Podcast Summary: Empire, Episode 309 – "Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets"
Hosts: William Dalrymple & Anita Anand
Release Date: November 20, 2025
Main Theme:
This episode delves into the complicated legacy of Hergé’s comic character Tintin, exploring how his adventures were rooted in the political, social, and racial attitudes of their time—including right-wing Catholic propaganda, colonial stereotypes, anti-Semitic imagery, and the shift prompted by real-life friendship with a Chinese artist. The hosts critically examine how these comics both captured and perpetuated the ideologies of empire, imperialism, and racism, and discuss what their popularity and controversies reveal about culture, propaganda, and historical memory.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Tintin as a Global Phenomenon and Cultural Flashpoint
- Tintin, the iconic, simply drawn Belgian comic character, debuted in 1929 and has since become a global sensation, translated into 110 languages and selling over 270 million copies (05:55).
- Anita Anand recalls Tintin as "enormously sophisticated," a marker of childhood prestige among boys in her school (05:20), while William Dalrymple notes:
“I didn't particularly warm to Tintin because it was all about boys … there were no strong girl characters.” (07:23)
2. Origins: Right-Wing Catholic Roots and Early Propaganda
- Hergé (Georges Remy), Tintin’s creator, worked for a right-wing Catholic newspaper as a young man (10:40). The first comics, commissioned by Father Norbert Wallez, were overt anti-Soviet propaganda:
“He’s uncovering Marxist propaganda. This is all meant to be consumed by nice Belgian kids to see the errors of communism right from the start.” (11:23)
- Early adventures served explicit political missions—anti-communist in the Soviet stories, pro-colonial in Tintin in the Congo.
3. “Tintin in the Congo” and the Violence of Imperial Stereotypes
- Tintin’s journey to the Belgian Congo, as directed by editor Wallez, produced a work lauding colonialism and portraying Africans as “savages” (15:00).
- Anita and William discuss the brutal real history of Belgian rule in the Congo: quotas, forced labor, and the maiming and murder of those who resisted (17:00).
“If individual villages did not produce their quota of rubber and ivory, there was extreme violence, hostage taking … the cutting off of hands.” (17:00)
- The comic normalized and celebrated these attitudes through its art and narrative despite real-time atrocities.
4. Hergé’s Reflection and Partial Apology
- With the wave of decolonization, Hergé looked back on his early work, expressing regret:
“I was fed on the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me... I drew them in the purely paternalistic spirit that was that of the time in Belgium.” (20:56)
Hergé, in interviews, asked for forgiveness and called it a “youthful sin.”
5. Changing Perspectives: The Friendship that Changed Tintin (The Blue Lotus)
- A profound narrative shift occurs with "The Blue Lotus" (1936), set in China—with more nuanced, sympathetic depictions of Chinese people.
- This shift was due to Hergé’s friendship with Chinese artist Zhang Chongren, arranged by a Jesuit priest worried Hergé might repeat colonial stereotypes (28:45).
“If the Japanese are angry, it's because we are telling the truth.” — Zhang, to Hergé, after Japanese protested their depiction (32:34)
- The comic contains anti-imperialist messages, defends Chinese people against both Japanese and Western antagonists, and includes authentic Chinese script and cultural allusions.
6. Racism, Stereotyping, and Shifts in Target Populations
- While Chinese characters receive a sympathetic, dignified portrayal, the Japanese become the next racialized villains, depicted with exaggerated, negative features:
“It’s easy to spot the Japanese character … they have extra long teeth and a childish inability to do anything at all effectively.” (32:22)
7. War, Collaboration, and Anti-Semitism
- During WWII Hergé continued Tintin in “Le Soir,” a Nazi-controlled newspaper, and produced anti-Semitic caricatures—most infamously the villainous banker Blumenstein in “The Shooting Star.”
- After Brussels was liberated, Hergé and others were arrested for collaboration. He spent only one night in jail; his defenders argued he was naive and apolitical, but the "stink sticks to him" (36:01).
8. Contemporary Legacy and Controversy
- Tintin's early books, especially "Tintin in the Congo," faced renewed criticism and removal from children's sections by booksellers (2007), following complaints from the Commission for Racial Equality and lawsuits from readers (41:33).
“The only place it might be acceptable for this to be displayed would be in a museum with a big sign saying, 'Old Fashioned Racist Claptrap.'” — CRE representative (42:29)
- Publishers have added warning labels contextualizing the work as “bourgeois paternalistic stereotypes of the period.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Childhood Innocence and Revision:
“It never occurred to me, growing up in 1970s … that any of the stuff was at all dodgy. But yes, no, I totally see it now.”
— Anita Anand, reflecting on revisiting childhood comics (03:42) -
On the Mechanisms of Propaganda:
“He hires an actor and a dog that looks like Snowy to wander around Brussels dressed like Tintin … to publicize this newly born comic. And it works a treat. Tintin pretty much becomes an overnight sensation.”
— William Dalrymple, describing the early marketing of Tintin (13:00) -
On Real-World Atrocities:
“Belgium at the time was ruling over the Congo Free State… This was a private economic enterprise designed to extract, extract, extract.”
— William Dalrymple (15:45–16:45) -
On Literary Rehabilitation and Regret:
“I was fed on the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me. … I’m sorry about the colonial stereotypes.”
— Hergé (20:56) -
On the Zhang Friendship:
“He teaches in the basics of Taoist philosophy. They talk about Chinese current affairs and the culture … so you can see this impact on work because … the Blue Lotus … there are Chinese phrases in the background … written out by Zhang.”
— William Dalrymple (28:45–30:31) -
On Comics as Instruments of Ideology:
“If you can get the mind of the young and control it, then you have the future in your hands. That’s what the Nazis believed, that’s why they turned so much attention to comic strips and children’s books.”
— William Dalrymple (38:15) -
On Present-Day Reception:
“It’s very difficult to look at the stuff without being hugely offended. And these are really vicious stereotypes which are being reinforced. So yes, it’s of its time, but yes, it’s also extremely offensive.”
— Anita Anand (43:37–44:00) -
On Empathy, Friendship, and What Might Have Been:
“What if he would have met somebody from the Congo? ... He happens to meet a Chinese artist who touches his heart and they are then safe ... If we just knew more about each other and knew each other more and spoke to each other more, this would happen less even today.”
— William Dalrymple (45:23)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [03:05] – Introduction to Tintin and his iconic status
- [05:55] – Global reach and impact of Tintin
- [10:40] – Hergé’s right-wing Catholic origins and early propaganda mission
- [14:36] – The imperialist message of “Tintin in the Congo” and brutal colonial realities
- [20:56] – Hergé’s retrospective apology and regrets
- [25:22] – The turning point: “The Blue Lotus” and the influence of Zhang Chongren
- [32:22] – Racial stereotypes shift focus from Africans and Chinese to Japanese
- [35:30] – Nazi occupation, Hergé’s collaboration, and anti-Semitic caricatures
- [41:33] – 21st-century controversies and removal from children’s sections
- [43:37] – Hosts reflect on personal reactions and the work’s ongoing legacy
- [45:23] – The transformational power of human connection (Zhang friendship)
Episode Tone and Language
The hosts blend scholarly insight with personal anecdote, using a conversational and at times humorous tone (“There’s a bit of Captain Haddock about you…” (04:48)). Their language is direct, sometimes unflinching when confronting racism and historical violence, but always nuanced, reflecting on the complexity of re-reading childhood favorites through the lens of historical awareness and modern values.
Summary
This episode offers a compelling, critical examination of Tintin as both a beloved children’s hero and a vessel for the prejudices and propaganda of Europe’s imperial and fascist past. Dalrymple and Anand trace Tintin's journey from right-wing Catholic propaganda and imperial stereotypes (with harsh historical context), through anti-communist and anti-Semitic chapters, to a partial transformation inspired by cross-cultural friendship and the realities of war. The episode explores ongoing debates about art, context, censorship, and memory, ultimately foregrounding the hope that empathy and genuine human connection can upend prejudice—and that we must reckon with both the joys and the harms of our cultural pasts.