Week 1 & 2

Do you think comics are a children’s or adult genre/media?

 

I think that comics are deifnately a source of media for both children and adults. Especially nowadays the variety of genres to choose from, there are comic books to suit any group of people in all different age groups. Herge's well known Tintin comic books is a good example of this, as on my opinion Tintin is truly a comic book for all ages. Herge (n.d., as cited in Farr,1991) who is the author of “the adventures of Tintin” explains that “Tintin” was aimed at all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven. One of the main factors of Tintin's great sucess is the broadness of topics the comic book covers, even though Tintin is a comic book, the issues each story covers shows Herge's personal thoughts towards both political and social events and issues. For example when drawing the evil Japanese character in the Blue Lotus, Herge drew his face in a particular evil looking way, which in a way shows Herge's opinion of Japanese people. Though this is just an idea and not an assumption. All in all, these factors have had a major role in Tintin's long-lasting popularity - an ageless demographic has come to see children get a first glimpse of the outside world through Tintin's adventures as introduced by the adults in their life, in which they have read as children themselves; these adventures are revisited by adults much more critically, detecting misleading, farcical elements in the narrative. Nevertheless, they continued to be passed down to the next generation, as soon as they reach adulthood (Farr, 1991).

 

 

Reference

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.

Week2

Q. Do you think comics are a children’s or adult genre/media?

I think the comics are both children’s and adult genre and media.

Children have the difficulty of reading the books written with the long words and sentences that are difficult for them to understand. Because of this, parents show their children comics and cartoons for education. A number of children even read the comic books about ‘Greek and Roman myth or tales’. I think that the comics help children to understand fictions or tales easily.

As children who read the comics grow up, the purpose of comics is almost changed. I think the comics of adult can be largely separated into the two purposes, ‘entertainment and information.’ Comics of entertainment play the role like the soap operas to adult. In particular, a number of people in Korea read the comics through the internet sites. Koreans call the comics “Web-toon”, which means the cartoon of website. I always read the comics in the morning as well. They can have the sympathy and entertain through “the web-toons.”   On the other hand, another purpose is usually used in newspapers or magazines. Actually, it is not the comic books, but it is also drawn despite the short story. Moreover, it provides the information to adult easily as if the comics for children play the role of education. That is the reason why it is also the part of the comic genre. But, I think the comics in the newspapers are almost used for the satire. If the writer writes about the negative part of the politics, it will definitely be direct. For the indirect expression, the writer draws the satire comics in the newspapers.

The readers of comics cannot be separated, because the comics have been used differently by the purpose and the readers. I think the comics are the genre that everybody can enjoy even though the purpose of comics is sometimes different.

week2- Do you think comics are a children’s or adult genre/media?

Most people might think comics are a genre for children and comics are always considered property of young child who are an imaginative. But comics are not just for children. I think comics are a kind of high class novels to help people better understands with pictures. In other words, comics are excellent novels before they are only pictures. Comics can express backgrounds of novel which cannot express in written words and that can entice readers who do not want to read a book. For this reason comics have that something to grab everyone's interest. There are very many people who know how to enjoy comics these days. I also like to read and watch comics. Of course every comic was not created to target both children and adults. But one thing I know for sure, there are many comics for adults such as comic strips in the back of newspaper. Moreover, comics which previously regarded as exclusive property of the young child are becoming popular to everyone else from 21century because comics nowadays has been re-mastered to be shown in animated 3D films.

Week2

Do you think comics are a children’s or adult genre/media?



I think comics are both a children and adult genre/media. I think that comics were mainly designed for children’s entertainment. This is because children may have some difficulties in reading and understanding the texts, so pictures (the visual features) could help them understand the content of that particular media, but it is also considered a favourite genre for adults as well. Harvey (n.d., as cited in Varnum & Gibbons, 2001) discusses that both word and image are necessary for the completion of meaning, which shows that both children and adult cannot get the exact meaning of comics without images. As for me, English is my second language, comics are much enjoyable because it is much easier to understand or guess the meaning with images even if there are any difficult words or expressions that I haven’t learnt. 

Children will enjoy reading the visualized comics like ‘The adventures of Tintin’. Although some of the contents are difficult to analysis the meaning for the children which is focusing the adults who seek for better contents and significances.

The genre can be originally decided by the author who creates comics and determines the age group of the comics. The comic ‘the adventures of Tintin’ also has own genre of age group. In the Michael Farr’s writing, Herge (n.d., as cited in Farr,1991) who is the author of “the adventures of Tintin” explains that “Tintin” was aimed at all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven. Therefore, it depends on how the author decides the readers’ age limit and makes suitable comics for them, but as a whole, “comics” are for both children’s and adult’s media.




