Kaustubh Adhikari and a college group of die-hard Tintin fans in Kolkata, India, cataloged several changes and translation errors in the 1988 Bengali edition of Land of Black Gold.
Most references to Islam were removed. In some cases Arabic has been translated to Bengali, in other cases it was erased.
In some cases frames or whole lines of frames have been removed. Here are some samples:
Thomson and Thompson translated into Bengali
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Here the Arabic cursing was removed and replaced with something like traditional cartoon swearwords. In the English edition, Snowy says “Such language! ...Don’t listen to him Tintin... even in Arabic Page 20, frame 8
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In English, Tintin says “I’d like to get to the bottom of it...” and Snowy replies “You aren’t starting another of your adventures are you? Why don’t we retire?” There are a number of other similar mistakes in translation or placement of dialog. Page 6, frame 10 |
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The aide’s Arabic is translated into Bengali. Page 36, frame 12 |
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The Arabic is erased from the ransom note. Page 36, frame 12 |
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On page 36, the second row of frames—showing Muslims praying in a mosque and Thompson and Thomson crashing through the mosque wall in their jeep—has been removed entirely. Furthermore, the Muslim call to prayer has been removed in frame 1. |
