(Mis)Leading the Reader

Abstract

Abstract This article examines how Baruti and Cassiau-Haurie's Le Singe jaune (2018) subverts the literary adventure tropes that have been associated with the Congo. By examining its complex network of intertextual references, including the controversial Tintin au Congo, the analysis demonstrates that this graphic novel misleads readers into expecting a mere entertaining adventure quest, while leading them instead to learn about the social, economic, political, and historical consequences of a colonial system based on segregation and exploitation. Le Singe jaune, therefore, breathes new life into adventure comics while also subverting the unilateral (neo)colonial representations this tradition has reinforced. It enables readers to embrace alternative perspectives on the common history of the Congo and Belgium and urges them to answer the call for a new dialogue.