Connecting-Africa | Find publications

Advanced search

Find:


Title Oplevelsen af Tintin i Congo: Når børnelitteratur tegner et racistisk billede...
Full text http://rudar.ruc.dk/handle/1800/27434
Date 2016
Author(s) Dall, Christoffer; Meinecke Nørnberg, Elisabeth Neel
Contributor(s) Kjældgaard, Lasse Horne
Abstract This paper examines visual and text-based interpretations of the Danish translations of the popular Belgian cartoon Tintin in the Congo. Through the use of theories concerning children's literature as a medium, the mythos of Africa presented in Western literature and a semiotic-based cartoon analysis theory, the paper intents to investigate the different graphical and textual elements of Tintin in the Congo that can be said to communicate colonial ideologies to a varying degree depending on the publications different historical and social backgrounds. Furthermore the paper investigates the cultural role and abilities of children's literature in Denmark. Based on this the paper will discuss the current state of children's literature in Denmark while reflecting upon the question of control and editing of historical literary pieces. The result of the paper is that the tendency regarding the Danish publications of Tintin in the Congo over the years has been to make the African culture look better. However the newest versions of Tintin in the Congo use a more politically incorrect language similar to the very first Belgian versions. This may signal a change in the Danish views on children's literature. Tintin in the Congo has been the cause of much controversy, and it does contain many significant graphic elements, that can be said to make the African culture appear undeveloped and unintelligent. The cartoon is made for children but is also read by a large number of adults, and this leads to a dilemma concerning its current and future publishing. However the general Scandinavian consensus seems to be, that the control of children's literature is going too far these days. The theories on children's literature presented in this paper declares that children have a right to choose their own cultural views in order to properly evolve, while adults have a responsibility to communicate literature in an appropriate manner. However the question of appropriateness is fluid and determined by the relationship between the adult and the child, as well as by the social factors surrounding the situation. The output of reading Tintin in the Congo seems to have varied through time and will most likely continue to do so.
Subject(s) Børnelitteratur; Tintin; Tintin i Congo; Afrika; Racisme; Censur; Vestlig kultur; Litteraturanalyse; Tegneserie; Semiotik
Language da_DK
Type of publication Thesis; Dansk / Danish - not master thesis
Repository Roskilde - Roskilde University Digital Archive (RUDAR)
Added to C-A: 2016-05-26;08:16:13