That was a very interesting read and a great graphic.
Although I’m not Belgian, I went to school there and we read Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo in history class. The goal was to make us realise that these works were first and foremost a product of their time, and that they teach us much more about the prevalent views and opinions in Belgium than the actual places and events depicted.
Not exactly mind acrobatics, but a cool exercise for school children. I loved history class throughout school, but these lessons stuck with me the most.
Naturally, I read Tintin from an early age, but never stopped to think about them critically until then. The underlying tones in Tintin in Congo are so racist, but as a kid you just don’t pick it up.
I picked up Tintin when I was pretty young, maybe at age 8 or 9. And I always thought it was set in England. Suffice to say, I was shocked later to discover their Belgian origins.
Certainly, there is a lot going on under the surface of these works, even though outwardly, they may seem simplistic. But I can’t imagine having to read them for a history class. That must’ve been one cool, history class.
I may be a huge fan of the series, but I can’t abide the earlier books. I find them prosaic, a little aimless and black and white in their depictions of a complex world. It’s only after Captain Haddock appears on the scene that the series really picks and becomes nuanced, in my opinion.
Nice one, Read all , those memories of visiting the Library to borrow these books every week and repeat the same over the years, still fresh.
UFO in Flight 714 , Anti-Gravity boots in Explorers on the moon, the seated mummy goes missing in Sever crystal balls many more
Your forgot to mention the infamous villain’s Rastapopoulos and Muller
Achilles the Heel 
This is a crisp illustration! Very pleasing to the eyes…
And I might consider reading Tintin now…:)
Thanks. Yeah mate, you should read them. Herge’s artistic imagination was incomparable.
That was a very interesting read and a great graphic.
Although I’m not Belgian, I went to school there and we read Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo in history class. The goal was to make us realise that these works were first and foremost a product of their time, and that they teach us much more about the prevalent views and opinions in Belgium than the actual places and events depicted.
Not exactly mind acrobatics, but a cool exercise for school children. I loved history class throughout school, but these lessons stuck with me the most.
Naturally, I read Tintin from an early age, but never stopped to think about them critically until then. The underlying tones in Tintin in Congo are so racist, but as a kid you just don’t pick it up.
Hi, Thanks.
I picked up Tintin when I was pretty young, maybe at age 8 or 9. And I always thought it was set in England. Suffice to say, I was shocked later to discover their Belgian origins.
Certainly, there is a lot going on under the surface of these works, even though outwardly, they may seem simplistic. But I can’t imagine having to read them for a history class. That must’ve been one cool, history class.
I may be a huge fan of the series, but I can’t abide the earlier books. I find them prosaic, a little aimless and black and white in their depictions of a complex world. It’s only after Captain Haddock appears on the scene that the series really picks and becomes nuanced, in my opinion.
Nice one, Read all , those memories of visiting the Library to borrow these books every week and repeat the same over the years, still fresh.
UFO in Flight 714 , Anti-Gravity boots in Explorers on the moon, the seated mummy goes missing in Sever crystal balls many more
Your forgot to mention the infamous villain’s Rastapopoulos and Muller
Yes, I wish I owned the entire collection.