Tintin racism row puts spotlight on children’s literature

Posted by on Oct 15, 2012

The decision to reshelve Hergé’s books because of their perceived colonial and racist tint has generated heated debate Last month, one of Sweden’s most prestigious national dailies blew up an article on its front page about cultural director at Stockholm Culture House Berhang Miri (a Swede of Iranian descent) reshelving Hergé’s Tintin books because of their perceived colonial taint, generating heated press and internet debate. Surprisingly, the furor rages on three weeks later , which if you also include the discussion about Stina Wirsén’s film character Lilla Hjärtat marks a very unusual month of the Swedish public sphere discussing historical racist stereotypes and colonial traces in children’s literature. We asked Nathan Hamelberg, member of The Betweenship group (which probes racist structures from a young, mixed-heritage perspective), to explain the discussion and its wider implications in Swedish society. What is #tintingate ? How did it develop

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