Samira Ghozzi-Ben Miled: Publication of her work on Western constructions in Tintin

The monograph by ZeMKI member Samira Ghozzi-Ben Miled (M.A.) on “Tintin” – Western Constructions of the Middle East in Pop Cultural Media: A Discourse Analysis on the Construction of the Other” was recently published by VIRR.

Tim’s adventures are still part of the popular media culture of children and adults today. Despite the worldwide success of the works of the Belgian comic artist Hergé and his character Tintin, criticism of some of his works has become louder in recent years. Among other things, “Tintin in the Congo” (1930) was often subject to accusations of racism. Although Hergé’s works accompany critical voices, they continue to be a successful part of popular culture and are also adapted into other formats. “Tintin” – Western Constructions of the Middle East in Pop Culture Media” deals with the episode of “Tintin in the Land of Black Gold”. In this research, this episode is compared and analyzed as a comic (1972), cartoon (1991) and video game (2001). Through an audio-visual discourse analysis according to Siegfried Jäger, the three media are examined for colonial constructions, stereotyping and exoticization of the Middle East. All three media emerge at different times in different contexts. Do the respective discourses and power relations that circulate around the production of the medium change the representations in the medium and the tension between the sayable and the unsayable?

Click here for more.