Volume VII, Number 2, 2015 Themed Issue On “Desire And .

181How Do the French have Fun in India: A Study of Representations in Tintin and Asterixnew Thursday youth supplement, titled “TheLittle Twentieth” ("Le Petit Vingtième") andappointed Herge as its new editor. Tintin, areporter, made his first appearance throughthis supplement on 10th January 1929, findingimmediate fame. It is believed that Herge,who wanted to be a reporter himself, got tolive his adventures through Tintin - remainingan “armchair traveller” (Farr "Introduction")for a long period of his life. It is needless topoint out the influence of Wallez on his earlierworks, to which period we can accord two ofhis most controversial works, Tintin in theLand of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo.Commenting on this time, Harry Thompsonwrites,Looking back now, the adventures thatinspired such excitement, such as Tintin inAmerica, Tintin in the Congo and Tintin inthe Land of Soviets itself, seemsslipshod.They are plot-free, happy-go-luckyadventures, a stream of unrelatedcliffhangers composed at a time of jollityand youthful exuberance, by inky-fingeredjuniors in a newspaper office. Littlethought went into them – it was tooexciting for that. Today they are lauded fortheir primitive artistry, but at the timetheir readers were not too deeplyconcerned with the significance of Herge’semerging clarity of line. The boy reporterwas bringing the world to life in theirliving rooms (Thompson 2).Who cared if the first stories were cheap rightwing propaganda, instigated and directed atsmall children by a Catholic newspaper editorwho kept a framed photograph of Mussolinion his desk? Herge certainly didn’t. When hestarted Tintin he was still a naïve young manwho knew little of the world, intelligent, butsocially immature like so many of hiscontemporaries. The early Tintin reflectsessentially childish concerns, in particular, theinfluence of the boy scouts and the Red Indiangames they played, is strongly present. Todaythe idea of boy scouts in copious shorts andenormous hats being encouraged by adults topretend to be Red Indians right up to theirtwentieth birthdays is somewhat laughable,but the inter-war Belgium was an innocentplace. Scout only escape from the boredom oflife at home, and life at home had a habit ofdragging on right to the end of one’s teens.While Thompson has been too forgivingtowards Herge for such stereotypicaldepictions of the non-European races in hisearlier albums, not everyone had brushed it offjust as lightly. As Tintin was slowly beingmade to go on cosmopolitan adventures,beginning with the Orient, Abbe Gosset, ateacher of Chinese students in Louvain, learntof Herge’s intentions and wrote to him out ofa deep concern that he might end upmisrepresenting the Far-East and its people.He introduced him to Chang Chongren whofurther introduced Herge to the complexitiesof “oriental art and culture” (Mountford np).Herge writes,He made me discover and love Chinesepoetry, Chinese writing “the wind and thebone”, the wind of inspiration and thebone of graphic solidity. For me this was arevelation (Mountford np)Thus began a long friendship, whereby Hergepromised himself not to give in to floatingideas but rather research it out for himself.Tintin’s adventures to the “Orient” which waslater divided into the two parts of The Cigarsof the Pharoah and The Blue Lotus areconsidered to be much more mature,especially the latter which has a more nuancedand sympathetic representation of the Chineseand is seen as a turning point in Herge’soeuvre. In some sense, this was his real brushwith reality. Herge himself grew to beprofoundly embarrassed about his earlierwork. He confessed that it was a result of anupbringing in a society where such stereotypeswere prevalent. In his defense it was hisnaivety and ignorance that were seen as thereason behind such depictions rather thanunderlying racism spread through the projectof colonial stereotypes.

182Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, V7N2, 2015While such confessions of naivety do notleave much scope for criticism, it is equallyunnerving to realize how such images getingrained in the minds of unsuspectingvictims, who believe in them in all theirignorance as nothing but historical truths.Bhabha has rightly pointed out that theknowing of the ‘other’ is done solely based onracist stereotypical discourse which inscribes aform of discriminatory and authoritarian ruleover the colonized by recognizing: the difference of race, culture, history aselaborated by stereotypical knowledges,racial theories, administrative colonialexperience,andonthatbasisinstitutionalize a range of political andcultural ideologies that are thical’, and crucially, are recognized asbeing so (Bhabha 52).It is because of these reasons that the politicsof representation have always assumed suchprime importance in the discourse ofpostcolonialism. Such European texts, wherethe non-European subject is presented in hisalterity or lack i.e. as the other, becomes aprojection of European fear of the unknownrather than an objective truth. With thecentrality of the colonizer in the postcolonialdiscourse, where the actual historical time ofthe colony gets re-appropriated as precolonial, colonial and post-colonial, there is adenial of the colony’s actual past irrespectiveof its colonizer. And, this is what we seehappening in Herge’s projections of theIndians too, in Tintin’s first adventure to Indiain The Cigars of Pharoah.While much has been written aboutHerge’s depictions of the blacks, the Jews andthe Russians; his representation of the Indianshaven’t been extensively discussed. In an overtsimplification, we find “Egypt is full ofpharaoh’s tomb, Arabia and Mecca are barrensandy desert regions and India is full of densejungles and scattered with mystic fakirs andmaharajas in palatial residences”. Serialisedweekly from December 1932 to February 1934,the story tells us about the adventures ofTintin, the Belgian reporter, and his dogSnowy, who while travelling in Egypt discovera pharaoh’s tomb filled with deadEgyptologists and boxes of cigars. Pursuingthe mystery of these cigars, they travel acrossArabia and India (albeit a little improbable),and reveal the secrets of an international drugsmuggling enterprise. They reach theimaginary kingdom of Gaipajama, a strangemotley-ised name, in Bombay. India isdepicted as the plentiful exotic other, whichnonetheless is in need of western aid. Fromthe first scene onwards, where India has beendepicted, there is a marked transition in thescenery, from yellowed deserts to lush greenjungles. The motley-ised naming is carried onto the motley-ised architecture that fuseselements of predominantly Hindu or Sikhsociety with Islamic minarets and domes.Tintin is almost immediately presented withan opportunity for ethical intervention whenhe finds an elephant burning with fever.Tintin, the modern scientific traveler from theWest is shown to have his quinine ready withhim, and he graciously administers it to hisgrateful patient - the white man's elephantineburden. In return for this intervention thecolonial subject accepts the intervention asgodly and accepts the white man to be hissuperior. The parallels with Robinson Crusoeare striking: “for my man, to conclude the lastceremony of obedience, laid down his headagain on the ground, close to my foot, and setmy other foot upon his head, as he had donebefore, making all the signs of subjection,servitude, and submission imaginable, and letme understand he would serve me as long ashis life endured.” The elephant’s health isinstantly restored, and it considers the whitetraveler to be some sort of a magician andcarries him to his herd to recruit him as an“elephant doctor”.The elephant episode continues withTintin making a trumpet, telling Snowy thathe has figured out the elephant speech and

183How Do the French have Fun in India: A Study of Representations in Tintin and Asterixthat he is making the trumpet able tocommunicate with them. His mission isaccomplished as the elephant starts tounderstand him, and is immediately put intohis service by Tintin by bringing him water orcarrying him around. “Hooray,” shouts Tintinin joy, “I have learnt to talk elephant”. Theease of language acquisition that Tintindemonstrates is akin to that of the colonialistwho could afford to get away with speakingmotley versions of Indian languages, or byfashioning locals into translators. At any rate,picking up oriental knowledge and getting thenatives to do their will, seems to be the easiestthing on earth for the white western traveler.When Tintin comes across a bungalowwith another white occupant, Mr. Zoty, werealize that the setting is that of British India.However, later, when we discover this man tobe a mediator in the much organized drugdealing business, there is a light reference tothe whites as having come to India to plunderits resources. Many Tintinologists likeThompson believed that the inclusion ofBritish colonialists as antagonists made“partial amends” for the colonialist attitudedisplayed by Tintin inTintin in the Congo.Fellow Tintinologist Michael Farr furtherpraised the scenes set in the Indian bic and sinisterly dramatic” (Far48).The very next Indian object that we areintroduced to is the kukri, a very North-Indiansymbol, which has been gifted by a fakir, whois said to possess magical powers. The kukrihas long been associated with the violence anddanger of the east. Then there are instances ofghost sightings - again adding to thesupernatural and mystic spirit of India. Theservants in Bombay look typically NorthIndian with turbans and beards and are joinedby fakir-s – again very North-Indian, who havehypnotizing powers along with powers tocharm ropes like those of snakes. The moststereotypical picture imaginable of Indiaproceeds to unfold through the pages, withTintin being the voice of reason and sanity,imposing justice and upholding what isright. The fakirs also throw arrows poisonedwith the Rajaijah juice, the potion formadness. Madness seems to run in thesubcontinent as we are shown a ward full ofmad people - mostly white, with white doctorsbut Indian servants. The destination that isIndia is shown to turn even the rationalwestern mad but the source of cure for thismadness too lies with the west. The Indian isthe cause of the madness, while the treatmentfor it lies with the West. In another stereotypeof lethargic listlessness associated with theOrient, potbellied Indian men are shownhaving their afternoon siesta under the trees,whose bellies act as spring cushions for Tintinhelping him escape the madhouse.In another striking scene, we have aconversation between Snowy and a cow, allregal and sacred. It charges at Snowy for hisimpudence and is in turn bitten by him. Thisarouses the wrath of the common people whoall capture Snowy to sacrifice him on the altarof Siva. This is a recurring motif in Herge,which we find again in Tintin in Tibet, where abull is lying in the middle of the streetobstructing all activity, while the men watchon without disturbing it and waiting for it tomove on its own. When Captain Haddock asksthem to move the bull, people warn him thatit is sacred and that the white traveler shouldnot mess with it. The Captain, however, isimpatient and tries to step over it. He is dulypunished as the bull charges with him on itsback, running madly on the streets of oldDelhi. Going ba

Looking back now, the adventures that inspired such excitement, such as Tintin in America, Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in the Land of Soviets itself, seemsslipshod. They are plot-free, happy-go-lucky adventures, a stream of unrelated cliffhangers composed at a time of jollity and youthful exuberance, by inky-fingered