Tin Tin: The Blue Lotus
Before I was introduced to Tin Tin in this class, I had already come in contact with the comics throughout school. I studied French throughout school and we studied the comics in the French language. This is the first time that I would have read any of the Tin Tin comics in English.
Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?
Personally, I feel that the Tin Tin comics are relevant for all ages. They cover different issues (racism, stereotypes etc.) that different age groups can not only relate to, but are also interested in. In the first lecture that we had, we discussed that Tin Tin has ongoing popularity with all ages because Tin Tin is fallible (meets adult interests), and he is an animal love - his pet dog Snowy (which meets children's interests).
Within The Blue Lotus, there is a mix between real history and fictional characters. All the places that are drawn within the comic are real places, current in time. However, all the characters that have been drawn are sometimes unrealistic and also fictional. We also noticed the fact that, Tin Tin has a minimal face, a face that Herge has not drawn in high detail - compared to some of the other characters drawn. In addition, the face of Tin Tin has been drawn very similarly to a chinese character within the comic. Herge has almost blurred the line between race in appearance.
where there any differences you noticed between the french version and the English translation?
ReplyDeleteI think between the story line no, with those, they were identical. However, obviously certain words used would have slightly different meanings with both languages as certain words mean different things in different contexts. But that didn't add or take away from the overall meaning of the comic.
ReplyDeleteGood point here, excellent post, Holly. My question is, does the accuracy and exactness of his representation of Shanghai in the 1930s make his racial attack on the Japanese even worse?
ReplyDeleteI think because of the accuracy, it may not make it 'worse' as such, but would make his attack a lot more powerful. Because of the accuracy with his representation, through his drawings in the background, and also the characters he created, I think that it makes his racial attack a lot more believable. Worse? I don't know about that, but it definitely adds power and tension.
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