutral depiction of Western Society, we can see that the Chinese are illustrated in a similar neutral manner in comparison and the distinction between the two are by wrinkles, slightly squinted eyes, bonier faces and sometimes their clothing. However, when looking at how the Japanese are depicted, especially Mr. Mitsuhirato, we see big teeth, extremely squinted eyes, a pig's snout and a black moustache. These features dehumanises the character, offering no sympathy whatsoever to the Japanese. This could have been influenced by Anti-Japanese WWII propaganda ("Racist Propaganda", n.d.).
"Anti-Japanese propaganda advocated the idea that the Japanese were “animals” who “don’t fear death as much as white men do.” By dehumanizing the enemy group one’s own racial standing is heightened and one becomes disassociated from any feelings of human sympathy for that group." (Laser-Robinson, n.d.).
The character Chang, however, lacks the squinted eyes altogether and if it were not for the colour of his hair and Chinese-style clothes, would be identical to Tintin. It is during the interaction between Tintin and Chang that we see Hergé's attempt to call out racism against the Chinese by Western Society. Another instance in which Hergé tries to call out racism against the Chinese is when Gibbons accidentally steps in front of a rickshaw driver and the driver, who is unable to stop, crashes into him. Instead of realising that it had been an accident, Gibbons is furious and yells at the driver saying "Dirty little Chinaman! To barge into a white man!" (The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus, n.d.). This is an example of Hergé stereotyping Westerners, not by illustrations, but by dialogue, assuming that all Westerners know nothing about the Chinese and that they all believe to be superior and have authority over the Chinese.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that Hergé saw the Chinese as victims of military aggression and aimed to encourage sympathy among his readers by whichever means necessary. His portrayal of Westerners is not racist, probably due to the fact that his audience consisted primarily of Westerners. So he uses the Japanese as a foil and in turn forces his colonial views upon his readers and stereotypes the Japanese in a racist manner. "This contradiction is difficult to overlook and makes Hergé’s message seem confused and unconvincing in a modern context" (Laser-Robinson, n.d.).
References
Definition of RACISM. (2017). Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism
Laser-Robinson, A. An Analysis of Hergé’s Portrayal of Various Racial Groups in The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. Retrieved from http://www.tintinologist.org/articles/analysis-bluelotus.pdf
Racist Propaganda. Rotten.com. Retrieved from http://www.rotten.com/library/imagery/propaganda/racist-propaganda/
Rainey, S. (2011). Tintin: list of 'racist' complaints. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8866997/Tintin-list-of-racist-complaints.html
The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. Retrieved from http://www.blackkat.net/tintin/pdf/05%20-%20The%20Blue%20Lotus.pdf
The Blue Lotus. (2017). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Lotus
Very good work on a challenging question, i like they way you have defined racism in the introduction outset.
ReplyDeletea reference to Said would help and its best to conclude in your own words rather than with a quote.