The Puzzle of Translating Tintin's Classic Comics

Translating Tintin, the Beloved Comic, has involved translators in over one hundred languages over more than ninety years.

On January 10, 1929, the first Tintin comic was published. This January 10, 2020, is the ninety-first anniversary of the beloved comic book created by Belgian artist Hergé.

Georges Remi, born in Brussels on May 22, 1907, and died on March 3, 1983, wrote Tintin under the pen name of Hergé. Over the course of 47 years, Hergé penned twenty-four Tintin comics including the final work, Tintin and Alph-Art , which was published posthumously in 1986. Hergé worked at Le Vingtième Siècle ("The Twentieth Century"), a Belgian newspaper in Brussels.

The Adventures of Tintin: A Global Cultural Icon

Created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin is a 90-year-old comic strip series that has captivated audiences around the world. Beyond its original comic strip form, Tintin has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring numerous adaptations in television, radio, movies, and even video games. The beloved series follows young reporter Tintin, his faithful dog Snowy, and a cast of colorful characters as they travel the world, solving mysteries and encountering dangerous villains. The timeless themes and engaging storytelling have ensured Tintin's relevance across generations and cultures.

Translation Challenges

An article from the BBC’s website looked at how a publisher and the rights holder for the Tintin works chose a translator for the Hindi version of Tintin. They were looking for a literary translator who met these specific requirements:

• "The main criterion for selecting the translator was how passionate he was about Tintin.
• “The second criterion was how good he was in Hindi.”
• “The third criterion was how willing the translator was to take inputs from the French Tintin comic books."
• "But the litmus test was how well a translator could translate [Captain Haddock's signature abuse] 'billions of blue blistering barnacles'!

Cultural Sensitivities

When Hergé first began writing Tintin Congo was a colony of Belgium. The attitudes toward Africa and Africans were that of a colonizing country and the people of the Belgian Congo were depicted in a paternalistic style. There has been some criticism that this was racist but at the time, there was no controversy and the book was popular.

In the 1980s, a lawsuit that sought to ban Tintin in the Congo was dismissed by a Belgian court. The judges ruled that this work reflected the colonial attitudes of the times but that Hergé was not racist.

Read about the lawsuit here

Parodies

Such was the influence that the Tintin comics exerted on popular culture that artists and writers created many satirical versions of the comic. The literary critic Tom McCarthy identified these works as belonging to three categories: pornographic, political, and artistic. Some explicitly used the Tintin name while others created names that played off of the original. Nitnit, Timtim, or Quinquin were among that group.

Television, radio and film adaptations

Tintin's journey from comic strip to screen has been filled with exciting adaptations. The first television series, Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin (1957), took considerable creative liberties, changing entire plots from the original comics. The more faithful adaptation, however, came in the form of the 1991-92 animated series, which mirrored the comic panels and stayed true to the original stories. Tintin also made its mark on radio with BBC Radio adaptations in the 1990s, featuring a talented voice cast that brought the characters to life in a new format.

In cinema, Tintin's adventures transitioned from stop-motion productions such as The Crab with the Golden Claws (1947) to live-action films such as Tintin and the Golden Fleece (1961). The 2011 release of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, directed by Steven Spielberg, combined elements from several books and brought Tintin to new audiences using 3D motion capture technology. The film was a critical and commercial success, further cementing Tintin's legacy as a beloved global icon.

Memorabilia and Tintin shops

Tintin's widespread popularity has also given rise to a thriving market for memorabilia and merchandise. The Hergé Foundation, through its commercial arm Moulinsart (now Tintin Imaginatio), maintains strict control over the brand. Tintin's image has been licensed for a wide range of products, from clothing to collectible figurines, making the character a familiar presence beyond the pages of the comic books. Stores dedicated exclusively to Tintin merchandise have opened in places such as London, Bruges and Singapore, reflecting the global love affair with the character.

A Timeless Legacy with Challenges in Translation

Translating Tintin into different languages has posed unique challenges, given the cultural nuances, wordplay, and humor embedded in the series. As Tintin continues to be adapted for new platforms and media, his story demonstrates how a character can transcend borders while maintaining cultural specificity. The ability of Tintin to thrive in multiple languages and formats underscores the enduring appeal of Hergé's creation, ensuring that Tintin’s adventures will inspire audiences for generations to come.

Translation Facts

Since these are comic books, for every new language, (that is, the target language) the translation must fit in the speech bubble of the character speaking. This is a practical matter that cannot be compromised. More broadly, this is the same requirement that must be considered when translating website content. This is where localization plays an essential role and the skill of the translator is required.

In translating Tintin into English, some of the characters were renamed to be more English-reader friendly.

Tintin (unchanged)

Dupont and Dupont became Thompson and Thompson.

Milou became Snowy

Professeur Tournesol became Professor Calculus

Captain Haddock (unchanged)

Bianca Castafiore (unchanged)

Tintin in Numbers

     How many comic albums were written


     The number of languages Tintin has been translated into


     The number of copies of Tintin sold since 1929


Read More on Tintin:

Wikipedia

Michael Turner, Translator, and Publisher Who Brought Tintin To A British Audience

Tintin Essentials

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