Tintin around the World - 8/19

Dominique Haller

Having grown up in the midst of Tintin albums that had been handed down to me by my father, who in turn was an avid Tintin fan as a child, I am especially looking forward to today's show. In the francophone world, comic albums are part of every family's library, and the Tintin albums have definitely become the center part of that tradition.

However, Tintin has also come under fire for some of the quite obviously racist contents in the earlier albums, especially Tintin in the Congo. So how does reading a comic as a child and as an adult differ? How can we hold on to a childhood friend if we know that he wasn't always up to the challenges of his time?

We'll also broadcast another one of Leona's Francombe's vignettes today, where she tells us about the relationship between Tintin's famous creator Hergé and his hometown of Brussels, where she lives. To check out other pieces in her series on Here On Earth, click here.