Stanford University Press Blog

The Return of Tintin

As a recent review in Publisher’s Weekly put it, “Those who lament the dearth of books about Tintin in English will welcome this translation of a landmark French study, first published in 1984.”  The book The Metamorphoses of Tintin: Or Tintin for Adults by Jean-Marie Apostolidès (translated by Jocelyn Hay) revives the memory of Tintin in an analysis of the complex cartoon character.

    Apostolidès examines the evolution of the character from political, social, and psychological standpoints. The book recounts Tintin’s famous adventures, all the while telling the reader how each one changed and developed Tintin into the character he became. From a superhero to an emotional and humanistic character, this tale of metamorphosis not only brings Tintin back to the literary scene but also into the latest English translation of this versatile character.

Punishment - A Self-Conscious Act?

I think that most of us can agree that punishment is often the most effective way to enforce certain rules. We associate punishment with what is right and good – it is not a selfish act, but a necessary one.  What if someone told you there are other motives to punishing a person? In a recent article in the Science Daily, Christine Horne explains that “We punish because we care what people think of us.”

In her book The Rewards of Punishment: A Relational Theory of Norm Enforcement, Horne develops her theory further, finding that the more cohesive the group is, the more likely that bad behavior will be punished.

How can it be that punishment becomes an act of selfish desires? Isn’t punishing a bad act simply the right thing to do? According to Horne, depending on the situation you’re in and the people you’re with you may decide to punish someone, or you may not - even if you think what they’re doing is wrong. For example, you may think that it’s proper to scold someone for using obscene language; but if you’re trying to impress a crowd that tends to use harsher language, you might keep the scolding to yourself.

This is a concept, perhaps, that we don’t all think of right away when talking about punishment. Most would say that punishment is about doing the right thing. Horne says that we punish to create our own self-image. So the next time you impart punishment, think about it: Is it because it’s the right thing to do? Or because it makes you look good?

Love Letters Spell out a Lifetime

The love and life of Robinson Jeffers, one of the most prominent American poets of the 20th century, is recorded in time by the newly published love letters between him and his eventual wife, Una. The volume, The Collected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, With Selected Letters from Una Jeffers 1890-1930, is the first of three that will chronicle Jeffers’ life. The book is praised and quoted in a recent article by Cynthia Haven of the Stanford Report, “For those who think of Jeffers as the craggy, roughhewn poet of the Pacific Coast, the letters show something of the heart of the man who wrote: ‘I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man as a hawk.’”

Of course this is no ordinary biography. The editor of the collection, James Karman, actually calls it an “epistolary autobiography.”  By putting the letters in chronological order, it is almost like hearing about the lives of Robinson and Una from their own minds. This work is evidence of how the poet’s life, love, and work lives on even into the next century.