By Paul Belien, Brussels Journal
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Herg Foundation agrees with yesterday's decision of the international bookseller Borders Books to ban the comic album "Tintin in the Congo" from its children's section and move it to the adult section of its stores.
The Herg Foundation manages the estate of the late Brussels writer and illustrator Herg [Georges Remi, 1907-1983]. The Foundation, run by Herg's second wife, Fanny Vlamynck, holds the copyrights to Tintin and other Herg characters.
Borders' decision is a reaction to a demand from the British equal rights body, the Commission for Racial Equality, to stop selling the album, which dates from 1931. According to the CRE the book is "old-fashioned, racist claptrap."
The Herg Foundation acknowledged today that the album "contains stereotypes that might shock contemporary readers." The Foundation emphasized that the album is republished as a collector's item and, consequently, approved the decision to move it to the adult graphic novels section, where "Tintin in the Congo" will now be stored next to "The Adventures of a Lesbian College Schoolgirl."
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