Week One - Tintin "The Blue Lotus"

How did Herge research China for “The blue Lotus”

Herge was firstly encouraged to research China by a priest named Father Gosset. The priest then introduced Herge to a man named Chang Chong – Chen in 1934 and they hit it off instantly. Chang had a life full of knowledge about the ‘real’ China and would have long discussions with Herge telling him about China’s history, language and religion. Herge acquired a great fascination of China as he had previously only believed what the newspaper said calling them “slit eyed people who were very cruel”. (Farr, M. 1991, p.51)

Herge’s new perspective of China was so important to him that he created Chang as a character and a special friend of Tin Tin’s. Thanks to Chang, Herge had fallen out of the stereotypes and prejudices and now portrayed China in his stories as accurately and real as he could.
Herge’s statement “It was from that time that I undertook research and really interested myself in the people and countries to which I sent Tintin, out of a sense of honesty to my readers” (Farr, M. 1991, p.51) makes me believe that Chang influenced Herge to not only research China but all countries that he wrote about so that his readers were getting the truth about these countries and the people living in them instead of believing how the newspaper stereotyped them.



How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults?

Herge always stated that his Tintin adventures were aged for “all young people ages seven to seventy seven” and Farr justifies this by explaining how adults find their own appreciation and understanding of the comics whereas children are drawn to it because of the pictures and excitement Tintin brings. Farr (1991) states that the adults pick up on the puns, parody and political satire that is portrayed in these stories making them enjoyable. They can re-read the stories and still discover something new.

Herge’s ability to include world events in his stories also appeals to the adults and there are several historical events that are loosely portrayed in “The Blue Lotus”. The adults can relate to the stories in Tintin as they are real life events and most of the content is aimed at adults to read and understand.

References
Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.