We're all against censorship of books in this country, right? Especially by libraries. Sexual content, unpopular viewpoints, even true stories of male penguins who partner to raise a chick.
But the New York Times today reports on the decision of the Brooklyn Public Library to relegate one of the books in the cartoon-adventure Tintin series to its back room where it is kept unavailable to the public, even upon request. Some library patrons have objected to "Tintin au Congo," first published 69 years ago, feeling that it depicts Africans as mentally simple and physically like monkeys. Those who find the book offensive might have found an ally in author and Belgian cartoonist Herge, who died in 1983 but in his later years said he regretted this early work and that he had been overly influenced by an editor who wanted to depict the glories of colonialism.
So like many a public figure, Tintin, who will make a modern-day appearance in a forthcoming Steven Spielberg movie, continues to be haunted by his past. The question is how to view that earlier work now. Is it truly offensive, and if so, should it be hidden away or available as a relic of another day, another way of thinking?
Photo: A tourist takes a picture of Tintin at a 2006 exhibit in France. Credit: Jacques Demarthon / AFP / Getty Images
-- Karin Klein
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1 comment:
There are two separate issues raised by this case.
The first, is how public libraries cope with books that some people find offensive.
If we hide books just because one person finds them offensive then chaos would ensue. The bible and the koran would be the first books removed to be followed shortly by Harry Potter books.
In a public library, all books should be available to the public. Even the ones that are offensive.
The second issue is how does society as a whole cope with the crimes of its past.
Should we just ignore them and pretend they never happened? Should we dwell on the sins of our fathers and flagellate ourselves as punishment? Neither of these options makes any sense.
The only way to learn from our past is to be open about what happened. Even if that means making offensive images available in a public library, we must be open to history.
Chris Tregenza
TintinMovie.org
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