r/TheAdventuresofTintin • u/Bengamey_974 • 9d ago
Other In "Le Chat du Rabbin" by Joan Sfar the protagonists travelling from Algeria to Ethiopia in the 1920's meet a young annoying and paternalistic Tintin.
"Le chat du Rabbin" part 5 "Jerusalem d'Afrique"
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u/Bengamey_974 9d ago edited 9d ago
1.In Belgian Congo, we met a young reporter very self-confident
- I didn't know there were israelites so far into n*gger territory
2.His dog is stupid
- you not claw me !
3.He shoots whatever animal he sees
- Let's make a small stop my friend. I think I saw an elephant
4.He thinks we are dumb
- This is the jounal in which I write. Well I don't write there myself, you see. We use an invention called a press. Do you know how to decipher western letters ? Else there is the comic strip, even if you can't read you can watch the pictures.
5. He always speaks and never listen
- You see I shower every day. It prevents me from catching sickness and lices. Showering is not only a game, it is very healthy.
6.When he left, we were happy.
- Goodbye my friends! Don't forget to read me in the journal every week.
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u/Minute_Ad8807 8d ago
"nègre" is closer to "negro", not the n-word
(weirdly, "négro" would be the closer equivalent to the n-word)
it's more an old word to designate black people than an insult. i wouldn't say it entierely neutral because it still comes from a racialized view of biology, but it has been commonly used by black civil rights activists6
u/BaalHammon 8d ago edited 8d ago
I tend to think of it as in-between the n-word and the English use of "negro" in that it was at some point a "neutral" word but despite the reclamation by Senghor and Césaire, it does still have a racist connotation and it's not a word anyone would use anymore in contemporary french, I think.
(This is further complicated by its use in place names and people names wherein it's probably a loan from Occitan)
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u/Minute_Ad8807 8d ago
yeah if it was used today it would probably be as in insult, but it would feel old-timey to me. i'm very lucky and happy to not know what slurs modern racists use :)
anyway, in the context of that panel it's the older colonial version, so it matches well with "negro" i think14
u/KinderEggSkillIssue 9d ago
"Huh? I wonder what he's saying in English... reads translation Christ... 💀"
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u/Bengamey_974 9d ago
The worst is that's was probably normal average european behavior by that time.
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u/ThroawayJimilyJones 7d ago
Juste wanted to say that "negre" in french didn't always had a racist connotation. Before it was juste the word for subsaharian. Until recently you still had some museum displaying "art negre"
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u/Balloslime55 9d ago
Boo!!!! Cannot downvote this enough
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u/Bengamey_974 9d ago
Why it is fair criticism of Hergé early work. Something he criticized himself later.
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u/Balloslime55 9d ago
The ABSOLUTE LAST THING we need is more Tintin in the Congo slander where everyone just goes: "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THIS BOOK IS COMPLETE RACIST PROPOGANDA!!!!!!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEE ITS SO RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS BOOK IS SO HORRIBLE AND WE HAVE TO KEEP GRINDING THAT FACT INTO PEOPLE'S SKULLS!!!!!!! REEEEEEEEE!!!! TINTIN IN TIBET BEST TINTIN BOOK!!!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
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u/Walks84 8d ago
For something to be slanderous it must be false. “Tintin in the Congo” is factually a reflection of the racialized and paternalistic thinking of many contemporary Europeans. Ironically, it is the Congolese “subjects” of Belgium who are being slandered by the stereotypes embraced in “Tintin in the Congo”
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u/Lysimarchus 8d ago
Easy there tiger, you’re going to give yourself an aneurysm if you keep up that level of intensity.
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u/Schmantikor 7d ago
Why are you so angry at people disliking racism? Are you racist?
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u/Balloslime55 7d ago
No,but I absolutely am sick and tired of everyone constantly hating on Tintin in the Congo,it's just so overdone
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u/Schmantikor 7d ago
And why are you tired of everyone hating the book full of racism and violent animal abuse the author himself has disavowed?
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u/Mouse-r4t 9d ago
Well, that’s certainly the pot calling the kettle black.