Happy 75th B-day, Quino! (World-famous Argentine cartoonist; creator of "Mafalda")
leno...@yahoo.com
Guaymallén, Argentina and now divides his time between Buenos Aires
and Milan. He's written many cartoon collections besides "Mafalda" -
some wordless, some in Spanish.
One source has it that "Mafalda" (1963-1973) has been translated into
more than 20 languages - about as many as "Calvin & Hobbes." However,
it was not translated into English until 2004. There were 10 original
books in Spanish - and volume # 5 (in English) was released in April,
though the chain stores don't have access to that particular volume
yet, somehow! The English edition is titled "Mafalda & Friends." (Some
stores mistakenly say that that edition is in Spanish.)
"Mafalda" can be described as: "Doonesbury meets Peanuts in Buenos
Aires." (And indeed, his praises have been sung by Schulz, Trudeau and
Gary Larson! Another comparison was made - to "The Boondocks." See
below.)
Mafalda is 5 years old (she does age, at half-speed) and is always
worried about the global situation and plans to be an interpreter at
the U.N. when she's older so she can translate politicians' insults
into compliments and bring about world peace. Strong patriot, wise,
progressive, loves the Beatles and hates soup.***** Has a turtle named
Bureaucracy.
The other child characters include:
Felipe, an amiable, procrastinating, daydreaming boy. Loves the Lone
Ranger.
Susanita, a bourgeois racist little girl who dreams only of
Cinderella, rich husbands, babies, household goods and canasta
parties. Always wears a very maternal bubble-cut hairstyle and pearl
stud earrings. Fights with Manolito. Talks non-stop.
Miguelito, a narcissistic pseudo-intellectual with feathery hair to
match. His Italian family keeps an antiseptic house and worships
Mussolini.
Libertad, a tiny, fierce but naive left-wing revolutionary. She
resembles Charles Schulz's Sally in her hair, energy, and academic
cluelessness.
Manolito, the greedy capitalist stooge. Literally blockheaded, with a
crewcut. He helps his father in their low-quality grocery store, plans
to own a chain of supermarkets, is (usually) culturally illiterate,
and when an angry customer wants to return a rotten salami, says
"lady, nobody gets to return their newspapers when they don't like the
news!" Worships Rockefeller. Hates the Beatles. Fights with Susanita.
Guille, Mafalda's lisping pacifier-hooked macho baby brother who is
also hooked on Brigitte Bardot. Loves soup. Causes frequent
embarrassment in typical toddler fashion.
*****From what I understand, decades ago (during the Depression?),
soup used to be the only thing most Argentines could afford to eat, so
naturally it was mandatory for kids to eat it and the saying sprang up
"si no tomas la sopa no vas a crecer," which means "if you don't take
your soup you won't grow." From this, Quino turned soup into a symbol
of governmental oppression. In real life, Quino himself loves soup.
Here are the ISBN numbers. (There seem to be two sets of numbers - one
with 10 digits and one with 13.)
For vol. 1: 950-515-759-2
vol. 2: 950-515-760-6
vol. 3: 950-515-768-1
vol. 4: 950-515-772-X
vol. 5: 978-950-515-780-8 (not sure what the alternative ISBN
might be)
Ediciones de la Flor tried to get a deal with Scholastic Book
Services, but they said "Mafalda" was too sophisticated for children.
Let's prove them wrong! They then published the translations
themselves. See addresses below.
Ediciones de la Flor S.R.L.
Gorriti 3695, C1172ACE,
Buenos Aires
Argentina
http://www.domist.net/inglese/articles-news/ZARCASTELLOquinoEng.htm
(Interview with Quino in 1984 - in English)
http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_07/uk/dires.htm
(A 2000 interview with Quino in English.)
http://www.turning-pages.com/mafalda/
(Unofficial site for the strip itself. Has an English version - you
have to click on "Gallery.")
www.zompist.com/bob2.html
(this includes strips with Libertad)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafalda
(this has a LOT more detail about the characters)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-nmzayPmDw
(A 45-second video of Mafalda's enthusiasm for her first day of
school - no need for the sound, really! Quino is a master of non-
verbal cartoons.)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mafalda+quino&search=Search
(More youtube - the third one from the top has subtitles! Not sure
about the others.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quino
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=quino+75+mafalda
(More than half-a-dozen articles in Spanish about today's birthday -
they can be translated automatically)
http://ilovethisworld.com/index.php?tag=cool-shit - this is from a
week ago!
(You have to scroll halfway down. Excerpts: "Mafalda has occasionally
been compared to Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown, most notably by
Umberto Eco in 1968, for reasons Quino states he does not understand.
While Eco thought of Mafalda and Charlie Brown as the voices unheard
of children in the northern and southern hemispheres, Quino saw
Mafalda as a socio-political strip, firmly rooted on family values.
This is one of the reasons adults play a starring role in the strip,
while they are never seen in the Charlie Brown universe. -from
Wikipedia
"If anything I think this comparison has more to do with character
design than content. While Mafalda looks like she might be some
distant relative of Lucy Van Pelt, her strong political slant has more
in common with Aaron McGruder's 'The Boondocks'. A child of the 60's,
Mafalda was often concerned with the Vietnam war, the civil rights
movement, and she loved the Beatles. Her comic strips predate me, but
they were nonetheless present and relevant in my own childhood, as I'm
sure they still are for new generations of readers around the
world." )
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1115/p07s01-woam.html
(2004 Christian Science Monitor article about Quino)
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/radar/6-1384-2004-04-25.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dquino%2Bcaballo%2Bmesa%2Bpatas%26hl%3Den
(2004 article about the process of translating "Mafalda." You can
read the original article - in Spanish - by clicking at the top, if
you like. Excerpt: "There was no recent English translation because,
Divinsky explained, the North American editorials considered to too
sophisticated Mafalda "for the American children". And the English of
England said that it looked like Peanuts, that he is more or less like
saying that a table looks like a horse because it has four legs.")
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1756110
(Brief bio from 2005. Excerpt: "Quino is a master of emotions. Anger,
happiness, confusion, and sadness are his staples and he's one of the
most skilled cartoonists at using them not only for maximum effect but
as the actual plotline. Some of his books have no captions or speech
whatsoever. Instead, expressions and wordless thought bubbles convey
everything that's needed. Even the signs in the scenery are entirely
symbolic. He's not above a little blasphemy--his divine caricature of
an old man with a beard and triangular halo is definitely not the work
of a good Catholic boy.")
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:RYFNEFqFxZ8J:www.upf.com/content/Foster_Chap1.pdf+quino+milan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
("Mafalda: From Hearth to Plaza" - about Mafalda, Quino & Buenos
Aires - very long)
http://www.clubcultura.com/clubhumor/quinoweb/ingles/quino_bio90.htm
(Quino's timeline in the 1990s)
Whew!
Happy Birthday to the much-loved genius.
Lenona.
richard thompson
in the 80s entitled "Quino" is great stuff. And now I want to read
Malfalda.
Happy Birthday, and many more.
leno...@yahoo.com
wrote:
> The collection of his silent cartoons that was published in the U.S.
> in the 80s entitled "Quino" is great stuff. And now I want to read
>
> Happy Birthday, and many more.
I believe that's "The World of Quino." It has praise from all the most
famous American cartoonists on the back.
As they say here......
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1756110
....chances are Quino's pessimistic sense of humor just doesn't fit
into mainstream American culture, but we can keep pushing. (He
provides plenty of belly laughs, anyway.)
Remember to order from your local independent bookstore! (Reminder:
Volume # 5 of "Mafalda & Friends" may not be available to those stores
just yet. I certainly don't have that one. The other four should be.
BTW, I copied the first four ISBN numbers from the backs of those I
own, so those editions are definitely in English.) It could take a
while before your order arrives at the store, though.
Lenona.
ronniecat
11:50:33 -0700, leno...@yahoo.com wrote:
>As they say here......
>
>http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1756110
>
>....chances are Quino's pessimistic sense of humor just doesn't fit
>into mainstream American culture, but we can keep pushing. (He
>provides plenty of belly laughs, anyway.)
>
>Remember to order from your local independent bookstore! (Reminder:
>Volume # 5 of "Mafalda & Friends" may not be available to those stores
>just yet. I certainly don't have that one. The other four should be.
>BTW, I copied the first four ISBN numbers from the backs of those I
>own, so those editions are definitely in English.) It could take a
>while before your order arrives at the store, though.
>
>Lenona.
I have got to order the books... I love "Mafalda" but for some reason
it keeps slipping off my radar and I do a terrible job of following
what is available online in English. Thanks for the reminder.
ronnie
--
"The very deaf, as I am, hear the most astounding things all
round them, which have not, in fact, been said." - Henry Green
* remove mycollar to reply *
* http://www.hearingloss.blogspot.com *