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.
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ReplyDeleteThe Blue lotus is a racist text.
ReplyDeleteIt is prejudice against white supremacy colored in the work, it has become a target of criticism in modern times
Behind the backdrop of a blue lotus set in China, Some critics criticized the stereotype that the Europeans criticize the diversity of the Chinese., The nuances of racism are similar to those of this kind, It is also shown through the fact that the white supremacy of the white supremacy appeared in the early stages.
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
What you see below are images that I found in the comic that, when translated, said horrible horrible things about Chinese people. I was appalled by how the Chinese were depicted and how they were treated in these comics by White males and even by other Chinese people. I know that this is all fictional and make-belief, but children read these books and it upsets me to think that treating the Chinese and calling them such horrible things might be deemed as okay through Hergé's comics.
For example: ‘Imbecile! Dirty Chink*! ...Ah! You dare to shove a White!’
“...who shoves me and I was about to correct importance. Prevent me to beat a Chink, is it not an intolerable thing?”
“You did it on purpose, dirty Chink! ... I am going to teach you, me, to disrespect a white male”
“Dirty Chinese! ... I am going to teach you not to meddle with what does not concern you”.
*Chink refers to a racist term for Chinese people.
I even found one part in the comic where a fortune teller is foreshadowing a Chinese man that Tintin must be aware of and he describes him "... avec peau jaune" - with yellow skin.
Reference
-Latow, R. (2002). The blue lotus. London: Headline.
-Hergé (1984). The adventures of Tintin. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
I 100% agree with you that the Blue Lotus text is a racist text. But I also believe that the reason for Tchang and Herge relationship was an experiment to show the public ( at that time) that two different ethnic groups can work together, using examples of racism or stereotypes they face, which I recon it was Herge motive to write the text like that. According to week 1 powerpoint ‘Tchang’s impact on on Herge’s thinking was also huge. He broke apart Herge’s European absolutism, opening up a more global, relative vision: if Europeans see Chinese as cruel baby-killers who bind women’s feet, and Chinese are brought up to believe that ‘all white devil’s are wicked’, this, as Tintin says in The Blue Lotus, carry Herge and Tchang’s conversations on into the book itself, is because ‘different peoples don’t know enough about each other’.’ (McCarhty, 2006, p.48).
DeleteI think the Blue Lotus is a racist text. Critics say there are so much stereotyping going on towards the Chinese characters. During this set in 1930s, Shanghai was under ruled by the Japanese and western colonial power. The city of Shanghai was carved into two heavily fortified military sectors, one occupied by the Japanese military and the other an international settlement occupied by both Britain and American troops. The people in Shanghai suffered so heavily under colonial rule. Herge was deeply moved from the situation which then he decided to write about it to inform the western people with the help of a Chinese artist Tchang chong chen. I think even when Herge and Chang were attempting to discourage racism in their work, I don't think it worked. As shown through the story a lot of racism was shown towards Chinese which is not good. An example is when Chang met Tin Tin explaining what Europeans believe Chinese people do " Lots of Europeans still believe that all Chinese are cunning and cruel and wear pig tails, are always inventing tortures, and eating rotten eggs and swallows nest" "The same stupid Europeans are quite convinced that all Chinese have tiny feet, and even now little Chinese girls suffer agonies with bandages designed to prevent their feet developing normally. Their even convinced that Chinese rivers are full of unwanted babies, thrown in when they are born." This example of stereotyping was shown throughout the story. This story maybe a fiction story but this being a children’s book is unacceptable. According to the weekly power point slide there was also an inaccuracy such as when Thompson and Thompson walk in a “traditional” yellow Chinese costume that only an emperor could wear. This shows disrespectful behaviour towards Chinese culture.
ReplyDeleteWeek One – The Blue Lotus
ReplyDeleteHow does The Blue Lotus relate to the issue of what Said (1977) terms ‘Orientalism’?
Is The Blue Lotus a racist text? Give your reasons.
The term ‘Orientalism’ is defined by Said (1977) as the way of seeing the East for example, for their differences in people and culture, exaggerates the differences and then compares to that of European or US. Seeing their cultures as “exotic, backwards, uncivilized”. The Blue Lotus relates to the term orientalism as the book itself is illustrated according to the way Herge (a westerner) sees the East Asian culture. The Chinese formal attire compared to the Japanese attire helps distinguish the two different cultures, the illustrations help support the idea of orientalism.
The Blue Lotus is a racist text, there are many racial stereotypes throughout the text. Although many people argue that Herge did not intentionally write out his comics to portray racism, also stating he was just basing them around what was going, for example The Blue Lotus set in the 1930’s at the time where the Japanese and Western ruled Shanghai. Still, his comics were perceived by many people as racist. Having that racist perception of his text effected his comics because they were being removed by schools in New Zealand and other countries around the world (McNaughton, 2007). However, in The Blue Lotus Herge tried to discourage ignorant or racist remarks about the Chinese, as he became friends with Tchang Chon-Chen who helped Herge with Chinese calligraphy and correcting Chinese stereotpyes among Europeans.
Reference:
McNaughton, M. (2007). Tintin banished to adults only section after racist claims. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved from
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10452498
Rainey, S. (2011). Tintin: list of ‘racist’ complaints. The Telegrapgh. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8866997/Tintin-list-of-racist-complaints.html