This week I managed to finish the Tintin comic I started last week. I was excited to find that even comparing my comprehension at the end of the comic book to the beginning felt like I had made a pretty decent improvement. I was able to catch more of the off-handed comments Tintin made throughout the comic, and there were many.
I noticed while reading the comic book how political it was. The author’s depiction of Russians during the Soviet era strongly reflected the common perception of the time it was written. In the book, all Russians were portrayed as bloodthirsty criminals without any sense of honour, compassion, or humanity. Every Russian Tintin encountered was merely another danger Tintin had to overcome, often with violence. The comic also briefly featured two Asian characters, who were drawn in very racist and stereotyped ways.
This particular exercise has been useful to me in two ways. The first realization I had was the way comics can be a very effective tool for teaching a new or unfamiliar language. The second important lesson I learned was that it is important to read through course material before assigning it to students. This book could, under the right circumstances, lend itself to a class discussion on the harmful impacts of racism and stereotypes. If a teacher were to assign this book to a class without prior knowledge of its contents, however, it could have a really negative outcome.