Reference

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.

Varnum, R. & Gibbons, C. (Eds.). (2001). Introduction. In The Language of Comics: word and image (pp.ix-xix). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Orientalism in the Blue Lotus

The Blue Lotus is a representation of Eastern Culture by a Western author and can therefore be considered "Orientalism". In the time of Blue Lotus' publishing, Western culture found Eastern ideas and culture alien. "It was at the time of the Blue Lotus I discovered a new world". (Herge) In the years of 1936 to 1937, 1936 being the year Herge's Blue Lotus was published, Orientalism reached it's height in Europe. Westerners viewed the East as exotic and remote, with many Romantic writers using the East as a location for novels and poetry. Oriental countries were associated with lush landscapes, eroticism, mystery and rich costume.

The Blue Lotus however, brings forth negative European preconceptions of Chinese and Japanese culture. There is an evident lack of understanding from the author in past comics and The Blue Lotus is certainly a step forward in Herge's understanding and acceptance of Chinese culture. However, he "westernizes" the appearance of Chinese characters, which could indicate his shallow level of acceptance where he can only present them in a western way when he allies them with the reader.

I noticed The Blue Lotus does not show the typical ideas of Orientalism in the work and i feel this may be influenced by Herge's stronger political stance. There was more satire and undertones of political ideas mixed in with the youthful sense of adventure and archetypical "good guys" such as the "hero" (Tintin), "Mentor" and "Outcast" (Chang).

Week 2 - The Blue Lotus: Tintin's Popularity

"Tintin, an imaginery hero in a real world... there is something about Tintin that defies time, language and culture" (Farr, 2001, p. 8).

The adventures of Tintin encapsulates the combined worlds of fantasy and reality, feeding the imaginations of the young and old, thus generating a universal and timeless effect that has, for the most part, contributed to the comics’ long-lasting popularity.

Hergé’s precision of real-life settings and historic events in Tintin’s adventures carves out a window of opportunity for children to learn about the outside world from the comfort of their home; while adults seek and question the different civilisations from a political standpoint (Farr, 2001).

As a child, I watched Tintin every other Saturday morning and I remember being fascinated by the places Tintin and Snowy visited. Looking back, what I admired about Tintin was how well he got along with people, even in high-risk situations where he still maintained his cool, convincing self. Much of this can be attributed to the concept of suspending disbelief, the desire to be more than human: the idealistic-type qualities pertaining to Tintin’s character, particularly for someone who is of a pre-adolescent age, travelling across the world and fighting crime; and the unrealistic amateurish detective/bounter hunter-style approach incorporated into a supposedly children's comic with elements of high-scale crimes (drug smuggling, kidnapping and what not). "Tintinesque" might be applicable here since these given impressions have become representative of the comic, that can be found in no other. In that case, young readers will share some of that fascination and excitement that Hergé delivers.

For older audiences,  Hergé was worldly-inclined, derived from his scouting background and extensive news-related research; although it seems archives of research he collated have only enforced many of the political prejudice/propaganda that were prevalent at the time of publication. Hergé's real-life friendship with Chang Chong-Chen may have brought upon a revelation in himself on the cultural yet politically-motivated assumptions. From what I can see, The Blue Lotus reveals a vagueness in his intentions (encouraging the prohibition of Japanese products through Chinese signage and slogans, while at the same time, Chang's encounter with Tintin sparks an interesting exchange on their beliefs of Europeans and the Chinese, after Tintin saves Chang from drowning [Herge, 1984, p. 43]). Seemingly, the ambiguity of his true motives may suggest the deep impact of his colonial/eurocentric perceptions and that his cross-cultural experience came much later in his working life, to which time might have been slow in altering his attitudes completely.

All in all, these factors have had a major role in Tintin's long-lasting popularity - an ageless demographic has come to see children get a first glimpse of the outside world through Tintin's adventures as introduced by the adults in their life, in which they have read as children themselves; these adventures are revisited by adults much more critically, detecting misleading, farcical elements in the narrative. Nevertheless, they continued to be passed down to the next generation, as soon as they reach adulthood (Farr, 2001).

I hope to have tried my best to answer for Tintin's legacy, as thoughtfully and succinctly as I could.
What do you guys think? What else can be accounted for Tintin's long-running success? To agree or disagree, don't hesitate to leave a comment.


Reference(s):

Farr, M. (2001). Tintin: The Complete Companion. London: John Murray. 

Hergé (1984). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen.