{"id":16643,"date":"2011-06-06T14:32:19","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T18:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=16643"},"modified":"2018-12-12T16:14:38","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T21:14:38","slug":"smurfgate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/06\/smurfgate\/","title":{"rendered":"Smurfgate"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

In what might be termed \u201cSmurfgate,\u201d a Sciences-Po lecturer\u2019s new book has ignited debate about the true meaning of the blue gnomes\u2019 utopian world. \u201cThe Little Blue Book: A Critical and Political Analysis of the Smurf Society\u201d pits Antoine Bu\u00e9no against Smurf creator Pierre Culliford, suggesting that the Belgian cartoonist harbored communist and anti-Semitic sentiments. As L\u2019Express<\/em> summarizes Bu\u00e9no\u2019s argument,<\/p>\n

Smurfs, charming blue imps or horrible Stalinists, racists, and antisemites? … In complete autocracy, the smurf society is collectivist and directed by a single and omnipotent leader, the great Smurf. They are ridiculous puritans … Racism is obvious in the black Smurf album where purity of blood becomes vital … Or in that of The Smurfette, where the blond Aryan is idealized. Their sworn enemy, Gargamel, has a profile reminiscent of an antisemitic caricature and his cat is named Azra\u00ebl.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Thanks, Atlantic Wire<\/a><\/em>, for the translation!) We\u2019ll leave others\u2014like the artist\u2019s son and an apparent legion of rabidly loyal Smurfs fans<\/a>\u2014to defend the honor of Smurf Village. But we would like to point out that in 2007, the Web site Jew or Not Jew proved convincingly<\/a> that Gargamel is, in fact, not Jewish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In what might be termed \u201cSmurfgate,\u201d a Sciences-Po lecturer\u2019s new book has ignited debate about the true meaning of the blue gnomes\u2019 utopian world. \u201cThe Little Blue Book: A Critical and Political Analysis of the Smurf Society\u201d pits Antoine Bu\u00e9no against Smurf creator Pierre Culliford, suggesting that the Belgian cartoonist harbored communist and anti-Semitic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[2484,17,134,2483,2485,2486,2482],"class_list":["post-16643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-antoine-bueno","tag-books","tag-cartoons","tag-gargamel","tag-smurfgate","tag-subliminal-messages","tag-the-smurfs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmurfgate by Sadie Stein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"June 6, 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