Original Research

Colonial Ecological Narratives in Graphic Storytelling: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of The Adventures of Tintin

Susismita Sharma^1*  & Smita Devi^2
1Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of English, Assam Don Bosco University, Assam, India. *Corresponding author.
²Assistant Professor, Department of English, Assam Don Bosco University, Assam, India.

^{Chitrolekha Journal, Vol. 9, Issue 1, 2025. https://doi.org/10.21659/cjad.91.v9n101}

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Abstract  

The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, a celebrated graphic series, fuses visual storytelling with text narratives. Through the postcolonial ecocriticism lens, as Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin articulated, this study explores the role of the visual medium in representing imperial cultural narratives. By focusing on three texts from the series—Tintin in the Congo, The Black Island, and Tintin in Tibet—the paper examines the depiction of nature within postcolonial ecologies. It investigates the patterns of ecological exploitation that emerge from these narratives. The study reveals the symbolic representation of the natural environment and animals, reflecting cultural hierarchies and ecological domination evident in the interactions of European characters with nature and animals.

Keywords: Postcolonial Ecologies, Ecology, Nature, Animals, Exploitation, Graphic Narratives