Figurations and Prefigurations in Hergé's Work, or from Les 7 Boules de cristal to Le Temple du Soleil and Back Again

Abstract

Abstract Our starting point is the idea that Herge sets up a series of reciprocal links between two of his albums, Les 7 Boules de cristal and Le Temple du Soleil.2 Over and above simple narrative succession, these two albums fit together like two wings of a diptych across which visual, semiotic and even symbolic elements echo each other. In order to appreciate these fully, the diptych has to be considered from the perspective of a 'rereading', in other words from a standpoint that enables a particular panel or situation to be regarded as a flash forward or flashback. The tracking of this back-and-forth motion seeks to reveal the artistic profundity of Herge's narrative, where anticipations of later elements or reminders of earlier ones either serve to intensify the dramatic build-up, or, conversely, work to parodic effect (through a distancing impression of 'deja vu'). These echoes have cumulative effects that contribute to the overall 'intelligence' of the work. Hence our title: 'Figurations and Prefigurations in Herge's Work, or from Les 7 Boules de cristal to Le Temple du Soleil and Back Again'. A Presentation of the Plot Split Over Two Volumes The 'intelligence' in question is a form of what Thierry Groensteen called 'tressage' ['braiding'] in Le Systeme de la bande dessinee:3 that is to say the complex interplay between different units (such as panels or speech balloons), not necessarily in close proximity to each other. In the same perspective, we have already studied the reasons underlying Tintin's two visits to the crypt in Moulinsart,4 once in Le Secret de la Licorne and again in Le Tresor de Rackham le Rouge.5 But it is Les 7 Boules de cristal and Le Temple du Soleil that concern us here. In Herge's story, some European scientific explorers have brought a Quechua mummy back from Peru. Believing that they are advancing the progress of science, these experts have unwittingly committed an irreparable act. And so, the descendants of the Incas wreak vengeance by afflicting the guilty archaeologists with violent attacks of delirium tremens. Their method is a poison contained in crystal balls that explode, unleashing their devastating effects. Only one scientist has not yet been affected, Hippolyte Bergamotte, a friend of Tryphon Tournesol: the heroes hasten to his house to protect him, and it is on this occasion that he shows them the mummified form of Rascar Capac, brought back from the Andes, and now exhibited in a glass case in his drawing room. But, that night, the house is struck by lightning: the mummy is reduced to ashes (only to be re-embodied in the heroes' dreams). The next day, Tournesol finds the mummy's bracelet in the grounds of Bergamotte's house. He slips it over his wrist. This is a decisive moment. We will learn later that some Peruvians are watching the house. They kidnap Tournesol, drug him and smuggle him out of the country by sea. After a long and arduous investigation, Tintin and Haddock track their friend down. They reach the Temple of the Sun, hidden away deep in the Andes. They are captured by the Indians and condemned to be burned at the stake. At this juncture, Tintin, who has learned that an eclipse of the sun is about to happen, stages a hoax just as the sacrifice of the heroes is due to take place, and succeeds in tricking the Indians. Tintin pretends to address the sun, which begins to go dark ... The Incas are stunned. Then the sun returns. Crowned in their new-found glory, the heroes are freed from the pyre. They then ask the high priest Huaco to deliver the European scientists from the malady that has afflicted them (until this point Huaco had been tormenting them from a distance by sticking needles into statuettes). In return, Tintin, Haddock and Tournesol agree that they will reveal nothing of the city of the Incas from which they have escaped unharmed. This Eldorado can remain a mythical place. White Magic, Black Magic Peru as seen by the author of Le Temple du Soleil is a highly emblematic object. …