How many famous Belgians can you name? I know it’s an old joke, but after being mocked by a Belgian man in Ghent last weekend who insisted that England’s only claims to fame are binge-drinking, Saturday night chavs and disgusting food like steak and kidney pie - his words not mine - I’ve got a bone to pick.
One much-loved character to have come out of Belgium is Tintin. The quiffy-haired intrepid hero and his loyal dog Snowy have entertained generations of children and adults alike as they travel round the world fighting injustice.
But Tintin has finally met his match. The Commission for Racial Equality has this week labelled his second adventure, Tintin in the Congo, racist and called for it to be banned.
The book, which was originally published in English in 1991, was re-published in colour in September 2005. Although there had been no previous complaints, the publishers realised that some readers may be offended by the content and took the unusual step of placing a warning on the special collector’s edition:
“In his portrayal of the Belgian Congo, the young Hergé [the author] reflects the colonial attitudes of the time...he depicted the African people according to the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period - an interpretation that some of today’s readers may find offensive.”
Despite this, a human rights lawyer said he was “aghast” when he found the tale of diamond smuggling at a branch of the Borders bookshop chain.
And now his complaint that the book promoted “white supremacist ideas and ideals through…a book which seeks to demonstrate that a white child is more mentally and physically advanced than black male adults” has been taken up by the CRE. Meanwhile, Borders has moved the book from the children’s to the adult graphic novels section of all its stores.
You’d think the CRE had more important things to worry about, particularly as according to Michael Farr, a former Africa-based foreign correspondent who has written a biography of Herge, the book is the number one selling Tintin book in Africa.
Meanwhile, Belgium may have given us beer and chocolate, but I’m still struggling to name famous Belgians. Pro cyclist Tom Boonen, tennis player Justine Henin, Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot….