Tintin in Latin America

Tintin is a cartoon character created by the Belgian artist Georges Remi under the alias of Hergé. There are over 20 different titles in the series of Tintin adventures, where the action covers all parts of the world including the Soviet Russia, the Congo, Egypt, China, Tibet, Peru and even a trip to the moon. Over the years, the Tintin character has received international recognition. Charles de Gaulle once told André Malraux that his only international rival is Hergé. So how popular is Tintin in Latin America?

In the 1995 edition of the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica Kids Study, we found that 23% of children between the ages 7 and 11 have seen or heard of Tintin. As the following table shows, there does not appear to be much difference by age or sex, but there are major differences by socio-economic status and geographical region. This set of circumstances is expected since Tintin is known to children primarily through either the published books or cartoon animated series shown primarily on cable/satellite television.

Among the Latin American children who have seen or heard of Tintin, 27% of them ranked him as 'One of their favorites', 46% of them thought that he was 'Very Good', 23% thought he was 'Good' and only 4% 'did not like him.' The popularity of Tintin to children is due to a large degree the exotic settings of his adventures. By comparison, other cartoons seem to be set outside of time, space and tradition. To the extent that children believe these stories to reflect social realities elsewhere, there may be some important concerns and implications. After all, one of the most famous analyses of the ideological dimensions of cartoons was How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Comic by the Chilean Ariel Dorfman, in collaboration with the Frenchman Armand Mattelart.

Our interest in Tintin is really from the viewpoint of post-colonial studies. This cartoon series was created by a European who did not have primary contact with the subjects (see, for example, the apparent influence of National Geographic Magazine on the art work in Prisoners of the Sun). We would therefore expect these cartoons to reflect euro-centric views of that era. In its own time, Tintin addressed many contemporary political issues (e.g. the Japanese intrusion into China in The Blue Lotus). Over the years since their publication, some of the Tintin books were updated for political correctness and expediency (e.g. the modern version of Land of Black Gold replaced the British occupation force in Palestine by Arab soldiers instead).

Within the series of Tintin adventures, Prisoners of the Sun took place in South America. Here is our synopsis (based upon the English-language edition):

• Tintin and his friend Captain Haddock came to Callao, the port city of Lima (Peru), where they wanted to intercept a cargo boat (Pachacamac) which was believed to be carrying their kidnapped friend Professor Cuthbert Calculus. While in Callao, Captain Haddock was spit upon by a llama in the street.
• When the cargo boat arrived, a local doctor declared a quarantine on account of yellow fever. However, Tintin decided to board the boat surreptitiously at night because "The doctor is an Indian ... a Quichua Indian ... Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
• On the boat, Tintin found Professor Calculus, who had been kidnapped because he had put on the Incan bracelet of Rascar Capac, an act of sacrilege for which he must die.
• But before Tintin could notify the police, the kidnappers moved Professor Calculus off the boat. Tintin and Captain Haddock pursued them by train to Jauga. An Indian ordered the train conductor to put the two into the last car ("It is his order --- and you know what happens to those who disobey him") and then disconnected the car. The two were lucky to survive the downhill runaway.
• When they finally arrived in Jauga, Tintin saw two grown men bullying a small Indian boy Zorrino and came to his defense. For this act, Zorrino offered to act as his guide even though he was afraid. Zorrino spoke in broken English: "Afraid of Inca, señor. Vengeance of Inca terrible when Indian tell white man what white man must not know.")
• The Indian who ordered the sabotage on the train also saw what Tintin did. In truth, he is Huascar, a high priest of the Sun God. He gave Tintin a little medal. He too spoke in broken English: "But you not always have good luck ... you listen to me: you not go ... you still go, then take this ... very good, help you in danger ...")
• As they set out to the Temple of the Sun where Professor Calculus was being held, Captain Haddock was spit upon again by a llama besides getting his beard chewed.
• During their trip to the Temple of the Sun, the group encountered dangers such an ambush by Indians, being snatched into the air by a condor, an avalanche, a bear, mosquitoes, howling monkeys, a boa constrictor, a tapir, an anteater and alligators. The story did not indicate the duration of the journey, although the change in flora and fauna would have meant a very, very long journey.
• Finally, they stumbled into the temple of the sun. For this sacrilegious intrusion, the Incan prince pronounced: "Our laws decree but one penalty. Those who violate the sacred temple where we preserve the ancient rites of the Sun God shall be put to death." The only favor that was granted was that they "may choose the day and the hour when the rays of the sacred Sun will light their pyre!" The little boy Zorrino was spared because of the medal from the high priest Huascar, thus according some degree of compassion to the Incans.
• Tintin chose eleven o'clock on the eighteenth day as the designated moment. From a scrap of a newspaper that he had, Tintin had found out that there would be a total eclipse of the sun at that time. On the pyre, Tintin declared aloud, "O God of the Sun, sublime Pachacamca, display thy power, I implore thee! ... if this sacrifice is not they will, hide thy shining face from us." When the eclipse occurred immediately after those words, the superstitious Incans were terrified and set them free.
• The group promised not to divulge the location of the Temple of the Sun, which contained the Incan treasures that the Spanish conquerors had sought for so long in vain. For their promised silence, they were rewarded with gold, diamonds and precious stones.
• Before he left, Captain Haddock spitted on a llama (which is of a different color one from the others which had spitted on him) as his revenge, saying "I've nothing against you personally, but that pays a very old debt."

While we may not have been completely fair here, there are clearly many elements in this story that would not be considered politically correct today.

(posted by Roland Soong 4/6/98)

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