The singer's jewels

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The Singer's Jewels ( French original title: Les Bijoux de la Castafiore ) is the 21st album in the Tintin comic series by the Belgian illustrator Hergé . It first appeared from July 1961 in sequels in Tintin magazine and as an album in 1963 with Casterman . The first German publication took place in 1970 by Carlsen Verlag .

action

While walking, Tim and Captain Haddock meet a group of " gypsies " who were forced by the local police to dump near a garbage dump. Haddock offers them to come to his meadow near Mühlenhof Castle . Back at the castle, he learned from a letter that the famous opera diva Bianca Castafiore had invited herself to Mühlenhof. Haddock's planned hasty departure to avoid her is prevented by a fall on a broken step. His leg is cast in a cast for two weeks.

The diva sleeps in the castle with her maid Luise and her companion Igor Wagner and gives the captain a parrot as a gift, which will soon adopt Haddock's vocabulary. Shortly after their arrival, the first paparazzi try to break into the castle. Contrary to her desire for peace and seclusion, the Castafiore is ready to give an interview to the Paris Flash newspaper . Questions the reporters put to the hearing impaired Professor Bienlein , which the latter misunderstands, and his answers, which the reporters misinterpret, lead to the announcement of the imminent marriage of the diva and the captain.

The diva cannot resist a request from television either, and shortly afterwards a camera team arrives at the castle for the recordings. There is a power failure during the recording and the diva misses her jewelry case. When the Schul (t) zes want to investigate the case, it turns out that they had just misplaced it. Shortly afterwards, an emerald actually disappeared from her jewelry box, and when the Schul (t) zes found out about the "gypsies", the theft was as good as cleared up for them. Tim is convinced that they are innocent.

Two days after the disappearance of the emerald, Bienlein presented a color television he had invented in the castle , which should be able to reproduce programs broadcast in black and white in color. His system is very flawed, however, which Hergé depicts with two pages of bizarre distorted television images.

As a result, Tim, who is still convinced of the innocence of the "gypsies", does his own research. He suspects Igor Wagner, who is secretly riding a bicycle into the village and using a tape recorder to pretend to be practicing the piano in his room. Wagner caught by Tim admits to betting on horse races, for which he drives to the village every day to announce his bets. He makes an honest impression on Tim and is therefore no longer seen by him as a possible perpetrator. Three weeks after the diva's departure, Tim reads a report in the newspaper about her triumphant performance in the opera La gazza ladra (“The Thieving Magpie”). Tim has an inspiration and actually discovers the missing emerald in the nest of a magpie . General relief, only the Schul (t) zes are a little dissatisfied: "If we have ever convicted someone, then he is innocent!" The volume ends with the previously inaccessible bricklayer Stein climbing the stairs that many in the course of the story have taken tripped, finally repaired it - however, Haddock accidentally steps on the freshly cemented step that was supposed to be drying, falls again and ruins the stairs.

Form, themes and motifs

Mühlenhof Castle (edited photo of Cheverny Castle )

This part of the series falls out of line, as essentially nothing happens in the story that corresponds to Hergé's declared intention: "This time I wanted to try to tell a story in which nothing would happen (...) Just to see whether I was able to keep the reader in suspense until the end ”. In contrast to most other stories, he manages without villains or travel - the setting is Mühlenhof Castle and its immediate surroundings - and the alleged crime is not one. The comic lives from the running gags , both across albums, such as the investigation methods of the school (t) zes, the professor's hearing loss and the resulting misunderstandings, the wrong telephone connection to the Schnitzel butcher and the insurance agent Fridolin Kiesewetter , and within the album, such as the broken step that everyone - with the exception of Bianca Castafiore - stumbles over once, the excuses of the bricklayer Stein, why he has not repaired it yet, and the parrot that often makes the captain white-hot.

Hergé interrupts his usual, shadow-free Ligne claire for half a page and creates atmospheric images of the Roma camp and the forest in the moonlight with shadow effects. Michael Farr writes that the scenery is “incredibly lively thanks to the intelligent use of light-dark contrasts”.

Tristan Bior's lost emerald is based on Christian Dior and Paris-Flash magazine is based on Paris Match . Some peculiarities of Bianca Castafiore are allusions to Maria Callas , u. a. the many alleged affairs and her wardrobe were just as unusual as that of the diva at the time. It is taken to extremes by the affair with Captain Haddock under the heading "The Diva and the Parrot", which is due to a misunderstanding between two windy reporters, which is a satirical criticism of the reporting by the tabloids and rainbow press .

The Schul (t) zes and Nestor represent common prejudice claims against the "Gypsies". Also in the treatment of the "gypsies" by the authorities and the police (they are only allowed to camp at a rubbish dump and are accused of stealing the emerald despite the lack of evidence and questionable evidence), there was the usual disdain and prejudice against this group of people at the time to expression. Only Tim believes in her innocence and is right in the end.

reception

The singer's jewels received positive reviews from critics. Tom McCarthy describes the volume as Hergé's "masterpiece". Nevertheless, the band with its “otherness” and “experimental character”, according to Michael Farr, is not one of the most popular stories in the series. Various authors who dealt with The Singer's Jewels have pointed out the repetitive and circular nature of the plot: “The plot turns in a circle and does not want to reach a real goal” (Holger Kuhn) or “The whole book runs on its” loops "(Tom McCarthy).

The chain of misunderstandings and failed communication in this volume inspired the French philosopher Michel Serres to write several articles. Serres ascribes a symbolic function to the permanently defective staircase: “(...) all of the naturally given or artificially created techniques and aids with which we establish a relationship with others have been irreparably destroyed. Herr Stein is not coming; and when he finally carries out the repair, the accident starts all over again. "

filming

The album was filmed in two parts in the third season of the animated series produced from 1991 .

proof

  1. ↑ Le journal de Tintin édition belge / canadienne en 1961 ( French ) In: BD oubliées . Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  2. ^ Hergé: The jewels of the singer . Carlsen, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-551-73240-X , p. 62 .
  3. ↑ The Castafiore Emerald ( English ) In: tintin.com . Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b c Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tim & Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-551-77110-0 , p. 176 .
  5. ^ Hergé: The jewels of the singer . Carlsen, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-551-73240-X , p. 42 .
  6. ↑ Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tintin and Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-551-77110-0 , p. 175 .
  7. ↑ Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tintin and Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-551-77110-0 , p. 172, 175 .
  8. ↑ Tom McCarthy: Tintin and the secret of literature . Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA 2008, ISBN 978-1-58243-405-6 , pp. 102 .
  9. ↑ Holger Kuhn: Tim and Struppi in the "Land of Philosophers" . In: Christoph Jamme, Kristin Drechsler (Ed.): 10 minutes of philosophy . Wilhelm Fink, Paderborn 2019, ISBN 978-3-7705-6248-0 , pp. 167 .
  10. ↑ Tom McCarthy: Tintin and the secret of literature . Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA 2008, ISBN 978-1-58243-405-6 , pp. 102 .
  11. ↑ Holger Kuhn: Tim and Struppi in the "Land of Philosophers" . In: Christoph Jamme, Kristin Drechsler (Ed.): 10 minutes of philosophy . Wilhelm Fink, Paderborn 2019, ISBN 978-3-7705-6248-0 , pp. 168 .
  12. ↑ Michel Serres: Hermes II. Interference . Merve, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-88396-086-1 , pp. 311 .
  13. ^ The Adventures of Tintin. Episode List, Season 3 ( English ) In: IMDb . Retrieved April 22, 2019.